The Senior Social Worker for the Emergency Department (Safety Planning for Emergency Department -SPED) will practice social work in a specialty treatment program. The selectee is assigned for both administrative and clinical responsibility in the Emergency Department, under the direct supervision of the Social Work Section Chief, MH or designee, or may receive supervision and directions on daily duties from and to the Mental Health Lead.

Duties

The Senior Social Worker is primarily assigned to the Emergency Department (ED) with the major responsibility of completing full behavioral health evaluation of Veterans determined to be at risk for suicide but deemed safe to be discharged home. The Senior Social Worker will screen for suicide risk for Veterans at the ED and including specialty clinics as part of the triage 2 process. They will complete Safety Plans, and the Comprehensive Suicide Risk Evaluation (CSRE), if needed. The Senior Social Worker will assist the ED staff with Medication Assistance Treatment to include facilitating screening methods such as the Screening Brief Intervention & Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) and the Brief Addition Monitor (BAM) for further assessment. The Senior Social Worker performs specialized treatment of complex physical or mental illness. The incumbent 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. Major duties include, but are not limited to: Provides individual, group, and family psychotherapy and advanced level case management interventions used in the treatment of veterans with polytrauma injuries, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, visual impairment, post-traumatic stress disorder, addictions, and other serious disorders. Practice and services in specialty areas, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services. Incumbent 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. Independently provides advanced-level diagnosis, assessment, treatment, planning, and advanced case management services to veterans with highly complex mental health problems, including dual diagnoses, reflecting the age-specific, psychosocial, and functional needs of the patient. Independently performs mental status examinations in the field and independently determine whether a veteran meets criteria for involuntary psychiatric examination (Baker Act), and ability to provide continuous case management services through hospitalization, discharge, and return to the community. Independently makes decisions in crisis management situations to include -potentially suicidal or homicidal veterans; psychiatrically decompensated veterans; veterans at risk of abuse, neglect, or exploitation; and veterans experiencing severe lack of social-economic supports -using advanced clinical training and professional skills, and effectively uses his/her problem-solving skills to assist the veteran, family, and staff. Work Schedule: The shift is primarily 8 AM - 6:30 PM. Hours and days may be rotated, extended, or changed to meet the needs of our Veterans and this Medical Center. Rotation may include weekend days. Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: SENIOR SOCIAL WORKER (SUICIDE PREVENTION-SAFETY PLANNING EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT) Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

Applicants must meet the requirements by the closing date 10/02/2023 of this announcement. 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: 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/. 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: In addition to meeting the basic requirements stated above, the following qualifications criteria must be met in determining the appropriate grade assignment of candidates. GS-12 Senior Social Workercandidates must have the following: Experience/Education: Must have at least two (2) years of experience post advanced practice clinical licensure and should be in a specialized area of social work practice of which, one (1) 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. It must be submitted with application. AND 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. Advanced License must be submitted with application. References: VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39, Social Worker Qualification Standard, dated 9/10/19. While we no longer require essay-style responses to our Knowledge's Skills, Abilities, and Other Characteristics (KSAOs), you must be able to demonstrate that you possess the (below) competencies which are necessary to perform the work of the position. Please ensure your resume/CV/application contains sufficient information to support the level of experience/education/training; otherwise, we will not be able to award you credit for the experience/education/training you claim. If selected, you may be required to submit narrative responses then. These are the KSA's for this subject position and grade level: 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: The physical demands of the work requires use of fingers; moderate walking and standing; near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4; far vision correctable in on eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other; hearing aid permitted; clear speech; emotional stability; moderate duty.

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.

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application.

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 James A Haley Veterans Hospital 13000 Bruce B. Downs Boulevard Tampa, FL 33612 US
• Name: Ashley Beaver
• Phone: (814) 943-8164
• Email: [email protected]