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.

Duties

This Senior Social Worker position is in Social Work services at the Bedford Healthcare Systems located at the Bedford Massachusetts location. This position is full-time at 40 hours per week. The Senior Social Worker serves as the Women's Health Senior Social Worker functions at an independent level that is supportive and contributes to the overall functioning of the Women Veterans Program and Women Veteran's Program Manager. Duties include but are not limited to: Supports consults and service requests, identifies, screens, and refers veterans for additional services; Provides women's health social work training to staff regarding women Veteran care needs and the Women Veterans program; Works collaboratively with Interdisciplinary PACT teams, gynecology, mental health and other specialty clinics to ensure timely and appropriate services to veterans referred for Social Work intervention and care planning; Works to ensure compliance within VHA directives, facility policies and operating procedures and bulletins, Joint Commission and other accrediting body standards, within the supervisory instruction and guidance; Supports the mission, policies, and procedures of VA, the Veteran's Health Administration (VHA), the appropriate Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN), and the facility; Serves on committees, work groups, and task forces at the facility, VISN, and/or VA Central Office levels; Represents women's health and VA Bedford in outreach and educational events; Provides clinical care and intervention including assessment, treatment intervention, treatment planning, and referrals to appropriate VA and community resources; Utilizes and has a high level of skill in Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT), motivational interviewing, and treating complicated issues with evidenced based frameworks including psychosocial problems, chronic medical or mental illness as it relates to women's health; Utilizes evidence-based practice therapy focus within the practice of care, support veterans and their families who are experiencing a range of complicated medical, metal, emotional, behavioral, physical, psychosocial and environmental problems; Evaluates, assesses, and advocates based upon the identified needs, patient identified goals, and works within the Women's Health, VA, and with community as appropriate for referrals specific to individual, group, or community identified care; Works within the interdisciplinary team and with the veteran to develop, plan, implement, evaluate the interdisciplinary treatment plan; Provides care within the treatment plan, and coordinates with the veteran and the team to promote the continuity of care with veteran who may be experiences a heightened level of risk based upon factors; Collaborates and participates in meetings with providers, both VA and community, as needed relating to shared veterans to ensure and promote the continuity of care and establish appropriate referrals; Furthers own professional growth through education appropriate to the area of assignment and providing coverage to areas within the service of Women's Health, Social Work and Mental Health in the event of absences; Maintains a level of productivity and quality consistent with the program, facility, and professional standards given the complexity of the assignment and position; Receives programmatic guidance from the Women's Health Program Manager; and Assumes other general social work responsibilities and duties as assigned. VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Work Schedule: Full-Time, Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm. Compressed/Flexible:Not Available. Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: F05583. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized. EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive.Contact VISN1 EDRP Support [email protected], the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more Notifications: This position is in the Excepted Service. Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees. Current or formal Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. This position is in a bargaining unit position. This position is covered by a special rate.

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. 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/. 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 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). Grandfathering Provision: 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). 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.1. All persons employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including positive education and licensure or certification that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all of the basic requirements in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply: 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. NOTE: If social workers covered under the grandfathering provision of the 1991 Federal law regarding licensure or certification of VHA social workers leave the GS-0185 social work series, they lose the grandfathering protection. If they choose to return at a later date to the GS-0185 series, they must be licensed or certified to qualify for employment as a social worker. 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: (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 - Social Worker Qualification Standard. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services.

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 VA Bedford Healthcare System 200 Springs Road Bedford, MA 01730 US
• Name: Jessenia Plaza
• Phone: (781) 473-6094
• Email: [email protected]