This Senior Social Worker is assigned to Suicide Prevention Programs at VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VAPSHCS) with responsibility to provide direct services for Veterans, their families and caregivers.

Duties

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 major duties and responsibilities of the Senior Social Worker are as follows: Independently provides mental health and psychosocial assessment and diagnostic services for Veterans with a broad range of mental health issues, including services for patients with a myriad of mental health and psychosocial needs requiring diagnostic and intervention skills. Independently provides a full range of services within the Social Work scope of practice based on Veteran needs, acuity level, and preferences for care. Services may include but are not limited to the following: provision of evidenced based treatments; case management; individual, family, and group therapy; discharge planning; resource linkage; and care coordination. Consults with other disciplines and clinics regarding specialized services. Possesses general knowledge of Veteran's benefits and services related to special programs, service-connected compensation, and non-service-connected pension. Develops working relationships with the community and VA providers to whom referrals are most often made and becomes knowledgeable with what community and VA resources are available to Veterans. Refers Veterans to a wide variety of VA and community resources. Independently develops, implements, and documents the mental health treatment plan for an assigned caseload of patients, as indicated and appropriate for the specific job setting and duties of the social worker. Takes responsibility for improving professional competencies by participating in training programs and continuing education. Maintains accurate records of trainings in accordance with VA policies and state licensure requirements. Evaluates own practice through professional peer review, case conferences, and other means. Completes all mandatory VA trainings in a timely manner. Adheres to all facility and service line policies and practices for delivery of clinical care, including but not limited to risk assessment, means reduction, professional conduct requirements, and electronic medical record conventions. Coordinates community-based services, including information and referral for additional services from other VA programs, other government programs, and community agencies. Able to fulfill ethical responsibilities to Veterans, colleagues, and VA in accordance with NASW Code of Ethics, VHA Code of Ethics, and local ethics policies. This includes but is not limited to: compliance with all laws and regulations related to confidentiality and release of information; protecting Veteran's personal identifying information. Documents all Veteran care in the electronic health record in accordance with facility policy, VHA Directive 1162.05 (and revisions), and program-specific SOPs. Complies with facility and service line policies and expectations concerning administrative practices, including but not limited to leave management and TMS education requirements. Maintains familiarity and responsibility for all behavioral health performance measures. Attends and participates in administrative and informational meetings held by facility or service line leadership (or their designee). Maintains current knowledge of, and practices in accordance with, accrediting agency requirements. Assists program leadership in accreditation preparation and continuous readiness activities as requested. Collaborate with inpatient treatment providers to support appropriate discharge planning following recommendations for treatment of patients at high risk for suicide. Actively participates in facility committees relevant to specialty care. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 0800-1630 Recruitment/Relocation Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases 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) 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: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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: Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f). 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. TRANSCRIPTS W/ CONFER DATE REQUIRED 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/. 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 (KSAs). 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, September 10, 2019. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: sitting for long periods of time. Environmental factorsinclude working closely with others and working alone.

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 Puget Sound Health Care System 1660 South Columbian Way Seattle, WA 98108 US
• Name: Michelle Rootes
• Phone: (907)257-3713
• Email: [email protected]