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Senior Social Worker - ICMHR

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
This job announcement has closed

Summary

Recruitment/Relocation Incentive May Be Authorized to Highly Qualified Individuals Only

This Job Opportunity is being announced as both a Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor and a Senior Social Worker. Both vacancies can be filled by either a Senior Social Worker or Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor.

Overview

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Job canceled
Open & closing dates
11/16/2022 to 12/08/2022
Salary
$79,363 to - $103,176 per year

Salary based on the Rest of the US (RUS) GS Pay Scale

Pay scale & grade
GS 12
Location
Sioux Falls, SD
2 vacancies
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel occasionally for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Excepted
Promotion potential
12
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
CBSY-11733705-23-AMB
Control number
689783900

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Open to the public which includes all US Citizens and all current permanent Federal employees from other agencies. Employees of other federal agencies and the public will be referred on separate certificates. Current, permanent VA employees should apply to: CBSY-11733704-23-AMB

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Duties

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The VA Midwest Health Care Network advocates for a Whole Health System of care in each of the Medical Centers. This is an approach to healthcare that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their lives to the fullest. As an employee operating in a Whole Health System of care, you will operate in a model with three core elements, seeking to create a personalized health plan for each Veteran. This is done in the context of healing relationships and healing environments and a connection back to the Veteran's community. This aligns with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Mission Statement to Honor America's Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being.

Mental Health Intensive Case Management (MHICM), Rural Access Network for Growth Enhancement (RANGE), and Enhanced Rural Access Network for Growth Enhancement (E-RANGE), collectively referred to as ICMHR Services are adaptations of ACT for Veterans with SMI served by the VHA mental health system.

The Primary responsibility of the ICMHR Senior Social Worker Case Manager is to provide intensive case management services, continuous quality improvement activities, evaluation/consultation, psychosocial assessments, individual therapy, placement services, and referrals to various community agencies and hospital services to Veterans in ICMHR.

Duties include but are not limited to the following:

  • Provides intensive community-based case management services to Veterans with SMI, severe functional impairment, and high inpatient mental health inpatient utilization, in coordination with existing community and VA services.
  • Works collaboratively with an interdisciplinary team to provide exceptional care to a vulnerable population.
  • Implements Psychosocial and Rehabilitation and Recovery Services-fully utilizing practices and principles of psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery.
  • Refers and connects Veterans to community-based resources that consider the uniqueness and abilities of the Veteran.
  • Provides assessment/evaluation to include a social work assessment and recovery plan taking into account the Veterans strengths, and abilities. Recovery plans are developed taking into consideration the Veterans wishes and treatment goals, and include measurable goals outlined based on relevant psychological, medical, and psychiatric information.
  • Ensures Veteran information is entered into the NEPEC and National Psychosis Registry (NPR) Performs duties to facilitate community living by coordinating mental health and community care.
  • Collaborate with members of the ICMHR team and other professional's specialty clinics to provide comprehensive care to Veterans.
  • Independently assess Veteran learning needs regarding their substance abuse, psychiatric and medical disorders, and the treatments and medications required incorporating teaching into treatment.
  • Collaborate with community agencies where Veterans reside to facilitate community living in the least restrictive environment and to provide support services for these agencies.
  • Provide consultation/education to Veterans and families on community resources, advance directives, and VA benefits.
  • Demonstrates the ability to teach and mentor staff and students in the special area of practice and are eligible to provide supervision for licensure or specialty certifications. Enters all Veteran/family contacts in the electronic record using appropriate formats and templates and report changes to the AMSA to update the record. All clinical interventions whether by telephone or face to face will be recorded in electronic progress notes. This information will be entered in a complete, confidential, and professional manner. Required documentation will be completed and signed in the timeframes set by facility policy or national program requirements.
  • Eligible to serve as a field instructor or preceptor in the state of licensure, may supervise Social Work graduate students, and provides a training experience for them in Social Work. Works with students to develop training plans and goals. Regularly assesses student's progress toward training goals and student's overall performance. Provides reports to the school of social work field liaison on the student's progress. Participates in the school of social work's field instructor training programs.
Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am to 4:30pm
Telework: Not Authorized
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
Recuitment/Relocation Incentives: May be Authorized for Highly Qualified Individuals Only
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required


Requirements

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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.
  • You may be required to serve a probationary period.
  • Subject to background/security investigation.
  • Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
  • 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).
  • Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

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. Verification of the degree can be made by going to http://www.cswe.org/Accreditation to verify that the social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a masters of 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. Current state requirements may be found by going to http://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/.
  • Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services.
  • 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/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. Documentation is required if part of your state's requirements for providing supervision for licensure is beyond your licensure only (example: certification of continuing education credits).
  • Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: (document with written demonstration of KSAs must be included with application, see required documents section):
  1. 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.
  2. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
References: VA Handbook 5005/120 Part II Appendix G39 September 10, 2019

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-12

Physical Requirements: Daily intermittent walking, standing, bending, stooping, reaching, and carrying of lightweight items required. Rigid deadlines and need for high degree of accuracy periodically becomes stressful. Community visits may require the ability to drive a vehicle.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application.

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, résumé, 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.

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