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RECRUITMENT INCENTIVES MAY BE AUTHORIZED FOR HIGHLY QUALIFIED CANDIDATES. The Senior Social Worker provides clinical psychosocial services at an advanced practice level to eligible veterans and their family members. Veteran patients are primarily from the Chillicothe catchment areas and services are provided at the assigned site (Chillicothe VA). To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/16/2022. 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: Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j. 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 the CSWE website (https://www.cswe.org/Accreditation.aspx) 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 level. Exception: VHA may waive the licensure or certification requirement for persons who are otherwise qualified, pending completion of state prerequisites for licensure/certification examinations. Failure to become licensed or certified within the proscribed amount of time 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). 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. Example experience: The duties of a GS-11 include but are not limited to assessing and documenting identified behaviors or symptoms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and/or intimate partner violence; use of clinical social work skills and knowledge to maintain Veteran privacy and confidentiality per policies, handbooks or directives; and acts as an advocate with appropriate VA and community service providers and agencies when it serves the best interest of the Veteran and family members/caregiver. Incumbent independently assesses the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and their family members, identifying the Veteran's strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and psychosocial acuity. 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. Additionally, you will be rated on the following Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: Please make sure that each is addressed in your application package. 1. 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. 2. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. 3. 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. 4. 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. 5. 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. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. References: VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G39 Social Worker Qualification Standard. This can be found in the local Human Resources Office. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: The work is sometimes sedentary. Typically, the employee will sit to perform administrative work. However, other position duties include physical requirements which include but not limited to, long periods of walking; standing; bending; crouching, reaching and lifting of a variety of moderately heavy items, carrying of light items such as papers, books, small parts; or driving an automobile, etc. No special physical demands are required to perform the work. ["The Social Worker is a leading force for the complete care of Veterans and is required to interface as necessary with the patient, significant others, community agencies, and other staff. The incumbent may need to work early morning or evening hours/clinics to accommodate needs of Veterans within safety guidelines. Main reporting workstation will be assigned at Chillicothe. General duties include, but are not limited to; A full range of psychodiagnostics services including psychosocial assessment, and using the most appropriate evidence-based psychotherapeutic techniques in providing quality care in the delivery of a full range of psychosocial and multidisciplinary services in the outpatient programs. May participate in Tele-mental-health or similar activities in order to provide service for Veterans who are located a prohibitive distance from VA facilities. For all clinical duties, the incumbent works in the Outpatient Division of the Mental Health Careline (MHCL). They participate in interdisciplinary team meetings for Veterans enrolled in Outpatient Mental Health Services. They interface with other departments and provide consultation services to medical center and CBOC staff on a wide variety of patient care issues, particularly related to identifying mental health concerns and social determinant needs of Veterans from all eras of service. The incumbent conducts evidence-based diagnostic assessment, and/or provides one or more evidence-based therapies, including but not limited to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression (CBT-D); Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Depression (ACT); Interpersonal Therapy for Depression (IPT); Behavioral Therapy/Behavioral Activation (BT-BA); Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT); Prolonged Exposure (PE); Brief PE; Cognitive Behavioral Conjoint Therapy for PTSD (CBCT-PTSD) Proper credentialing and licensure will assure the incumbent will operate independently in all areas, consulting with peers and supervisors when warranted. Proper credentialing and licensure will assure the incumbent will operate independently in all areas, consulting with peers and supervisors when warranted. The incumbent can assist with referrals for local, State and Federal benefits as necessary. Work Schedule: 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM (Monday through Friday)\nTelework: Available\nVirtual: This is not a virtual position.\nFunctional Statement #: 91441-0\nRelocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized\nPermanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized\nFinancial Disclosure Report: Not required"]