The Senior Social Worker practices in the Behavioral Health clinical settings to provide mental health services as the licensed clinical social worker. The Senior Social Worker is assigned to work within the Suicide Prevention Program team to provide these services ensuring Veterans timely access to mental health and psychosocial services. The work of this position is highly complex, involving a combination of mental health administrative skills and intensive clinical services.

Duties

The Senior Social Worker performs specialized treatment of complex physical and mental illness for Veterans in the Behavioral Health clinical settings at Lebanon, Community Based Outpatient Clinics, or within the Primary Care setting. Services are primarily provided in the outpatient and inpatient BH clinics at Lebanon, but may also involve providing care in residential programs, the emergency department, Primary Care offices, inpatient wards or community settings, and may involve providing for coverage needs within the Care Line and providing extended evening or weekend hours. The incumbent will function with very little supervisory control and must demonstrate significantly advanced clinical skills and be able to function independently. Incorporates complex multiple causation in treatment of Veteran patients, including making psychosocial assessments, providing case management and providing psychotherapy within approved scope of practice: Specific tasks may include triage, evaluation and psychosocial assessment, treatment planning, and coordination of care for patients in the program, functioning as the Primary Mental Health Treatment Coordinator; providing individual and group psychotherapy; consultation with other program areas and staff as appropriate. The Senior Social Worker 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, including those in need of intensive substance use disorders treatment. The Social Worker provides services that access the continuum of care. The Social Worker provides services primarily on an outpatient basis during normal business hours but may have responsibilities to include extended evening and/or weekend hours, and performance of duties within various BH&S programs (acute inpatient psychiatry, residential programs, primary care-mental health integration, etc.). The Senior Social Worker 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. The incumbent 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 incumbent will participate in the facility's rotating on-call system. Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 / Senior SW Suicide Prevention Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): 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. 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, GS-12 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, PART II, APPENDIX G39 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: The work requires sitting, bending, stooping and walking consistent with the delivery of services in the office, hospital and community. The position may entail lifting of no more than 25 pounds on an occasional basis. Whenever possible, carts and dollies will be utilized as an alternative to lifting.

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 Lebanon VA Medical Center 1700 South Lincoln Avenue Lebanon, PA 17042 US
• Name: Evan Lynch
• Phone: 3152439074
• Email: [email protected]