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

The CBOC GS-12 Senior Social Worker is the sole mental health provider at a VAPORHCS remote satellite outpatient clinic, At these clinic locations, the social worker functions without access to on-site supervision or consultation. The Senior Social Worker will utilize advanced knowledge and mastery of psychotherapy and case management to provide mental health services to the Veteran population enrolled at VAPORHCS and treated at the satellite clinic. Clinical services include provision of high-quality individual and group psychotherapy, psychosocial assessment, advocacy, and coordination of linkages to other appropriate VA or community service providers/agencies as needed by the Veteran. This is accomplished in collaboration with other members of the Mental Health Division or other interdisciplinary treatment teams as appropriate. Additionally, telemental health (TMH) and the use of clinical video teleconferencing (CVT) approaches may be used to provide clinical care. The duties of this position include but are not limited to the following: Screening/Assessment - The Senior Social Worker will use advanced knowledge and mastery of theories of mental illness and specialized treatment to develop a diagnosis and treatment plan. The goal of the diagnosis and treatment plan is to highlight the Veteran's strengths, limitations, and internal/external supports and service needs in order to optimize the Veteran's functional status. The biopsychosocial assessment will include clinical interview, administration of psychiatric assessment instruments, and/or collateral information. Based on the biopsychosocial assessment, the mental health Senior Social Worker uses professional judgment and advanced practice skills to make a multiaxial diagnosis assessment using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The Senior Social Worker provides goal planning, evaluation, and intervention with serious and complicated, highly diverse cases involving substance abuse and psychiatric illness. He/she demonstrates an understanding of current and advanced techniques to the treatment of this Veteran population related to their physical limitations, psychological needs, psychiatric conditions, environmental needs and age associated illnesses and conditions. Treatment Planning/Goal Setting - Utilizing advanced knowledge and mastery, the Senior Social Worker will develop or contribute to the development of the mental health treatment plan, setting achievable treatment goals with the Veteran/family and with the interdisciplinary treatment team. The Senior Social Worker provides independent consultation and makes recommendations to the interdisciplinary team on course of treatment. Psychotherapy - The Senior Social Worker will provide Veterans with expert level psychotherapy. The purpose of such counseling is to deal with the psychosocial impact of coping with chronic/disabling psychiatric illness (es), onset of a catastrophic illness, and to promote psychiatric wellness. Utilizing advanced knowledge and mastery, the Senior Social Worker provides evidence-based individual, family and group psychotherapy. The Senior Social Worker performs as a highly developed professional, with knowledge and experience that is required in working with the full range of disorders, including chronic and severe mental illness, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, substance use disorders and dual diagnosis. Case Management - The Senior Social Worker will provide comprehensive advanced level case management services. These services include, but are not limited to, assistance with housing, income and benefits, community programs/services and VA programs and/or will provide placement assistance to ensure the Veteran's care needs are being met. The Senior Social Worker will be at Duty station of Hillsboro serving Astoria. May require one day of travel per week. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 0800-1630 Telework: Ad hoc telework maybe available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: Contact [email protected], the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more 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. Current state requirements may be found by going to http://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f). 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 (1) 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. (2) 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. (3) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. 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. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/120 PART II APPENDIX G39 Physical Requirements: Moderate lifting; Light carrying; straight pulling; Reaching above shoulder; Use of fingers; Walking; Standing; 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; ability to distinguish colors.

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 Portland Health Care System 3710 Southwest US Veterans Hospital Road Portland, OR 97239 US
• Name: Artan Hoxha
• Phone: 5032208262 X58486
• Email: [email protected]