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The incumbent is the Social Worker for the Geriatric and Extended Care (GEC) Service at the Louisville VA Medical Center. Services include provision of high quality case management, clinical treatment, advocacy, and coordination of linkages to other appropriate VA or community service providers and/or agencies as needed by the client. This is accomplished in collaboration with other members of the interdisciplinary treatment team. 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. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). 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/. Grandfathering Provision. The following is the standard grandfathering policy for all title 38 hybrid qualification standards. Please carefully review the qualification standard to determine the specific education and/or licensure/certification/registration requirements that apply to this occupation. 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 (1) 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. (2) 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. (3) 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. (4) 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. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/120 September 10, 2019 PART II APPENDIX G39. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: This position requires visual acuity, keen hearing, clear distinctive speech, and manual dexterity. This position requires potentially extended periods of continued walking, standing, stooping, sitting, bending, pulling, and pushing. Transferring patients and objects may be required. The incumbent may be exposed to infected patients and contaminated materials and may be required to don protective clothing in isolation situations or operative/invasive procedures. The incumbent may occasionally be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium, dementia, or psychiatric disorders. The incumbent must be a mature, flexible, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations, able to shift priorities based on patient needs. ["VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU The senior social workers in the Geriatrics, Extended Care and Rehabilitation (GEC) Service are directly responsible for the administration and coordination of social services provided to patients enrolled in all programs offered to veterans through the Geriatric and Extended Care (GEC) Service. She/he will represent GEC at appropriate service and facility meetings, and establish a liaison with agencies pertinent to GEC program operations. Direct liaison with both clinical and administrative service chiefs, necessary to promote effective functioning of these programs, will be the primary responsibility of the incumbent. Functions include, but are not limited to: Screening/Assessment/Treatment - The incumbent will conduct psychosocial assessments and clinic screenings to determine appropriateness of care modality. He/she will provide individual, group, and/or family counseling or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial and/or case management interventions used in the treatment of veterans with Chronic Pain. Treatment Planning/Goal Setting - The incumbent independently identifies and prioritizes high-risk patients and provides clinical intervention through individual Cognitive Behavior Therapy and group therapy services. Incumbent provides crisis intervention services, seeking to address the cause as well as the presenting complaint, coordinates family conferences and serves as liaison to family members. Has working knowledge and experience in use of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities and treatment procedures. This includes acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses/injuries, common medications and their effects/side effects, and medical terminology. The incumbent establishes and maintains effective therapeutic relationships with veterans and their families Referral to service providers - The incumbent, throughout the course of treatment, is the subject matter expert on VA and/or community resources. The Incumbent, as a licensed clinical social work practitioner, integrates social work into patient care planning by making certain social work services are related to the goals and plans of the patient. She/he provides consultation to other hospital personnel and community agencies on the social aspects of patients' functioning which effects the medical and psychological treatment of the patient. The incumbent provides direct social work services and acts as liaison to local community agencies to address complex and multi-dimensional problems of veterans in the GEC programs. Resource Development - The incumbent, as a licensed clinical social work practitioner, is able to coordinate community-based services, including information and referral for additional services from other VA programs, other government programs and community agency programs. Has expert knowledge of veterans' benefits and services relating to special programs, service connected compensation, non-service connected pension. Advocacy - Social worker understands the intimidation of bureaucracy and will act as an advocate when it serves the best interest of the veteran/family. When appropriate and feasible, social worker will educate and encourage the veteran/family to advocate on their own behalf, thus fostering a sense of independence and empowerment. Crisis Intervention - Social worker is experienced in making rapid assessments and developing crisis management plans to maintain patient in the home, for admission to acute, short term and/or long-term placements. Social worker has access to multiple resource directories in addition to previously developed resources to meet the demands of a crisis. Education/Health promotion and prevention - The incumbent, as a licensed clinical social work practitioner, assumes primary responsibility for professional development including assessing and monitoring the ongoing level of practice. Administrative responsibilities -The incumbent will maintain specialty reports related to the Chronic Pain program per protocol. Work Schedule: Monday to Friday from 8:00am to 4:30pm. Telework: Not Available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: SENIOR SOCIAL WORKER-SPECIALTY PAIN CLINIC/PROGRAM GERIATRICS AND EXTENDED CARE SERVICE Social Worker GS-12 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required"]

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