Job opening: Senior Social Worker - Mental Health
Salary: $105 227 - 136 795 per year
Published at: Oct 31 2023
Employment Type: Full-time
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
If you are a current, permanent VA employee or Federal employee from another agency, you should apply under CBST-12187400-24-TC
The Michel E. DeBakey MVA Medical Center is a 1a complexity level facility and provides extensive primary, secondary, tertiary, outpatient, inpatient, residential, and community settings. MEDVAMC is a multi-site healthcare system that includes a major medical facility in Houston, TX and 11 outpatient clinics and growing in the Houston Metropolitan area. MEDVAMC is an academic health care system with significant teaching and research programs.
Major duties include, but are not limited to:
Incumbent performs specialized treatment of complex physical or mental illness.
Incumbent is able to provide outpatient assessment and medication management, supportive therapy, specialized group therapy for veterans with mood disorders, psychotic disorders, and traumatic brain injuries, family treatment and support for all veterans.
Develops and implements methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services in specialty areas, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services.
Coordinates with outside medical facilities to promote continuity of care to include creation of a network of social services providers in the local community to enhance services provided by the VA and fill service gaps identified in the veteran's care and treatment due to limitations in veteran's services.
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.
The Senior Social Worker is assigned administrative responsibility for clinical program development and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns.
The CBOC Outpatient Mental Health Social Worker works and collaborates with MEDVAMC Suicide Prevention Coordinators in providing case management services to the identified suicide high risk Veteran assigned to CBOC.
Performs other duties as assigned.
Work Schedule: Rotating schedule including weekdays, evenings, and weekends
Telework: Not available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 00191F
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized
EDRP Authorized: Contact
[email protected], the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
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 the CSWE website to verify if that social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a master 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 Requirement - Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j.
GS-12 Grade Determinations:
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.
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.
Preferred Experience:
Experience delivering Evidence Based Practice and facilitating groups.
References: VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39 Social Worker Qualification Standard.
The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12.
Physical Requirements: Work is primarily sedentary but also demands standing, walking, bending, twisting, and carrying light items. Performing activities such as sitting, walking, standing, bending and carrying items such as books, papers and files are required. When carrying out job related duties, it may be necessary for the incumbent to travel to MEDVAMC and/or into the community to meet with Veterans, their families, community partners, internal/external stakeholders and other representatives to complete official job related duties. The incumbent must possess a current driver's license, adhere to all VHA/MEDVAMC directives and training requirements when operating a government vehicle to carry out official duties when deemed necessary.
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 Michael E DeBakey VA Medical Center
2002 Holcombe Boulevard
Houston, TX 77030
US
- Name: Timothy Countryman
- Phone: 303-330-7566
- Email: [email protected]
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