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

Clinical Functions: Senior Social Worker must use a high level of skill in assessing and treating the complicated mental health and psychosocial problems of Veterans and their families/significant others, including case management and assistance with discharge planning of highly complex cases. Incumbent will work frequently with Veterans that may have complex medical and psychiatric needs. The primary function of the Senior Social Worker will be to provide comprehensive case management and discharge planning to Veterans currently receiving services with COMPACT Act / care that is managed / monitored by community mental health/medical facilities. Responsibilities include the management, coordination, and provision of social work and behavioral health services to Veterans and their families in community settings. Additional functions include, but are not limited to: - Work in partnership with VAMC VBA, BAS and financial service - Work in partnership with the Transitional Care Coordination Team. - Actively participate in the treatment planning process with other disciplines and assist with discharge planning. - Provide individual, family, and group counseling as appropriate. - Face-to-face contact to introduce the Veteran to the "face" of VA Behavioral Health Service while inpatient at the Non-VA inpatient mental health facility. The goal being to optimize continuity of care from the non-VA inpatient mental health facility to the VA outpatient setting - Discuss with the Veteran what to expect upon discharge and the reason for such frequent contact - Complete the Suicide Prevention Safety Plans while still in the non-VA inpatient facility. Facilitate appropriate hand off with VA Suicide Prevention Program staff to assure continuity of care when needed. - Build therapeutic alliances with the Veteran and establishing rapport with the non-VA inpatient mental health facility staff/organization - Establish and maintain communication between providers, Veteran, and care team to allow for opportunities for clarification and feedback. Coordination across the spectrum of services. Effective transitions and warm hand-offs. - Ensure Veteran's demographics and contact information are up to date and accurate in CPRS. - Conduct follow-up home visits when Veteran does not show for first follow-up visit/phone call. - Support Veteran's recovery, goals, and preferences for mental health/medical care. - Engage in explicit discussions with the Veteran (and caregiver if available) regarding warning symptoms or signs to monitor that may indicate that the Veteran's condition has worsened and who to contact in an emergency. - Reduce non-VA inpatient facility readmissions and length of stay to support fiscal accountability and cost-savings. - Coach and counsel Veterans and families. - Serves as a role model for utilization of appropriate communication and conflict management techniques, effectively guiding and motivating team members. - Evaluate practice for a service, based on established professional, community and regulatory standards and recommends/implements changes to meet those standards. - Act as liaison between providers, team members, VA and community resources for continuity of care to include identification of need of care at home or alternatives such as outpatient treatment, extended care facility and/or assisted living facility. Administrative Functions: Ensures that COMPACT Act information is disseminated to key stakeholders both internal and external. Fully accountable for practice, including entering Veteran visits, measuring outcomes to interventions, and meeting productivity standards. Ensures timely completion of assessments, treatment plans, discharge plans, and safety plans using designated COMPACT Act templates and coding. Participates in education/CME lectures, research, specialty care programs, and/or clinics as assigned by the Associate Chief of Staff, Behavioral Health Service or Executive Leadership. Participates in local, VISN, and national committees/community networking activities as requested by the Associate Chief of Staff, Behavioral Health Service or Executive Leadership. Performs other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: 8:00 am - 4:30 pm or 7:00 am - 3:30 pm, Monday through Friday Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 54485F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized EDRP Authorized: Contact the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. 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 (MSW) 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. Please note: A doctoral degree in social work may not be substituted for the master's degree in social work. Licensure. Licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level. English Language Proficiency. Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Regulations. 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). Must pass a background check. Grade Requirements: GS-12 Senior Social Worker Assignments. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Senior social workers are licensed or certified to independently practice social work at an advanced level. Senior social workers typically practice in a major program area such as but not limited to: Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center or Polytrauma Network Site; a Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Center, or a national VHA referral center, such as a national Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or a national Transplant Center, or other program areas of equivalent scope and complexity. The senior social worker may be assigned administrative responsibility for clinical program development and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns. Assignments include clinical settings where they have limited access to onsite supervision such as CBOCs or satellite outpatient clinics. The senior social worker collaborates with the other members of the treatment team in the provision of comprehensive health care services to Veterans, ensures equity of access, service, and benefits to this population, ensures the care provided is of the highest quality. The senior social worker provides leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs for assigned social work staff. They serve on committees, work groups, and task forces at the facility, VISN and national level, or in the community as deemed appropriate by the supervisor, Social Work Executive or Chief of Social Work Services. This assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management. This assignment must represent substantial additional responsibility over and above that required at the full performance grade level and cannot be used as the full performance level of this occupation. 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. License. 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: 1. 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. 2. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. 3. 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. 4. 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. 5. 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, Social Worker Qualification Standard. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is a GS-12. Physical Requirements: Physical demands of the work are generally minor. The work is primarily sedentary. There is some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light items such as papers, files, manuals and records. For additional information on Physical Standards please see VA Directive and Handbook 5019. http://www.va.gov/vapubs/

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 Carl Vinson VA Medical Center 1826 Veterans Boulevard Dublin, GA 31021 US
• Name: Jenna McCarthy
• Email: [email protected]