Recruitment/Relocation incentive Authorized Eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. Must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within 4 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 EDRP application.

Duties

The Social Worker is located at a Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) in Wasilla, AK. They independently provide clinical psychosocial and evidence based face to face and virtual Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Therapy at an advanced practice level to eligible CBOC veterans and their family members to meet biological, psychological, social and environmental needs. The incumbent serves veterans who tend to have serious, frequent and severe crises, lack family or adequate community support networks, frequently fails to comply with instructions and treatments; have significant deficits in coping skills and require continuing psychosocial support. The CBOC Social Worker provides a continuum of care encompassing individual, group, couple and family counseling, demonstrating possession of advanced practice skills and judgment. Duties will include: Performs specialized treatment of complex physical or mental illness. Responsible for the overall function of program development, recruitment of veteran patients, case management, networking with community resources, and coordination of care with the psychiatrist and medical staff on site as well as various departments at the Alaska VA Healthcare Services and community facilities in the primary service area. Provides training to Social Work interns, residents and staff from other disciplines. Topics include the impact of psychosocial and psychiatric issues that may directly affect their care. Provides consultation and guidance to colleagues, role model effective social work practice skills, teach or provide orientation to less experienced social workers, develop innovations in practice interventions, and provide clinical supervision for social work licensure or certification. Has extensive knowledge of medical center policies and procedures, VHA and VBA regulations, as well as a knowledge base of reporting to Alaska Office of Adult and/or Children Services. Receives and completes consults from interdisciplinary teams and other social workers on complex difficult cases using advance practice skills and expertise. Provides consultation to referral sources and is responsible for development and maintenance of professional standards of practice and educating others regarding same. Documents independently in CPRS electronic medical records, including psychosocial assessments, diagnostics, treatment, progress notes, follow up and referrals. Interviews and conducts psychosocial assessments to establish veteran's treatment needs, presenting problems, and DSM V diagnoses. Assesses high risk factors, acuity and need for services. Interprets and explains VA treatment and benefit programs. Develops the treatment plan that includes measurable time limited treatment goals. The treatment plan will be reviewed during therapeutic sessions and reassessed as appropriate. Provides independent consultation and makes recommendations to interdisciplinary team on course of treatment. These decisions are based on the CBOC social worker's advanced practice skills, professional judgment and expertise regarding the veteran's condition and treatment. Acts as an advocate when appropriate and feasible while encouraging the veteran and family to advocate on their own behalf thus fostering a sense of independence and empowerment. Represents the VA in the community in a positive and professional manner. Makes rapid assessments and develops crisis management plans for admission to mental health inpatient programs. In the event of an alleged abuse case, medical or psychiatric emergency, the medical center policy will be followed. Ensures that the interdisciplinary team is kept informed of any concerns with the patient and/or caregiver. Evaluates his/her practice on an on-going basis through participation in professional peer review, case conferences, research studies, or other organized means. Is active in and accepts responsibility for the development and maintenance of professional standards of treatment. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00AM-4:30PM Telework: Available Compressed Schedule: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Recruitment Authorized EDRP Authorized: Please contact the VISN 20 EDRP Coordinator @ [email protected] Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. 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/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. 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). 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: GS-12 Senior Social Worker 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: VHA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G39. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: Light lifting (under 15 lbs), moderate carrying (15-44 lbs), use of fingers, walking and standing (2 hours), near vision correctable, far vision correctable, both eyes required, hearing (aid may be permitted), emotional/mental stability. Environmental Factors: outside and inside, dry atmospheric conditions, working closely with others, working alone.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript with confer date 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 Anchorage VA Medical Center 1201 North Muldoon Road Anchorage, AK 99504 US
• Name: Delilah Black
• Phone: 215-823-5800 X6491
• Email: [email protected]