The Senior Social Worker practices across all Specialty Medical programs areas supporting inpatient medicine. The number of medically complex inpatient cases continues to increase and needs advanced case management for successful discharge. These case managers work with patient populations with highly complex health and mental health problems.

Duties

Major duties include, but are not limited to: Has experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment and at least two years in an area of specialized social work practice. Requires specialized knowledge of end of life issues, palliative care, and various medical and psychological problems. Advanced practice Social Worker demonstrates an ability to expand clinical knowledge in the profession. Provide consultation and guidance to colleagues. Role model effective social work practice skills. Teach or provide orientation to less experienced Social Workers. Develop innovations in practice interventions. Provide clinical supervision for social work licensure or certification. Performs specialized treatment of complex physical and mental illness for patients in the palliative care program. Incorporates 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. Serve on a multidisciplinary team working with patients dealing with end of life issues, terminal or chronic illness. Provide services in an outpatient clinic, inpatient palliative care unit, and inpatient medical units. Provide a consultative service to other areas of the hospital seeking input from palliative care specialists. Assess patient and family needs. Complete psychosocial assessments, including multiaxial DSM diagnosis. Case manage patients with ongoing needs. Referral and coordination of services and resources. Counseling patients and family. Inpatient discharge planning. Placement into skilled nursing facilities or residential care facilities. Counseling and assistance with advance directives for healthcare. Is able to provide individual, group, and family psychotherapy and advanced level case management interventions used in the treatment of veterans with serious medical and psychiatric disorders. Provides services that access the continuum of care. Provides services on an inpatient and outpatient basis. Develops and implements methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services in the palliative care specialty area, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services. Is able to demonstrate the ability to design changes based on empirical findings. Offers consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients treated in specialty areas, rendering professional opinions based on experience and expertise and role modeling effective social work practice skills. Demonstrates the ability to teach and mentor staff and students in the special area of practice and to provide supervision for licensure or specialty certifications. Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Mon - Fri 7:00am - 3:30pm Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Available Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Available PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): 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. 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. Physical Requirements: The physical demands of this position involve lifting, walking, standing, use of both eyes, ability to distinguish basic colors and shades, hearing aid (permitted). The environmental factors of this position involve being able to work outside and/or inside, to work with others, and to work alone. 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 GRADE DETERMINATION: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. 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). Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. 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, *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. References: VA Handbook 5005/120, part II, Appendix G39, Social Worker Qualification Standard GS-0185.

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 San Diego VA Medical Center 3350 La Jolla Village Drive San Diego, CA 92161 US
• Name: Ricky Clark
• Phone: 319-509-6482
• Email: [email protected]