The Columbia VA Health Care System (VAHCS) opened in 1932 at its current location. The facility has 204 skilled nursing beds, which includes acute medical, surgical, psychiatric, and long-term care. The hospital provides primary, secondary, and some tertiary care. The facility is a complex teaching hospital, providing a full range of patient care services, with state-of-the-art technology, education, and research.

Duties

DUTIES: Providing advanced screening, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of depressive and anxiety-related disorders, as well as other mental health conditions as outlined in the DMS-5 with the exception to personality disorder, with an emphasis on the application of time-limited, evidence-based approaches Assessing and providing specialized treatments for subclinical symptoms of dysphoria and anxiety, adjustment difficulties, and excessive use or misuse of alcohol or other drugs (for which the patient may have a lower-than-normal tolerance due to their medical conditions and the potential for negative interactions with prescribed medication) Providing mental health prevention services to patients at significant risk for mental illnesses Providing services to the families of Veterans with dementia being served by HBPC, when such care is directly related to the overall treatment plan for the Veteran. These services will allow better care for the Veteran and sustain the Veteran in the home environment. For example, family members may be trained to better manage behavioral problems associated with dementia; such training may allow the HBPC Team to reduce the use of psychoactive medications as a means of controlling behavioral problems Providing clinical services through the use of telemental health/telehome technology Providing specialized screening for cognitive deficits to address specific functional questions or to determine if a referral for a complete neuropsychological evaluation or dementia assessment is needed Assessing patients' understanding of advance directives and other forms of consent and assisting staff in determining how to present treatment options and other such materials to patients in a format they can understand Providing psychoeducational and supportive interventions, in conjunction with the Veteran, for spouses, family members/caregivers, and others that are crucial to keeping the Veteran at home Providing individual and group interventions to support patients who are coping with feelings of grief and loss associated with disability and other life transitions Providing effective interventions with couples or families, when appropriate, to relieve relationship difficulties, provide support to caregivers of Veterans with dementia or other significant frailty, and/or promote collaboration with the HBPC Team, for the benefit of the Veteran. At all times, the necessity for and benefit of the intervention for the Veteran should be documented and included as part of the Veteran's treatment plan Facilitating transitions and adjustments to new living situations (e.g., nursing home, assisted living), and providing seamless intervention services, as appropriate Providing behavioral medicine interventions to manage pain, sleep problems, facilitate weight loss, promote smoking cessation, and enhance medical compliance Promoting communication/ interactions between medical team members, patients, and their families to facilitate the medical treatment process Providing clinical supervision to students and interns Assures the appropriate referrals to specialty programs, including community resources, are accomplished. This may include ordering the following consults: Mental Health Program (eg. Additions, Post Traumatic Stress, Mental Health Intensive Case Management, Compensated Work Therapy, Homeless, Day Treatment), Vocational Rehabilitation, Long Term Care and other community resources. Work Schedule: M-F 8:00am - 4:30pm Telework: Available Travel: Up to 75% may be required. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. EDRP Authorized: 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. Program 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. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact [email protected], the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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. English Language Proficiency. In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. 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. Licensed or certified 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 SW Licensure Summary by State. Grandfathering Provision: The following is the standard grandfathering policy for all title 38 hybrid qualification standards. Please carefully review the qualification standard to determine the specific education and/or licensure/certification/registration requirements that apply to this occupation. Such employees in an occupation that requires a licensure or certification, may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level, or changed to lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the journey level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions. Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard. Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration that meet all of the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation. If an employee who was retained in an occupation listed in 38 U.S.C. § 7401(3) under this provision leaves that occupation, the employee loses protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation. Grade Determinations 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. 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. 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. Preferred Experience 1-2 years of social work employed experience working in mental health and primary care. Reference: VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G-39 Social Worker Qualification Standard. This can be found in the local Human Resources Office. Physical Requirements: Eligible applicants must be physically and mentally able to perform efficiently the essential functions of the position, with or without reasonable accommodation, without hazard to themselves or others. Depending on the essential duties of a specific position, usable vision, color vision, hearing or speech may be required. However, in most cases, a specific physical condition or impairment of a specific function may be compensated for by the satisfactory use of a prosthesis or mechanical aid.

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 Columbia VA Health Care System 6439 Garners Ferry Road Columbia, SC 29209 US
• Name: Shaundrel Land
• Phone: 4042457329
• Email: [email protected]