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The Social Worker is assigned to Primary Care Teams (PACT), Acute Care and the Emergency Department (ED) with responsibility to provide social work services to adult and geriatric Veterans receiving care in at the Northern Arizona VA Health Care System, as well as provide open access to Veterans seeking these services and timely response to individuals in psychosocial crisis in PACT, Acute Care, and the Emergency Department, as well as supporting behavioral health needs of those in crisis. 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 Citizenship: Citizen of the United States. Licensure: Full, unrestricted license or certification by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level. Education: 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 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 master's degree in social work. Preferred Experience: Experience working with Geriatric population. Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements above, candidates must meet the following grade requirements. GS-09 Experience: None beyond the basic requirements listed above. Candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: Ability to work with Veterans and family members from various socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic, educational, and other diversified backgrounds utilizing counseling skills. Ability to assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and their family members, and to formulate and implement a treatment plan, identifying the Veterans problems, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and assistance needed. Ability to implement treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups to achieve treatment goals. This requires judgment and skill in utilizing supportive, problem solving, or crisis intervention techniques. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships and communicate with clients, staff, and representatives of community agencies. Fundamental knowledge 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. Assignments. Individuals assigned as GS-9 grade level social workers are considered to be at the entry level and are closely supervised, as they are not yet functioning at the independent practice level conferred by independent licensure or certification. Social workers at the GS-9 entry level are typically assigned to program areas that do not require specialized knowledge or experience. Duties may include but are not limited to: identifying behaviors or symptoms of abuse, neglect or exploitation; providing education on advance directives and advanced care planning; providing social work case management; acting as an advocate with appropriate VA and community service providers/agencies when it serves the best interest of the Veteran and family members/caregiver; assessing the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and their family members identifying the Veteran's strengths, weaknesses, coping skills and psychosocial acuity, in collaboration with the Veteran, family, and interdisciplinary treatment teams; maintaining a current network of internal and external resources to educate the Veteran and/or family members/caregivers and assist with the appropriate referrals. Since social workers at this level are not practicing at an independent level, they should not be assigned to program areas where independent practice is required, such as in a CBOC, unless there is a licensed social worker in the program area who can provide supervision for practice. GS-9 social workers provide psychosocial services in the assigned area under supervision. GS-11 Experience/Education: Candidates must possess at least one year of post-MSW experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the field of health care or other social work-related settings; or a Doctoral degree. Additionally, candidates must demonstrate the following KSA's Knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services. Skill in independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic, cultural, ethnic, educational and other diversified backgrounds. Knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities and treatment procedures (i.e. acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses/injuries, common medications and their effects/side effects, and medical terminology) to formulate a treatment plan. Skill in independently implementing different treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, medical, and social problems to achieve treatment goals. Ability to provide consultation services to new social workers, social work graduate students, and other staff about the psychosocial needs of patients and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and compliance with treatment. Assignments. This is the full performance level. Social workers at this level are licensed or certified to independently practice social work. Incumbents are assigned to all program areas, including but not limited to: inpatient or outpatient medicine, surgery, mental health, neurology, rehabilitation medicine, and geriatrics. Employees provide professional, independent social work services in the assigned area. Duties 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. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-09 to GS-11. References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G39 - Social Worker Qualification Standard. Additional information regarding the assignments at the full performance level can be found in the appendix referenced above. Physical Requirements: Involve active listening, reading, observing, and evaluating verbal and nonverbal behavior, walking, speaking, writing reports, writing policies and procedures, writing clinical notes, using office equipment such as computers, telephones, fax machines, photocopy machines and travel throughout the Medical Center, into the community to meet community agencies and partners, Veterans, and caregivers. ["VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU The social worker assigned to support Social Work Service programming. Incumbent must possess the knowledge of implementing treatment modalities; and how to do the following: 1) identify level of functioning, degree of impairment in occupational, social, academic, interpersonal and family area; 2) evaluate and assess lethality, 3) perform mental status exams (MSE), 4) identify psychiatric manifestations of various medical conditions, 5) assess and intervene with patients of suspected abuse and provide counseling or psychotherapy for individuals, families and groups. They need to possess the knowledge of the criteria and state laws for legal commitment and involuntary hospitalizations. In addition, incumbent has working knowledge and understanding in the use of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities, and treatment procedures in working with diverse populations and circumstances. This includes acute, chronic, and traumatic illnesses/injuries, psychiatric, medical, and social problems, common medications and their effects/side effects and medical terminology. Major duties include, but are not limited to: Serves as a liaison between Veterans and/or their families and VA and community resources in order to ensure thorough delivery of services. Establishes and maintains effective therapeutic relationships with Veterans and/or their families with proficiency. Completes thorough psychosocial assessments to determine the mental health diagnosis, psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and/or their families. Conducts psychosocial assessments of high-risk patients to identify suicidality through use of the Suicide Risk Assessment (SRA) and other appropriate tools. Participates actively as a member of the interdisciplinary treatment team through collaboration with Veterans and family, in the development and implementation of treatment goals and interventions. Facilitates action for community placements through collaboration with Veterans and their families as well as interdisciplinary treatment team members to ensure that appropriate community placements are completed in a timely manner. Possesses knowledge and ability to implement psychotherapeutic treatment modalities, provide educational classes, and/or treatment and supportive groups for Veterans and families. Provides consultation to other treatment team and staff members regarding psychosocial needs of Veterans and/or their families and the impact of the identified psychosocial problems on the Veteran's health care planning and compliance with treatment. Completes all required documentation in a timely manner utilizing approved templates to ensure consistency in documentation standards. Possesses and demonstrates ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing with people from varied backgrounds. Performs other duties, as needed to meet the needs of the service, facility and/or the mission of the VA. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 4:30 PM Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required"]

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