The Social Worker is a member of Mental Health Service, and functions as the Substance Abuse Disorders (SUDs) specialist for Primary Care Mental Health Integration (PCMHI). Functions as part of an interdisciplinary primary care team, working closely with other PCMHI providers and the Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) members to provide consultation, facilitate warm-hand offs and offer adjunctive interventions for Veterans with substance abuse and other medical and mental health disorders.

Duties

VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU The incumbent will be assigned to the Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program (BHIP) within Mental Health Service. He/She functions as a member of the BHIP interdisciplinary team, provides care to Veterans with a variety of mental health concerns, including with substance use disorders(SUD). with substance use disorders (SUD), and is responsible for providing prevention services to diminish risks that are secondary to addictive problems. The social worker attends substance abuse trainings and works with the BHIP supervisory staff to ensure clinical coverage when the psychologist is on leave. Duties are but not limited to: Provides a full range of psychological assessment services and diagnoses mental disorders, particularly for Veterans with substance use disorders. Provides recovery-oriented education to patients, family members, and significant others. Provides comprehensive, evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions, including individual, family, and group psychotherapy appropriate to patient needs and desires, including individual, family, and group psychotherapy (e.g., Motivational Interviewing (Ml), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), mindfulness training, stress reduction, contingency management therapies, and health behavior management groups, etc.) as indicated. Provides consultation to professional staff within VA Medical Center at Memphis and to community providers concerning clinical assessment findings and appropriate treatment plans for Veterans with SUD diagnoses. Develops, implements, and documents the psychotherapeutic treatment plan for an assigned caseload of patients, including prompt completion of clinical reminders. Assumes complete professional responsibility for his/her clinical assessment findings, patient care decisions, and documentation. Assists the team coordinators in the design, development, and implementation of clinical programs addressing the needs of Veterans with SUD diagnoses and other mental health concerns. Provides teaching on selected mental health topics to community organizations. Adheres to operational policies and procedures for the BHIP program as established by the Chief of Mental Health Service. Assists the team in the execution of ongoing program evaluation and data-driven quality improvement projects to monitor the effectiveness of the clinical program. Work Schedule: Primarily Monday-Friday, 8-4:30, but may have occasional evening and weekend hours, based on operational needs. Telework: Part time telework may be available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Title/Functional Statement #:SUD Specialist for BHIP Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized for the highly qualified candidate(s) Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Authorized. Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

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. 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). Grade Determinations: Senior Social Worker, GS12, 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, 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, procedures, and/or practice guidelines pertaining to the service delivery area. References: VA Handbook 5005/120 Part II Appendix G39The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. 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 Memphis VA Medical Center 1030 Jefferson Avenue Memphis, TN 38104 US
• Name: Priscilla Bolding
• Phone: 407-463-5211
• Email: [email protected]