Summary

This position is located at Lebanon VA Medical Center within the Behavioral Health and Sciences service line. The Senior Social Worker will serve as the Admissions Coordinator for the Mental Health Residential Recovery Treatment Program (MHRRTP).

Qualifications

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 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
• Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019 - Employee Occupational Health Services
• English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f)
• 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: 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: 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
• Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice
• 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
• 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
• 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
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
• Physical Requirements: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position
• Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination
• The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12.

Duties

• As Admissions Coordinator - the incumbent evaluates Veterans' appropriateness for admission - conducts intake interviews - manages dates of admission through Bed Management System (BMS) - acts as liaison to referring clinicians - coordinates the admission process - and makes case management decisions/referrals to disposition those who require a different level of care
• The main purpose of the intake is to evaluate whether or not the RRTP can meet the needs of the Veteran - or if referral to another service would better meet the Veteran's needs
• 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 - homelessness - grief and bereavement - and end of life issues
• Services are primarily provided in the Mental Health Residential Recovery Treatment Program ( MH RRTP) - however - may also involve providing care in outpatient clinics at Lebanon - 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 - including making diagnoses - conducting 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 RRTP for those Veterans
• providing individual and group psychotherapy
• consultation with other program areas and staff as appropriate
• serving as SUD consultant
• and in this position coordinating clinical referrals and consult resolutions throughout the continuum of RRTP treatment
• The Senior Social Worker is able to provide individual - group - 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 within the residential program - which will include some evening and weekend hours
• Performs additional duties as assigned
• Work Schedule: 8:00 a.m
• - 4:30 p.m
• Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases
• When setting pay - a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade)
• Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave - 13 days of sick leave - 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment - up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth - adoption - or foster care placement of a child
• Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment - full time employees with a total family income below $144 -000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66
• Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized