This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until September 30, 2024. The first cut-off dates for referral of eligible applications will be 02/12/2024. All eligible applicants will be reviewed and referred to the hiring manager no later than 02/16/2024. Eligible applications received after 02/12/2024 date will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as-needed basis until positions are filled.

Duties

VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU The social worker will provide service to the Veteran population enrolled at the Central Alabama Veterans HealthCare System(CAVHCS) Mental Health Clinic on both the West and East Campuses. This position is fulltime and license on an independent level. Person hired will work within the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Clinical Team(PCT) program to assist in the delivery of evidence based care for Veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorders. The social worker plays an integral member of the multidisciplinary team providing mental health services to patients in PCT team. The Social Worker performs specialized treatment(s) in the area of the screening, assessment, and intervention. The Social Worker practices in this area under the Mental Health Service Line. Incumbent will be responsible for care management, monitoring patients, providing education and support, influencing adherence to guidelines by providing "on-time, on-target" information to team, adherence to program monitoring and outcome measures implemented, and collaboratively making appropriate care decisions The Senior Social Worker performs specialized treatment of complex physical or mental illness. Additionally, the incumbent incorporates complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment of Veteran patients, including making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnoses within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. The Social Worker interviews and conducts bio-psychosocial assessments to establish Veteran's treatment needs, presenting problems, and provide a clinical impression. The incumbent assesses high risk factors, acuity and need for services. The Social Worker interprets and explains VA treatment and benefit programs. The social worker reviews assessments completed by others, and obtains missing information from providers, patients, and medical records. Utilizing knowledge of mental health special emphasis programs including but not limited to PTSD Program, Substance Abuse Program, Post Deployment Clinic, Mental Health Intensive Case Management Program, and Vet Centers. The social worker provides individual and group therapy to Veterans with PTSD. Also provides psychoeducational and skill-building groups for Veterans, group cohorts, and/or Veterans' families. Services are advanced and of a specialized nature, such as providing a VA approved evidenced based psychotherapy. Provides wellness and prevention education and facilitates Veteran/family support groups as appropriate. The incumbent will assist in the development & implementation of policies & procedures pertinent to the program, including quality assurance & program evaluation activities as required by MIRECC,VACO,CAVHCS,NEPEC, Joint Commission, others. Work Schedule: Monday to Friday 8:00am to 4:30pm Telework: Not Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 619794 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not 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. 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 thttp://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/. English Language Proficiency: Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j 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). Preferred Experience: NA Grade Determinations: GS-12, One year of experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressively more professional competency. Candidate may have certification or other post-master's degree training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship, or equivalent supervised professional experience. Senior Social Worker, GS-12 (1) 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. (2) 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. (3) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: (a) 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. (b) Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. (c) 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. (d) 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. (e) 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. (4) 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. References: VA Handbook 5005/120, PART II, Appendix G39, Dated September 10, 2019. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: This position is mostly sedentary and requires walking, kneeling, bending, standing, and light 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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address Central Alabama VA Medical Center-Montgomery 215 Perry Hill Road Montgomery, AL 36109 US
• Name: Sherrita Hamilton
• Phone: 205-702-1479
• Email: [email protected]