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The Senior Social Worker practices in the Behavioral Health clinical settings to provide mental health services as the licensed clinical social worker. In this position the duties may include serving as the Primary Mental Health Treatment Coordinator, case/care manager and psychotherapist to a patient population with highly complex health and mental health problems. 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: Must 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 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 accreditation standards for a master of social work. (COPIES OF TRANSCRIPTS MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH APPLICATION) Licensure : Social Worker Coordinators 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. (COPIES OF LICENSE AND CERTIFICATION MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH APPLICATION) 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. 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, Social Worker, available in the local Human Resources Office. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: The work requires sitting, bending, stooping and walking consistent with the delivery of services in the office, hospital and community. The position may entail lifting of no more than 25 pounds on an occasional basis. Whenever possible, carts and dollies will be utilized as an alternative to lifting. ["VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU The Senior Social Worker is assigned to work within an interdisciplinary team to provide these services ensuring Veterans timely access to mental health and psychosocial services. As a Senior Social Worker, the incumbent has experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment and at least two years in an area of specialized social work practice. The incumbent must be licensed at the advanced practice level. In Pennsylvania this is recognized as possession of an active LCSW. The incumbent requires specialized knowledge of psychiatric diagnosis, intervention, and treatment. The incumbent must also be skilled in the areas of post traumatic stress disorder, domestic violence, sexual assault, child, elder, and dependent abuse, substance abuse,\nhomelessness, grief and bereavement, and end of life issues. The advanced practice Social Worker demonstrates an ability 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. The incumbent performs specialized treatment of complex physical and mental illness for Veterans in the Behavioral Health clinical settings at Lebanon or its Community Based Outpatient Clinics, or within the Primary Care setting. While the primary duties are within the outpatient mental health clinic at Lebanon the incumbent may also provide care at Outpatient VA Clinics, in residential programs, the emergency department, Primary Care offices, inpatient wards or community settings. The incumbent will function with very little supervisory control. The incumbent must demonstrate significantly advanced clinical skills and be able to function independently. The incumbent incorporates complex multiple causation in treatment of Veteran patients within the outpatient mental health clinic, including making psychosocial assessments, providing case management and providing psychotherapy within approved scope of practice. Specific tasks may include: triage, evaluation and psychosocial assessment, treatment planning, and coordination of care for patients in the outpatient clinic, functioning as the Primary Mental Health Treatment Coordinator; providing individual and group psychotherapy; consultation with other program areas and staff as appropriate. The Senior Social Worker is able to provide individual, group, couples, and family psychotherapy and advanced level case management interventions used in the treatment of Veterans with serious medical and psychiatric disorders. The Social Worker provides services that access the continuum of care. The Social Worker provides services primarily on an outpatient basis. The Senior Social Worker offers consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients treated in specialty areas, rendering professional opinions based on experience and expertise and role modeling effective social work practice skills. The incumbent demonstrates the ability to teach and mentor staff and students in the special area of practice and to provide supervision for licensure or specialty certifications. The incumbent will participate in the facility's rotating on-call system. The Social Worker performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:30 pm\nFinancial Disclosure Report: Not required"]