The Senior Social Worker practices in the VA Eastern Colorado Healthcare System (VAECHCS). This position is assigned to the Colorado Springs Community Based Outpatient Clinic and serves as a Senior Social Worker in the Behavioral Health Integrated Program (BHIP).

Duties

The incumbent provides educational, facilitative, and therapeutic leadership with veterans' group and individual therapy treatments within BHIP. The incumbent, being trained and experienced in the interviewing and assessment of mental health conditions, will perform initial and follow-up evaluations, treatment planning, and individual and group evidenced based psychotherapies. Familiarity with veterans' issues to include PTSD is strongly desired. The incumbent, being trained and experienced in crisis management, also provides emergency care, as needed, for all patients enrolled in the CBOC, including referring patients for emergency primary care treatment, psychiatric medication evaluation, or coordinating the admission of patients to the inpatient psychiatric unit of the Eastern Colorado Health Care System or other VA facilities or local non-VA facilities. The incumbent, being trained and experienced in the treatment of patients who suffer from mental disorders, either alone, or in combination with other medical conditions, provides a range of treatment services, including but not limited to individual, couples, and group treatment. Group treatment includes psycho-educational as well as psychotherapeutic groups. He or she uses evidence-based treatment methods whenever possible. The incumbent actively participates in staff meetings regarding clinical, administrative, and staff development issues. The incumbent maintains up-to-date charting in the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS), documenting all assessment, treatment and case management contacts with patients. The incumbent actively participates in program planning and development, making recommendations for changes in policies and procedures as needs and opportunities arise. The incumbent takes responsibility for improving the skills of other professionals in the CBOC participating in the planning and executing of specific staff-development projects, attending seminars and other training events, and participating in the training programs of other disciplines (psychology, psychiatry, nursing, and social work and addiction counseling) as requested. General knowledge of veterans' benefits and services relating to special programs, service connected compensation, and non-service connected pension is required. He/She facilitates referrals based upon veteran's needs and eligibility. The Senior Social Worker will become versed in the provision of care by telemental health, as a requirement of this position. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm Telework: Part -time telework Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 54834-A Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Recruitment/ Relocation Incentive: Authorized

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/05/2023. Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship. Education. Possess 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. For grades below or at the full performance level, VHA social workers who are not licensed or certified at the time of appointment must become licensed or certified at the independent master's level within 3 years of their appointment as a social worker. Licensure. Possess a full and unrestricted license or certification by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level. English Language Proficiency. Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English. Grade Determinations: Senior Social Worker GS-12 Experience. 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. In addition to the experience above, the candidate 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. 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 Eastern Colorado HCS Denver 13611 E. Colfax Ave Aurora, CO 80045 US
• Name: Rodney Riggleman
• Phone: (210) 980-9493
• Email: [email protected]