The Social Worker provides clinical psychosocial and Evidence Based Therapies to eligible Veterans and their family members to meet biological, psychological, social, and environmental needs. Veterans treated in Social and Behavioral Health come primarily from the Anchorage catchment area. Their health care and psychosocial problems and needs are complex and require clinical oversight and creative problem solving.

Duties

Interviews Clients and Conducts Psychosocial Assessments Interviews veterans and their family members/significant others to establish facts about the veteran's situation, presenting problems and their causes, and the impact of such problems on the veteran's functioning and health as part of a comprehensive psychosocial assessment. Reviews all data, subjective and objective, and makes a clinical assessment identifying needs and strengths. Effectively uses professional skill, objectivity, and insight. Uses advanced clinical training, insight, and experience to interpret data and to identify viable treatment options. Assesses high risk factors, acuity, and need for services. Ability to serve Veterans who tend to have frequent and severe crises, lack family or an adequate community support network, be poor at self-monitoring, frequently fail to comply with instructions and treatment, or have significant deficits in coping skills and require continuing professional psychosocial support. Makes Psychosocial Diagnoses Evaluates the client's situation, including the veteran's reaction and ability to cope with his/her life stressors and arrives at a reasoned conclusion. Based on the psychosocial assessment, uses professional judgment and advanced practice skills to make a psychosocial diagnosis. On an inpatient/outpatient basis, finds a suitable means of treatment to help veterans and/or significant others copes with stressful situations. Treatment is aimed at helping veterans find practical solutions to problems. Plans Effective Treatment Develops psychosocial treatment plans in coordination with interdisciplinary team members, including goals for psychosocial clinical treatment. Coordinates screening of patients for provision of evidence based therapies, referral to mental health programs, and is able to incorporate different strategies. Independently concludes the appropriate action, even in instances where actions can have serious impact on the life of the veteran. Makes adjustments to the psychosocial treatment plan and interventions based on changing needs and response to interventions. Participates in the assignment of veterans to treatment teams and programs. Implements Treatment Provides clinical services to veterans and family members/significant others in support of the veteran's treatment. Provides individual and group therapy to patients and their families, on a regularly scheduled basis to engage in activities and/or discussion designed to improve patients' cognitive, social, emotional, vocational and/or behavioral functioning. Organizes community services on behalf of beneficiaries, developing and coordinating procedures for use of these services by related staff. Makes provision for referral services from other agencies, community resources, and other Governmental agencies to resolve problems. Demonstrates acceptance, interest, encouragement, and selective use of questioning, explanation, and guidance in working with veterans to help them explore their problems. Receives and completes requests for services (consults) from interdisciplinary team members and from other Social Workers on complex, difficult cases, using advanced practice skills and expertise. Evaluation, Education, Supervision, Coaching, and Mentoring Establishes a continuing relationship with the veteran, evaluating progress towards goals and adjusting the treatment plan as appropriate. Documents independently in the medical records utilizing paper and/or electronic formats, including psychosocial assessments, diagnostics, treatment, progress notes, follow up, and referral. Explains veteran's treatment and progress to third parties as appropriate. Manages the quality control and evaluation of the professional services provided. Directs/coordinates clinical and psychosocial services and is accountable for the overall effectiveness of the services provided. Provides orientation and on-going training to Social Workers and interdisciplinary team members. Conducts staff development programs for Social Workers. Serves as a mentor to other Social Workers. Provides clinical supervision for unlicensed Social Workers and for Social Work associates. As a field instructor or preceptor, supervises Social Work graduate students and provides a training experience for them in Social Work. Works with students to develop training plans and goals. Provides training to students, residents, interns, and fellows from other disciplines. Offers patient and family/significant other educational services. Work Schedule: 8AM - 4:30PM, Monday - Friday Telework: Available (Ad-hoc) Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 00000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized for highly qualified applicants EDRP Authorized: Contact [email protected], the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

May also be filled by a Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor: Internal -USAJOBS - Job Announcement External -USAJOBS - Job Announcement or a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (Advanced) Internal -USAJOBS - Job Announcement External - USAJOBS - Job Announcement To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. 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: Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g this part). 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. (COPY OF TRANSCRIPT WITH CONFERRED DATE REQUIRED) 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. (COPY OF ADVANCE PRACTICE LICENSE REQUIRED FOR GS-12) 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 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. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs (a) 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. (b) Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. (c) 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. (d) 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.( e) 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: Experience providing individual psychotherapy References: VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39, September 10, 2019 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: Light lifting (under 15 lbs.), moderate carrying (15 -44 lbs.), use of fingers, walking, standing, operation of motor vehicle, near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4, far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other, both eyes, hearing (aid may be permitted), and mental and emotional stability. Environmental factors include inside and outside, dry atmospheric conditions, working closely with others, and working alone.

Education

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (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 appointment. 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.

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 Anchorage VA Medical Center 1201 North Muldoon Road Anchorage, AK 99504 US
• Name: Gabriel Johnson
• Phone: (503) 220-8262 X53014
• Email: [email protected]