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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. 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. Learn more 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/. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). Preferred Experience: Experience in conducting outreach to those involved in the judicial system. Experience in conducting interview/assessments in community setting, jail, courts, prisons Experience in working with those who are being monitored by treatment court and Veterans being released from correctional institutions. Experience in providing case management and discharge planning to a variety of clients spanning community, courts, and legal institutions Experience in working with clients who have co-occurring medical and mental health dis-orders. Grade Determination: 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. Assignments. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Senior SW are licensed/certified to independently practice social work at an advanced level. Senior SWs 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/complexity. May be assigned administrative responsibility for clinical program development and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness/modification of service patterns. Assignments include clinical settings where they have limited access to onsite supervision; 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. Provides leadership, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs for assigned social work staff. Serves 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. Assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management. 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. References: VA Handbook 5005/120 Part II Appendix G39 Social Worker Qualification Standard GS-0185 Veterans Health Administration 09/20/2019. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: Moderate lifting/carrying (15 - 44 pounds); reaching above shoulder; use of fingers; walking/standing (up to 5 hours); Operation of a motor vehicle; ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously; Far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other; ability to distinguish basic and shades of colors, hearing (aid may be permitted) cognitive, mental and emotional stability. ["The Veterans Justice Outreach Social Worker is a Social Worker whose primary responsibilities are to provide psychosocial assessments,case management services, continuous quality improvement activities, evaluation/consultation, placement services, and referral and linkage to various community agencies for Veterans who are within 6 months of release from correctional institutions and/or are being monitored by the courts, including treatment or problem solving courts. Justice outreach activity will focus upon justice-involved Veterans in one of three circumstances: 1) at the front end of the justice system, jails or courts) (VJO), 2) upon prison reentry (HCRV), or 3) a hybrid model encompassing jail, court and prison outreach (Hybrid VJO/HCRV). The Social Worker in this position requires an advanced level of knowledge and understanding of the services and benefits available from community, State and Federal agencies. The Social Worker must have skill in diplomacy, patient advocacy, and negotiation in spanning boundaries of multiple large institutions, including VA, the courts, and/or corrections. The position requires knowledge of correctional cultures and their impact upon Veteran, institutional, and community perceptions and behavior, as well as skill in assisting Veterans to adopt behaviors adaptive to community living. The VJO Social Worker works in conjunction with the HUDVASH, Community Employment Coordinator and other Health Care for Homeless Veteran Programs to coordinate needs and services of this program with VA and non-VA providers to assure access and ongoing services as needed. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm\nTelework: Not Available\nVirtual: This is not a virtual position.\nFunctional Statement #: 000000\nRelocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized for Highly Qualified Candidate\nEDRP Authorized: Contact VISN17EDRP2@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance.\nPermanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized\nFinancial Disclosure Report: Not required"]