The incumbent is responsible for the provision of Primary Care Mental Health Integration (PCMHI) services at a CBOC. As part of the PCMHI team, this social worker is co-located within the primary care clinic and performs collaborative crisis/risk assessment, general assessment, care management, triage, and brief therapy services as part of the Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) in primary care.

Duties

VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Performs specialized treatment of complex physical and/or mental illness within the primary care setting. Incumbent incorporates complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment of veterans including making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnoses within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. Provides mental health triage and determination of level of care needed as part of a thorough evaluation and consultation with the veteran and primary care provider. Provides advanced level case management and/or PCMHI care management interventions used in the treatment of veterans with polytrauma injuries, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, visual impairment, post-traumatic stress disorder, addictions, chronic medical conditions, and other serious disorders. Completes structured diagnostic and clinical assessments for participants. This requires knowledge of medical terminology, diagnostic categories, and chart review. Reviews assessments completed by others, and obtain missing information from providers, patients, and medical records. Completes telephone and/or face to face risk assessments for Veterans who have screened positive on BHL interviews conducted by the call center Behavioral Health Technicians (BHTs). Completes functional assessment, same day triage, and brief psychotherapy as a float PCMHI provider embedded in the primary care clinic. Creates and maintains forms, surveys, instruments, and materials for proper coordination of the different treatment modules available through the PCMHI. Provides psychoeducation and direct advice regarding symptoms of depression, anxiety and alcohol misuse to patients. This includes the development of an appropriate treatment plan for patients and the ability to communicate that plan to the patient's provider. Provides social work consultation to Primary Care providers, other Mental Health therapists and team members in the development of individual treatment plans. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm Telework: Yes Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required for this position

Requirements

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/. 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: Senior Social Worker- GS-12 Senior Social Workers 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. 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 the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): (a) Advanced knowledge of and mastery of theories and modalities used in the specialized treatment of complex physical or mental illness. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment of veteran patients, including making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnoses within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. Ability to determine priority for services and provide specialized treatment services. (b) Advanced and expert 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 interventions used in the treatment of veterans with polytraumatic injuries, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, visual impairment, posttraumatic stress disorder, etc. (c) Advanced knowledge and expert skill 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. Ability to coordinate the delivery of specialized psychosocial services and programs. Ability to design system changes based on empirical findings. (d) Ability to provide subject matter consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients treated in the specialty area, rendering professional opinions based on experience and expertise and role modeling effective social work practice skills. Ability to teach and mentor staff and students in the specialty area of practice and to provide supervision for licensure or for specialty certifications. (e) Ability to expand clinical knowledge in the profession, demonstrating innovation in the creation of new models of psychosocial assessment or intervention to identify and address specialized clinical needs. Ability to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines pertaining to the specialty population or specialty treatment program. References: VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

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.

Contacts

• Address Robley Rex VA Medical Center 800 Zorn Avenue Louisville, KY 40206 US
• Name: Lisa Chigbu
• Email: [email protected]