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.

Duties

Major duties and responsibilities: Provides mental health and psychosocial assessment and diagnostic services for Veterans with a broad range of mental health issues. Provides a full range of services within the Social Work scope of practice based on Veteran needs, acuity level, and preferences for care. Possesses general knowledge of Veteran's benefits and services related to special programs, service-connected compensation, and non-service-connected pension. Develops working relationships with the community and VA providers to whom referrals are most often made and becomes knowledgeable with what community and VA resources are available to Veterans. Independently develops, implements, and documents the mental health treatment plan for an assigned caseload of patients Takes responsibility for improving professional competencies by participating in training programs and continuing education. Maintains accurate records of trainings in accordance with VA policies and state licensure requirements. Adheres to all facility and service line policies and practices for delivery of clinical care Coordinates community-based services. Able to fulfill ethical responsibilities to Veterans, colleagues, and VA in accordance with NASW Code of Ethics, VHA Code of Ethics, and local ethics policies. Documents all Veteran care in the electronic health record in accordance with facility policy Complies with facility and service line policies and expectations concerning administrative practices, including but not limited to leave management and TMS education requirements. Maintains familiarity and responsibility for all behavioral health performance measures. Attends and participates in administrative and informational meetings held by facility or service line leadership Maintains current knowledge of, and practices in accordance with, accrediting agency requirements. Assists program leadership in accreditation preparation and continuous readiness activities Collaborate with inpatient treatment providers to support appropriate discharge planning following recommendations for treatment of patients Actively participates in facility committees relevant to specialty care. Suicide Prevention duties: Serves as a subject matter expert regarding Suicide Prevention. Provides consultation and psychoeducation to Veterans, Veteran families on Mental Health conditions, risk reduction, safety planning, and Suicide Prevention. Assure that all veterans assigned to the facility "High Risk for Potential Suicide" list are followed per VACO guidelines. Conduct face to face and/or telephone contact with the veteran to assess their safety and ongoing investment with treatment Track no-show appointments by High-Risk veterans and follow up with the veteran Initiate emergency interventions, appropriate to the situation, including but not limited to contacting veteran's identified emergency contact, and /or calling 911 if the safety of a veteran is unable to be established, or if it is determined that the Veteran is at imminent risk for self-harm Contact the veteran's Principal Mental Health Provider to coordinate monitoring activities, tracking appointments and coordinating enhanced care Refer high risk Veterans to appropriate clinical programs Develop and present recommendation briefings to the Suicide Risk Reduction Committee for veterans with High-Risk Flag for Suicide Monitor VA Safety Plan completion for high-risk Veterans Collaborate with a Veteran's principal mental health provider to ensure that appropriate behavioral health follow up is in place Respond to consults from the VA National Suicide Hotline Assist with outreach to community resources/programs on a monthly basis Maintain a caseload of high-risk Veterans. Assist, as appropriate, with crisis management of new and existing patients. Assist with risk assessment and triage of outpatient Veterans Share in the workload of ancillary suicide prevention related program Participate, when appropriate, in suicide postvention efforts for staff, families, and the Veteran community Conduct routine suicide risk screens Serves as a consultant and subject-matter expert to clinical staff Demonstrates thorough knowledge of state laws regarding involuntary treatment and works closely with Designated Crisis Responders and the court system Supervision to Social Work interns/trainees and unlicensed staff Provides training, education, and consultation to trainees, VA staff, and community partners Actively participates in facility committees relevant to integrated care. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 0800-1630 Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 00000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: Please contact the VISN 20 EDRP Coordinator @ [email protected] Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

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. 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: Senior social workers must be licensed or certified by a state at theadvanced 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. Grade Determinations: 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. AND Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and AbilitiesIn 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. References: VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39, September 10, 2019. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: Sitting long periods of time Environmental Factors: Working closely with others; working alone

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 VA Puget Sound Health Care System 1660 South Columbian Way Seattle, WA 98108 US
• Name: Melissa Quilter
• Phone: 360-696-4061 X38599
• Email: [email protected]