Summary

The Senior Social Worker works within the Social Work Service and is part of the Emergency Department and will provide coverage for Acute Psychiatry and Acute Medicine/Surgery areas as needed for North Florida / South Georgia Veterans Health System (NFSGVHS) located in Gainesville - FL. The social worker will directly report to the Supervisory Social Worker or designee.

Qualifications

This is an open continuous announcement and will remain open until April 30 - 2025. It can be extended if needed. The first cut-off date for referral of eligible applications will be 8 calendar days from opening of announcement - with subsequent cut-off dates. Eligible applications received after that date will be referred as qualified applicants apply or as additional vacancies occur on an as-needed basis until positions are filled. Posting could be removed earlier than close date if all vacancies are filled. Your application will only be sent and referred to hiring manager once. Applicants must meet the requirements by the closing date of this announcement 04/30/2025.

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Must be US Citizen
• Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy
• English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f)
• 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/
• Grade Determinations: In addition to meeting the basic requirements stated above - the following qualifications criteria must be met in determining the appropriate grade assignment of candidates
• GS-12 Senior Social Worker candidates must have the following: Experience/Education: Must have at least two (2) years of experience POST advanced practice clinical licensure and should be in a specialized area of social work practice of which - one (1) 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
• AND 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
• Advanced License must be submitted with application
• While we no longer require essay-style responses to our Knowledge's Skills - Abilities - and Other Characteristics (KSAOs) - you must be able to demonstrate that you possess the (below) competencies which are necessary to perform the work of the position
• Please ensure your resume/CV/application contains sufficient information to support the level of experience/education/training
• otherwise - we will not be able to award you credit for the experience/education/training you claim
• If selected - you may be required to submit narrative responses then
• These are the KSA's for this position and grade level: 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
• Preferred Experience: Previous experience in Health and Mental Health setting providing assessment - diagnosis - treatment - case management and care coordination
• Must have experience working with high risk individuals
• Experience with de-escalation - suicide risk assessment/planning Knowledge of voluntary and involuntary admission process References: VA Regulations - specifically VA Handbook 5005/120 - Part II - Appendix G39 - Senior Social Worker Qualification Standard - dated 9/10/19
• For more information on this qualification standard - please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
• The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12
• Physical Requirements: Able to meet the physical demands of the position - reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions
• They must have good manual dexterity
• Must be able to express or exchange ideas by means of spoken and written word
• Must be able to view and read information on computer screens
• The job entails walking - standing - bending - traveling among several different stories/floors - sitting - working on a computer - and carrying objects up to 25 pounds.

Duties

• Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf Social Work: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Social-Worker-Career-Flyer.pdf The incumbent is primarily responsible for providing assessment - discharge planning - suicide prevention - crisis intervention - and discharge planning services to Veterans and their families in the emergency department
• Over days - nights and weekend hours - the incumbent will cover the Gainesville Emergency Department as well as the Lake City VAMC Emergency Department
• The Lake City location is covered by virtual care technology
• The incumbent is part of a team of licensed clinical social workers who cover the Emergency Department on site
• Based on staffing and coverage needs - incumbent will be cross trained to cover Acute Psychiatry and Acute Medicine/Surgery
• Work entails working with patients presenting with psychosocial - mental health and medical needs
• Work requires a high level of skill in assessing - developing treatment/discharge plans and use of crisis intervention skills for highly complex psychosocial - medical - and mental health needs of Veterans presenting to the Emergency Department and admitted to the acute care settings
• The social worker will exercise mature professional judgment and use a wide range of clinical skills in independently providing clinical psychosocial - case management - and mental health services to Veterans and their family members/caregivers
• The social worker requires knowledge of a broad range of psychosocial - medical - and mental health issues
• The incumbent must ensure appropriate protocol is followed for VA suicide risk assessment interventions
• The incumbent must be familiar with the latest version of DSM and understand how to appropriately diagnosis
• The social worker may provide psychosocial education - group and individual counseling -/psychotherapy appropriate to level of licensure
• This work may occur in the Emergency Department or on other units - to include Acute Psychiatry and Acute Medicine/Surgery within the medical center
• The incumbent works with an interdisciplinary team
• It is important the incumbent is a team player with excellent communication and documentation skills
• It is important the incumbent is highly flexible as the work can vary day to day due to the nature of the Emergency Department and Acute Care Units
• The incumbent will provide coverage as needed for co-workers - which may include providing social work coverage through virtual care options to other locations of the health system
• The social worker may also participate in the student training program as approved by supervisor - as well as - serve on facility - VISN - and national committees and workgroups
• Tours of Duty can include evenings and weekends - but generally include 4- 10 hour days
• Work Schedule: *Sunday to Wednesday 11:00am to 9:30pm (Priority to fill first)* OR Wednesday to Saturday 1:30pm to 12:00am If other vacancies become available - there could be additional shifts discussed during the interview process
• Compressed/Flexible: Yes - as listed here Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: 51921F / Senior Social Worker Additional Benefits Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment - full time employees with a total family income below $144 -000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66
• Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave - 13 days of sick leave - 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment - up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth - adoption - or foster care placement of a child.