Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open to all US Citizens. Note: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this occupational series. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

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In addition to substance abuse, a significant number of these patients have concurrent psychiatric disorders, personality disorders, medical conditions, and multiple psychosocial stressors. The complex array of psychological, medical, and social symptoms presented by CBH patients, the assessment and treatment decisions made by Licensed Clinical Social Workers are likely to have serious short/long term effects on patients, significant others, and treatment. Patients are assigned to the Licensed Clinical Social Worker without prior screening by other CBH staff. Must have the knowledge and skills to make independent decisions regarding the assessment, treatment, and case management of the diagnostically diverse CBH patient population.

Major Duties include but are not limited to:

Assessment:

• Independently conducts intake screenings/ evaluations of Veterans and their significant others
• Uses the established biopsychosocial admissions criteria to determine the appropriateness of Veterans referred to the CBH for service in the different treatment components
• Performs a comprehensive intake assessment that satisfies regulatory standards
• Reassess and monitor the status of problematic behaviors; routinely evaluates the impact that therapeutic interventions have on patient problems; assesses patients' progress toward meeting treatment goals and objectives; determines the need for additional assessment of specific problem areas; conducts and documents a discharge assessment that summarizes the extent each problem is resolved and if additional treatment is needed

Treatment:

• Provides individual, group, and family psychotherapy, as well as crisis intervention
• Relies on own clinical judgment to address patient problems that is consistent with the knowledge and skills of other professional staff
• Conducts short, medium, long-term counseling and facilitates, structured groups for patients with substance abuse problems, mental health problems, or co-morbid conditions
• Facilitate group counseling and conduct assessments
• Provides crisis intervention and stabilization to patients and significant others
• Develops/revises treatment plans
• Keep abreast of new treatment techniques and evidence-based practices
• Documents patients' responses to treatment that facilitates the use of this information by members of the interdisciplinary team

Case Management:

• Designated as the Mental Health Treatment Coordinator (MHTC) as clinic needs dictate
• The MHTC is to coordinate treatment activities to ensure that each patient is provided with an individualized, integrated, biopsychosocial approach to case management
• Demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary to provide care appropriate to the age of the patients served
• Demonstrate knowledge of the principles of growth and development over the life span, possess the ability to assess data reflective of the patient's status, interpret the appropriate information needed to identify patient's requirements relative to age-specific needs
• Write a diagnostic summary which integrates biopsychosocial assessment data in a manner that leads to the development of a comprehensive, individualized treatment plan specific to the CBH treatment model
• Provide comprehensive, evidenced-based psychotherapeutic interventions, including individual, couple/family and group psychotherapy
• Participate in the development of the comprehensive treatment plan, discuss the plan with patients, and insure the plan is current and complete
• Reassess each patient to determine the status of current clinical problems, current needs, and responses to treatment
• Gather data during these assessments/progress review sessions to help make decisions regarding:
  • need for further assessment by the CBH or Medical Center staff
  • need to revise the patient's comprehensive treatment plan
• Conduct a discharge assessment, create a discharge plan, and ensure a referral/contact with a follow-up agency

Program and Staff Development:

• Supportive role in the administrative/clinical functions of the program
• Actively participates in CBH committees; provides training to Medical Center and CBH staff through patient review conferences, CBH in-service programs, and medical education presentations
• Keep abreast of new developments in the field of behavioral health
• Responsible for designing and conducting group therapy sessions
• Recommend methods to improve the quality, quantity, and integration of treatment services

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: CENTER FOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH (CBH) SOCIAL WORKER GS-0185-12 SENIOR SOCIAL WORKER
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Education: Have a master's degree in social work from a school of social work fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Graduates of schools of social work that are in candidacy status do not meet this requirement until the School of Social Work is fully accredited. A doctoral degree in social work may not be substituted for the master's degree in social work.
• Licensure: Persons hired or reassigned to social worker positions in the GS-0185 series in VHA must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level.
• English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f).

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).

Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

Senior Social Worker, GS-12

• Experience and Education: The candidate must have at least two years of experience post advanced practice clinical licensure and should be in a specialized area of social work practice of which, one year must be equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Senior social workers have experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment. Senior social workers are experts in their specialized area of practice. Senior social workers may have certification or other post-masters training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship or equivalent supervised professional experience in a specialty.
• Licensure/Certification: Senior social workers must be licensed or certified by a state at the advanced practice level which included an advanced generalist or clinical examination, unless they are grandfathered by the state in which they are licensed to practice at the advanced practice level (except for licenses issued in California, which administers its own clinical examination for advanced practice) and they must be able to provide supervision for licensure.
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
  • Skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities used in specialty treatment programs or with special patient populations. This includes individual, group, and/or family counseling or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial and/or case management.
  • Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
  • Knowledge in developing and implementing methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services in the specialty area, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services and to design system changes.
  • Ability to provide specialized consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients in the service delivery area, as well as role modeling effective social work practice skills.
  • Ability to expand clinical knowledge in the social work profession, and to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines pertaining to the service delivery area.

Assignments. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Senior social workers are licensed or certified to independently practice social work at an advanced level. Senior social workers typically practice in a major program area such as but not limited to: Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center or Polytrauma Network Site; a Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Center, or a national VHA referral center, such as a national Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or a national Transplant Center, or other program areas of equivalent scope and complexity. The senior social worker may be assigned administrative responsibility for clinical program development and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns. Assignments include clinical settings where they have limited access to onsite supervision such as CBOCs or satellite outpatient clinics. The senior social worker collaborates with the other members of the treatment team in the provision of comprehensive health care services to Veterans, ensures equity of access, service, and benefits to this population, ensures the care provided is of the highest quality. The senior social worker provides leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs for assigned social work staff. They serve on committees, work groups, and task forces at the facility, VISN and national level, or in the community as deemed appropriate by the supervisor, Social Work Executive or Chief of Social Work Services. This assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management. This assignment must represent substantial additional responsibility over and above that required at the full performance grade level and cannot be used as the full performance level of this occupation.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11. This position is above the full performance level.

Physical Requirements: See VA Handbook 5019

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.