Job opening: Senior Social Worker (Substance Treatment Program)
Salary: $95 396 - 124 011 per year
Published at: Dec 12 2024
Employment Type: Full-time
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
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
This position serves as a psychotherapist in the Substance Treatment Program (STP). The Senior Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) psychotherapist is a fully licensed Social Worker at the full performance level with requisite experience for senior level.
Functions and Scope:
Clinical Responsibility:
Independently assesses the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans identifying the Veteran's strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, psychosocial acuity, SUD and MH, problem identification, diagnosis, treatment planning, implementation, evaluation, and follow-up
Delivers services both in-person and via telehealth technologies
Conducts groups as part of the IOP/OP and Aftercare program
Has specialized knowledge of a wide variety of individual, group, or family counseling interventions
Establishes goals/treatment through a collaborative process with the patient
Provides complex crisis intervention and stabilization to patients who are in psychological distress. Ability to assess and safety plan for suicidality
Possesses knowledge and understanding of existing relevant statutes, case laws, ethical codes, and regulations
Communicates effectively, both orally and in writing, with people from varied backgrounds
Serves on an interdisciplinary team with focus on the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and relational functioning of individuals, groups, and families and on the counseling approaches, strategies, and techniques that will best help patients function effectively
Complies with all EHRM documentation procedures
Complies with national and local performance measures, including timely health care screening and completion of clinical recommendations and measurement based care for all patients
Complies with peer review procedures
Performs collateral duties as assigned
Administrative Responsibilities:
Acts as Liaison and Consultant between Wenatchee CBOC and SUD/MH services at Mann-Grandstaff sites of care
Provides asynchronous case management, care coordination, referral management, individual scheduling, and consultation with legal entities
Provides leadership, staff development, and continued education opportunities
Maintains reference materials and documentation of policies
Provides oversight and supervision of EBPs provided by licensed and unlicensed MATs and SWs
Assists Specialty Mental Health Program Manager, STP Program Coordinator, and other BHS leaders with quality improvement and compliance with accreditation organizations and VA standards
Attends regular staff meetings in the SUD Specialty Clinic and Behavioral Health Service Line
Participates as a member of VA committees as directed
Attends monthly Evidenced Based care meetings, Communities of Practice meetings, SUD monthly national trainings, standard of practice meetings
Provides recommendations to supervisors of any clinical changes to policy and procedure and ability to design system changes based on data
Works under the general supervision of the Behavioral Health Chief, Psychology Section Chief, the Psychology Program Manager for Specialty Programs, and the STP Coordinator at the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center
Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact
[email protected] for questions/assistance. Learn more
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: Ad-hoc
Virtual: This is not a virtual position
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Qualifications
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.
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: 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.
Licensure: 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.
Loss of Licensure or Certification: Once licensed or certified, social workers must maintain a full, valid, and unrestricted independent license or certification to remain qualified for employment. Loss of licensure or certification will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment.
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 (Senior Social Worker)
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:
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.
Preferred Experience: Experience with veterans and substance use disorders.
Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.
The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12.
Physical Requirements:
Light lifting (under 15 pounds), Use of fingers, See computer screen, Hearing (aid may be permitted)
Environmental Factors:
Working closely with others, 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 Mann-Grandstaff Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center
4815 North Assembly Street
Spokane, WA 99205
US
- Name: Jinho Chu
- Phone: 253-582-8440 X75446
- Email: [email protected]
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