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

VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf Social Work: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Social-Worker-Career-Flyer.pdf The Intensive Community Mental Health Recovery-Rural Access Network for Growth Enhancement (ICMHR-RANGE) Senior Social Worker is directly responsible to the Recovery Services Program Manager and ultimately to the Chief of Psychology and Associate Chief of Staff for Mental Health (ACOS MH). ICMHR-RANGE is a complex program with a current maximum capacity of 110 Veterans with severe functional impairments who have chronic severe and persistent mental illness. The program is characterized by high staff to patient ratios, service delivery in the community, practical problem-solving approaches, and a high degree of continuity of care. The program utilizes and interdisciplinary team treatment approach and ICMHR-RANGE clinicians serve as the primary outpatient mental health providers for the Veterans they serve. The ICMHR Senior Social Worker: May be assigned direct clinical program management responsibilities for the ICMHR-RANGE services as indicated by ICMHR Program Coordinator, Recovery Services Program Manager, or Chief of Psychology. May serve as clinical supervisor for employees in lower grades. May be selected by the ICMHR Program Lead, Recovery Services Program Manager or Chief of Psychology to serve as the psychology service representative on various Psychology Service, Mental Health Service Line, System-level, or VISN administrative committees or work groups. May coordinate programming with various mental health and primary care programs in coordination with managers of such programs as well as with discipline supervisors of affected staff assigned to these programs. May be involved in research activities, especially as related to program evaluation responsibilities. May be assigned direct clinical program management responsibilities for the ICMHR-RANGE services as indicated by ICMHR Program Coordinator, Recovery Services Program Manager, or Chief of Psychology. May serve as clinical supervisor for employees in lower grades. May be selected by the ICMHR Program Lead, Recovery Services Program Manager or Chief of Psychology to serve as the psychology service representative on various Psychology Service, Mental Health Service Line, System-level, or VISN administrative committees or work groups. May coordinate programming with various mental health and primary care programs in coordination with managers of such programs as well as with discipline supervisors of affected staff assigned to these programs. May be involved in research activities, especially as related to program evaluation responsibilities. Participates in development of a treatment plan that includes measurable goals based on relevant biopsychosocial information for each Veteran contacted through outreach, and is responsible for the assessment, identification, facilitation, referral, and linkage to appropriate medical, psychiatric, and social services for Veterans identified as eligible for services. Duties are continued in the Education Section of this announcement. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8 AM - 4:30 PM Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Authorized EDRP Authorized: Contact the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance at [email protected]. Learn more Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of existing pay, higher or unique qualifications, or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade). Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience. Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child. Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66. Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Telework: Ad/Hoc Telework may be authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 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/. Physical Requirements. Moderate lifting/carrying (15-44 lbs), Use of fingers, Walking 5 hours, Standing 3 hours, Operation of a crane, truck, tractor, or motor vehicle, Ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously, Near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4, Far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other, Both eyes required, Depth Perception, Ability to distinguish basic colors, Hearing (aid permitted) 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 meet this requirement through the Grandfathering Provision Preferred Experience: Full unrestricted license as an advanced practice level social worker no less than one year of clinical experience with individuals diagnosed with population diagnosed with serious mental illness no less than one year of experience providing community-based care management and clinical services clear documentation of experience providing experience based clinical practices (IE cognitive behavioral therapy for psychosis, social skills training, DBT, ETC...) to the population diagnosed with SMI No less than one year working with an integrated interdisciplinary mental health clinical team Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade level. Senior Social Worker, GS-12 Experience and 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. Individuals assigned Senior Social Worker must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level and must be able to provide supervision for licensure. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate 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 Physical Requirements: Moderate lifting/carrying (15-44 lbs), Use of fingers, Walking 5 hours, Standing 3 hours, Operation of a crane, truck, tractor, or motor vehicle, Ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously, Near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4, Far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other, Both eyes required, Depth Perception, Ability to distinguish basic colors, Hearing (aid permitted) References: VA Handbook 5005/120 Part II Appendix G39, September 10, 2019 The grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12.

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.

Note: If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.

Note: If your school was accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) at the time of graduation but is no longer listed on the CSWE website, you must provide documentation of accreditation with your application packet. 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.

Duties Continued:

• Conducts individual and family clinical interventions to facilitate the identification of substance abuse, psychiatric illness, and social needs as treatment issues. Professional judgment, including the knowledge of normal and abnormal behavior, is a competency applied in daily interactions with Veterans.
• Participates in the assignment of Veterans to VA treatment teams and programs, including consulting with relevant program clinical staff in planning treatment for Veterans with comorbidities.
• Facilitates community organization and outreach to alleviate problems that may interfere with Veterans' ability to achieve independence.
• Assists the Veteran in service stabilization by consulting and intervening when problems arise with service providers and assists in prioritizing the management and pace of services Veterans receive.
• Provides community based ICMHR Services with use of government owned vehicle, including the transportation of Veterans in government owned vehicles when clinically indicated and a part of the Veteran's recovery plan.
• Ensures utilization of government owned equipment (i.e., laptop computers, phones, hotspots, and government owned vehicles) in accordance with medical center policies.
• Assesses high risk factors, acuity, and need for services of Veterans who tend to have frequent and severe crises, lack family or an adequate community support network, be poor at self-monitoring, frequently fail to comply with instructions and treatment, or have significant deficits in coping skills and require continuing professional psychosocial support.
• Diagnoses mental disorders and conducts psychosocial assessments as needed to determine appropriate treatment interventions, modalities, and referrals, including provision of adjunctive interventions for treatment of mental disorders using individual, family, and group psychotherapies.
• Identifies and interviews Veterans community-based and clinic-based settings to conduct needs assessments and determine appropriate referrals, linkages, and coordination for VA and non-VA services to enhance function in the community.
• May provide clinical consultation to various disciplines and levels of training including PACT Team members, Social Workers, General Mental Health Providers, and other members of the VA community.
• May provide training/consultation to incoming social work interns, psychology interns, medical residents, nursing students, and fellows.
• May provide leadership, guidance, and consultation on staff education and development to all ICMHR staff, as appropriate.

Contacts

• Address VA TX Valley Coastal Bend HCS 2601 Veterans Drive Harlingen, TX 78550 US
• Name: VISN 17 SSU USAS Group
• Email: [email protected]