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The Senior Social Worker is a non-supervisory position that reports to the Chief of Mental Health or designee. The Senior Social Worker functions at the advance practice level providing clinical psychosocial and case management service to eligible veterans and their family members. 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 (MSW) 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 the CSWE website (www.cswe.org) to verify if that social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a master of social work. Licensure: Persons hired or reassigned to social worker positions in the GS-185 series in VHA must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree levels. English Language Proficiency: Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j. 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). Preferred Experience: Demonstrates an ability to effectively works with various disciplines and treatment teams. Certified Lean Six Sigma and demonstrates an ability to conduct performance improvement efforts based on systems engineering principles. 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: (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, Part II Appendix G39 http://vaww.va.gov/ohrm/Directives-Handbooks/Documents/5005.pdf Physical Requirements: The position will require a moderate level of keyboarding, standing (up to 1 hour), walking (up to 2 hours), bending, reaching above the shoulder, use of fingers, both hands required, both legs required, ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously, depth perception, moderate carrying (15 - 44 pounds) and moderate lifting (15-44 pounds). Hearing aid permitted. Long periods of standing are common in this position. The work is performed while sitting though some work may require periods of standing. The regular and recurring work of the position involves sitting at a desk, conferences, meetings, etc., and daily visits to various areas within the community. Position does require daily driving. ["Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program (BHIP) Senior Social Worker will treat Veterans within the outpatient Mental Health clinic, practicing as a generalist of various mental health disorders. BHIP Senior Social Workers are an integral member of an interdisciplinary treatment team, which consists of other social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, nurse case managers, peer support specialists and clinical mental health pharmacists. Our BHIP teams work in close collaboration, with weekly protected team meeting times to develop treatment plans and ensure quality mental health care to our Veterans.\nThe incumbent will be able to independently diagnose mental disorders, conduct psychological and/or cognitive screenings and/or assessments, and provide psychotherapy. The incumbent should be able to determine which psychotherapy modalities and techniques are appropriate, and to provide various types of empirically supported psychotherapies, including cognitive processing therapy, prolonged exposure therapy, solution-focused, cognitive-behavioral, gestalt, family/ systems, interpersonal, etc. They consult with medical center staff on a wide variety of patient care issues. Staff psychologists may be involved in program evaluation and/or research activities. Major duties include, but are not limited to the following: Diagnose mental disorders utilizing DSM-5 criteria, conduct biopsychosocial assessments, treat mental disorders through a variety of modalities, and provide adjunctive interventions for treatment of medical disorders Provides individual, family, and group psychotherapies and other interventions such as behavioral health and community interventions Consult with medical center staff on a wide variety of patient care issues. Staff psychologists may be involved in program evaluation, teaching, training, and research activities. Provides a full range of psycho-diagnostic services including assessment and uses the most appropriate psychotherapeutic techniques in providing quality care. Performs evaluations for wide array of patients representing diverse diagnostic entities. Provides a full range of therapeutic interventions, including empirically supported treatments. Participates as an active treatment team member. Consults with medical center staff on a wide variety of patient care issues. Senior Social Workers may be involved in program evaluation and/or research activities. Participates fully in peer review, assessing the quality of professional social work standards provided in the organization. Responsible for identification of patient problems requiring consultation with other multi-disciplinary medical center staff and making appropriate referrals. Assures that appropriate referrals to specialty programs, including community resources, are accomplished. This may include ordering the following consults: Mental Health Service Programs, (e.g., Substance Abuse, PTSD, Mental Health Intensive Case Management, Compensated Work Therapy, Homeless, and Residential Treatment) Vocational Rehabilitation, and Long-Term Care. Fully accountable for practice, including entering patient visits, appropriate clinical documentation, measuring outcomes to interventions, and meeting productivity standards. Provides clinical supervision to various disciplines and levels of training. May be involved in the training of medical students, medical and psychiatric residents, fellows and other graduate or post-graduate trainees, as appropriate. Serves as a consultant to other medical center staff and trainees and assist in their formulation of the psychological characteristics and appropriate treatment expectations regarding their patients. Oversees the establishment of program monitors and outcome measurements within programs assigned using a data-driven quality assurance process. Responsible for the timely completion of all clinical charting and documentation required by the medical center and service line. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM (alternate work schedule available)\nFunctional Statement #: Senior Social Worker/F00816\nFinancial Disclosure Report: Not Required"]