The incumbent serves as the Substance Use Specialist for the Knoxville Housing and Urban Development - Veterans Affairs Supported Housing (HUD-VASH) program provides treatment for those struggling with substance use and addiction. This social worker serves as an advanced practice therapist, and has mastery of theories and modalities used in the specialized treatment of complex chronic mental illness and substance abuse.

Duties

VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU The Senior Social Worker (Substance Use Specialist) HUD-VASH provides services at an advanced practice level and provides clinical intervention through groups, individual/family crisis services and case management to eligible Veterans and their family members to meet biological, psychological, social, and housing needs. The duties of the incumbent are highly complex and require an in-depth administrative knowledge, clinical expertise, and complex program managerial skills in the independent management of homeless and employment services. Duties include but are not limited to: Completes assessment of Veterans in collaboration with referral sources, the Veteran, family members, and significant others. Exhibits experience diagnosing and treating substance use disorder, dual diagnosis, severe and persistent mental illness, personality disorders, and the interactions between these conditions and housing instability / homelessness. Uses assessment tools and methods of evaluation that meet or exceed the standard of care based on current VA guidelines. Incorporates psychosocial, cultural and environmental factors, especially including family, friends, and other key supports when collaboratively planning treatment with Veterans. Maintains collaborative relationships with referral sources and local programs to assure that appropriate clinical services are considered. Participates actively in the resolution of Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) and HUD-VASH program eligibility and screening inquiries. Provides individual, family, and group therapy for Veterans served within the HUD-VASH or HCHV programs. Works with Medical Support Assistants, Program Coordinators, and other Mental Health staff to facilitate timely referrals, enrollment, and admissions. Responsible for developing treatment plans using Mental Health Suite with each Veteran. Works within the HUD-VASH, Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) Programs, and other interdisciplinary treatment teams to develop a collaborative treatment plan with each Veteran. Makes rapid assessments and develops crisis management plans, to include familiarity with welfare checks, admission for inpatient psychiatric services, residential rehabilitation and medical detoxification services. Maintains and follows required training and certification involving telehealth services, incorporating telephone and video care into daily operations. Enters psychosocial assessments, treatment plans, ongoing case management/therapy, and progress notes in the electronic record. Maintains expert knowledge of eligibility requirements for VA / Community services and resources. Provides clinical guidance and consultation with colleagues, HUD-VASH and HCHV staff, Social Work Interns or Students, Outpatient Providers, Peer Specialists, Medical Support Assistants, and other positions involved in the care of local Veterans in recovery. Preferred Knowledge: Expert knowledge of the principles and theoretical concepts of Social Work as well as the administrative mechanisms appropriate to the assignment as a Substance Use Specialist. Uses professional knowledge of principles and practices of therapy, clinical case management, discharge planning, medical services, managed care utilization review, resource allocation, organizational structure and function, and health care benefits to develop plans to solve patient, provider, and system problems, inefficiencies, or duplication. Advanced knowledge and expert skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities used in caring for Veterans presenting with Substance Use, including a wide variety of potentially simultaneous mental health and psychosocial issues such as Severe Mental Illness, and Personality Disorders. Advanced knowledge of and mastery of theories and modalities used in the specialized treatment of complex physical or mental illness. Specifically, the incumbent has the experience and training required to perform assessments and evaluations, treatment plans, case management and treatment, and clinical interventions for Veterans. Advanced knowledge and expert skill in developing and implementing methods for measuring effectiveness of Social Work practice and services with a wide variety of mental health and psychosocial issues. This includes individual, group, and/or family counseling or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial and/or case management interventions. Expert ability to recognize opportunities for improvement and offer solutions using management principles and techniques.(continued under requirements section) Work Schedule: Monday through Friday 7:45am- 4:30pm Telework: Ad-hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 0000 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 - Candidates must 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 - Social workers at the GS-12 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. 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 Level: Senior Social Workers must posses 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, and are able to demonstrate the following knowledge, skills and abilities: (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. References: VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: All candidates 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. Candidates must meet the physical requirements outlined in Section II and Section VI of the OPM Operating Manual, Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions and must possess emotional and mental stability. Preferred Knowledge (continued): F. Ability to provide expert subject matter consultation to staff supervised, colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients treated in the specialty area, rendering professional opinions based on experience and expertise and role modeling effective social work practice skills. Ability to teach and mentor staff and students in the specialty area of practice and to provide supervision for licensure or for specialty certifications. G. Advanced knowledge and demonstrated ability to expand clinical knowledge in the profession, demonstrating innovation in the creation of new models of psychosocial assessment and intervention, evidenced through the ability to present histories, assessments, behavioral observations, mental health assessment results, and discuss diagnostic issues in training sessions, treatment team meetings, and in other case conferences. H. Expert ability to administer a structured interviews and assessments with a wide variety of patient populations, with a wide variety of mental health and psychosocial issues such as those diagnoses found in the DSM IV, and particularly SMI (including PTSD), Dual Diagnosis, personality disorders and substance abuse, and Women Veterans, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation New Dawn (OEF/ OIF/OND) Veterans, elderly Veterans and /or Veterans with families. I. Expert ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with clients, staff, and representatives of community agencies. Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, with people from varied backgrounds. J. Advance knowledge of community resources; how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services; and ability to prioritize and coordinate services. K. Expert ability to negotiate, procure, and advocate to effectively match Veterans with the right services and incorporate, risk management, state laws, current trends in disease prevention, and epidemiological/population-based resourcing in performance of daily job functions. L. Advanced knowledge of current/new information in the field of case management and federal, state, local regulations through professional reading, in-services and conferences. M. Advanced knowledge and demonstrated ability to write policies, procedures and/or practice guidelines pertaining to Veterans with diagnoses found in the DSM-V and co-occurring disorder histories and be expertly skilled in the recording of detailed behavioral observations and the writing of progress notes and reassessment reports. N. Advanced knowledge of computerized processing operations and procedures and is competent in word processing, data management programs and other relevant computer applications. O. Expert ability to evaluate his/her own practice as well as that of others through participation in professional peer review, case conferences, research studies, and/or organized means. P. Advanced knowledge of legal, ethical, and professional standards applicable to Social Work practice. Q. Advanced knowledge of Social Work practices in health care and mental health settings including resources, and the policies and procedures pertaining to home and community based care, acute care, ambulatory care, long-term care, performance measures, and clinical guidelines. R. Ability to independently organize work, set priorities, and meet multiple deadlines. S. Knowledge of supervisory duties which includes clinical supervision, consultation, negotiation with other departments and quality improvement. T. Ability to ensure provision of clinical social worker services. U. Ability to provide staff training and development. V. Skill in interpersonal relationships in dealing with employees, team leaders, and managers. Ability to provide staff training and development. Ability to ensure provisionally

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 James H Quillen VA Medical Center Corner of Lamont Street and Veterans Way Mountain Home, TN 37684 US
• Name: Yvonne Laguna
• Phone: 1-858-623-1873
• Email: [email protected]