Summary

This position is eligible for EDRP - a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of your start date. Approval - award amount (up to $200 -000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application. Contact VHA.ELRSProgramSupport@va.gov for questions.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position - applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.

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/
• Loss of Licensure or Certification: Once licensed or certified - social workers must maintain a full - valid - and unrestricted independent license or certification to remain qualified for employment
• Loss of licensure or certification will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment
• English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f)
• Grade Determinations: Senior Social Worker - GS-12 Experience/Education: The candidate must have at least two years of experience 9 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
• In addition to the experience above - candidates 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
• Preferred Experience: Experience with Veterans and substance use disorders
• 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-12
• Physical Requirements: This work requires light lifting (under 15lbs) - use of fingers - see computer screen - and hearing (aid may be permitted)
• Environmental factors include working closely with others and working alone.

Duties

• NOTE: THE 2-PAGE RESUME REQUIREMENT DOES NOT APPLY TO THIS OCCUPATIONAL SERIES Clinical Independently assesses the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans identifying the Veteran's strengths - weaknesses - coping skills - psychosocial acuity - SUD and MH - problem identification - diagnosis - treatment planning - implementation - evaluation - and follow-up
• Fully utilizes the current DSM in making diagnoses and formulation of treatment goals and application of appropriate clinical interventions
• Delivers services both in-person and via telehealth technologies
• Conducts groups as part of the IOP/OP and Aftercare program
• Has specialized knowledge of a wide variety of individual - group - or family counseling interventions
• Treatment approaches include but are not limited to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - Acceptance and Commitment Therapy - Motivational Interviewing/Motivational Enhancement Therapy - Contingency Management - harm reduction - mindfulness-based relapse prevention - DBT - and Evidence-based Psychotherapies for PTSD
• Establishes goals/treatment through a collaborative process with the patient
• Provides complex crisis intervention and stabilization to patients who are in psychological distress
• Ability to assess and safety plan for suicidality
• Possesses knowledge and understanding of existing relevant statutes - case laws - ethical codes - and regulations
• Provides consultation to clinical staff
• Communicates effectively with people from varied backgrounds
• Serves on an interdisciplinary team with focus on the intrapersonal - interpersonal - and relational functioning of individuals - groups - and families and on the counseling approaches - strategies - and techniques that will best help patients function effectively
• Complies with all EHRM documentation procedures - including timeliness standards for documentation and proper patient check out procedures
• Maintains appropriate records and follow-up data
• Complies with national and local performance measures - including timely health care screening and completion of clinical recommendations and measurement based care for all patients
• Complies with peer review procedures
• Performs collateral duties as assigned
• Administrative Acts as Liaison and Consultant between Wenatchee CBOC and SUD/MH services at Mann-Grandstaff sites of care
• May also participate in outreach efforts or conduct trainings on MH and STP to other clinical teams
• Provides asynchronous case management - care coordination - referral management - individual scheduling - and consultation with legal entities
• Provides leadership - staff development - and continued education opportunities
• Maintains reference materials and documentation of policies
• Provides oversight and supervision of EBPs provided by licensed and unlicensed MATs and SWs
• Assists Specialty Mental Health Program Manager - STP Program Coordinator - and other BHS leaders with quality improvement and compliance with accreditation organizations and VA standards (CARF - Joint Commission - SAMSHA)
• Attends regular staff meetings in the SUD Specialty Clinic and Behavioral Health Service Line
• Participates as a member of VA committees as directed
• Attends monthly Evidenced Based care meetings - Communities of Practice meetings - SUD monthly national trainings - standard of practice meetings
• Provides recommendations to supervisors of any clinical changes to policy and procedure and ability to design system changes based on data
• Work Schedule: Monday-Friday - 8am-4:30pm Recruitment Incentive: May Be Authorized Permanent Change of Station: Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive
• Contact VHA.ELRSProgramSupport@va.gov - the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance
• Learn more Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases
• When setting pay - a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA
• 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) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual - based on prior work experience or military service experience
• 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
• 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
• Telework: AD-HOC Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: 000000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized