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. 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). GRADE DETERMINATIONS. In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. 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: 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. Assignments. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Senior social workers are licensed or certified to independently practice social work at an advanced level. Senior social workers 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 and complexity. The senior social worker may be assigned administrative responsibility for clinical program development and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns. Assignments include clinical settings where they have limited access to onsite supervision such as CBOCs or satellite outpatient clinics. The senior social worker 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. The senior social worker provides leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs for assigned social work staff. They serve 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. This assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management. This 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, Dated September 10, 2019. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: The physical demands of this position involve primarily walking, sitting, talking, driving, use of the telephone, etc. Light lifting, under 15 pounds, Light carrying, under 15 pounds, Hearing (aid permitted). ["Major Duties include but not limited to: The purpose of this assignment is to provide the full range of comprehensive professional social work services to veterans and their families who are inpatients or outpatients at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto Division. The areas to which the incumbent is assigned to provide and/or arrange for the delivery of services is an acute inpatient medical/surgical unit as well as the medical Emergency Department. The incumbent evaluates and provides complex, multiple social services to individuals and families with a variety of social, emotional and health related problems who come to VAPAHCS from a wide geographic area. Services are timely, comprehensive, and effectively coordinated with services provided by other health care professionals. The incumbent works in collaboration with a multi-disciplinary team on a fast-paced acute medical/surgical unit and in the ED. Incumbent provides direct care social work services to Veterans with complex medical and mental health needs, who are inpatients or outpatients. From 1:30 to 5:30PM, the incumbent provides support to medical and surgical units when the primary social worker in that area is on leave, during periods of vacancy, during periods of high demand for social work services, or after the day shift social worker is off duty for the day. Incumbent serves as a consultant and subject matter expert for social work colleagues who are providing services to Veterans hospitalized in diverse acute care settings. The incumbent manages the daily operations of social work services within the Medicine Section of Social Work Service, develops policies and procedures for program operation and prepares reports and statistics for facility, VISN, and national use. The incumbent manages and controls the use of data related to these programs regarding day-to-day functioning, process improvement and program evaluation. Incumbent coordinates closely with the supervisory social worker for the Medicine Section of Social Work Service, the Utilization Management and Review Program, the DCOS for Acute Care Medicine, nursing case management, and the Office of Quality, Safety and Value. From 5:30PM to 10:00PM, the incumbent works independently as the only senior social worker in the medical Emergency Department. Incumbent provides services to Veterans with highly complex health and/or mental health problems who may be in medical or mental health crisis. Incumbent provides social work triage assessment, crisis intervention, brief counseling, and rapid referrals to VA and community resources. Incumbent provides discharge planning interventions including to homeless shelters or to return to origin. Incumbent coordinates with VA and community travel resources and is the liaison to on-site lodging including Defender's Lodge and Fisher House. Incumbent is often involved with decisions regarding hospital admission for Veterans with complex psychosocial needs. The incumbent works as a part of a multi-disciplinary team. Incumbent must be licensed or certified by a state at the advance practice level. The incumbent is assigned administrative responsibility for clinical program development and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns. These assigned areas involve work with special patient populations with highly complex health and/or mental health problems. The incumbent has experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, having at least two years of experience post advanced practice clinical licensure and should be in a specialized are of social work practice of which, one year must be equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. The incumbent is also required to expand clinical knowledge in the profession, provide consultation and guidance to colleagues, role model effective social work practice skills, teach or provide orientation to less experienced social workers, develop innovations in practice interventions, and provide clinical supervision for social work licensure or certification. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 1:30 PM - 10:00 PM. Telework: Available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: May be authorized to highly qualified candidate. EDRP Authorized: Contact V21CCOEEDRP@VA.GOV, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized. Financial Disclosure Report: Not required."]
The Veterans Health Administration is America’s largest integrated health care system, providing care at 1,298 health care facilities, including 171 medical centers and 1,113 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity (VHA outpatient clinics), serving 9 million enrolled Veterans each year.
