Job opening: Senior Social Worker
Salary: $89 329 - 116 124 per year
Published at: Feb 29 2024
Employment Type: Full-time
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
This position serves as Senior Social Worker in the PTSD Clinical Team Specialty Program at the Alexandria VA Health Care System (AVAHCS).Duties includes but not limited to:
**If you are not a current, permanent VA employee or Federal employee from another agency, you should apply to CBST-12320552-24-GJ**
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.
The senior social worker collaborates with the other members of the interdisciplinary treatment team in the provision of comprehensive mental health services to Veterans, ensures equity of access, service, and benefits to this population and ensures the care provided is of the highest quality.
The senior social worker is able to provide leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs related to area of specialization. They are expected to serve on committees, work groups, and task forces at the facility, VISN and national level, or in the community as deemed appropriate.
Advanced knowledge of and mastery of theories and modalities used in the specialized treatment of complex physical or mental illness. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment of veteran patients, including making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnoses within approved clinical privileges.
Ability to determine priority for services and provide specialized treatment services. Advanced and expert skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities used in specialty treatment programs or with special patient populations. This includes individual, group, couples and/or family counseling or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial and/or case management interventions used in the treatment of veterans with PTSD and other co-occurring conditions such as substance use disorders.
Advanced knowledge and expert skill 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. Ability to coordinate the delivery of specialized psychosocial services and programs. Ability to design system changes based on empirical findings.
Delivers services both in person and via video technology.
Supervises trainees conducting direct clinical care.
Provides administrative duties including managing Return to Clinic Orders and consults for Veterans as needed, returning Veterans' phone calls and secure messages, writing reports, scoring Measure Based Care tools, attending organizational meetings.
Work Schedule: 8:00am-4:30pm, Monday-Friday
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 502-00530-F
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
EDRP Authorized: Contact
[email protected], the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
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.
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.
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:
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.
Preferred Experience:
Specialized experience with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and common comorbid conditions.
Experience with evidence based psychotherapies for PTSD to include cognitive processing therapy, prolonged exposure therapy, and eye movement and desensitization reprocessing therapy.
Experience with interdisciplinary teams.
References: VA Handbook 5005 Appendix G39
The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12.
Physical Requirements: Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation, see Duties section for essential job duties of the position. May require standing, lifting, carrying, sitting, stooping, bending, pulling, and pushing. May be required to wear personal protective equipment and undergo annual TB screening or testing as conditions of employment.
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 Alexandria VA Medical Center
2495 Shreveport Highway
Pineville, LA 71360
US
- Name: Grace Jackson
- Phone: 725-780-8676
- Email: [email protected]
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