Senior Social Worker - Primary Care Mental Health Integration
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Sedalia, MO, United States
Summary
This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP) – a student loan payment reimbursement program. Program approval – award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.
Qualifications
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
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/
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)
Grade Determinations: (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 (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
The senior social worker collaborates with the other members of the treatment team in the provision of comprehensive health care services to Veterans – ensures equity of access – service – and benefits to this population – ensures the care provided is of the highest quality
The senior social worker provides leadership – direction – orientation – coaching – in‑service training – staff development – and continuing education programs for assigned social work staff
They serve on committees – work groups – and task forces at the facility – VISN and national level – or in the community as deemed appropriate by the supervisor – Social Work Executive or Chief of Social Work Services
This assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management
This assignment must represent substantial additional responsibility over and above that required at the full performance grade level and cannot be used as the full performance level of this occupation
References: VA Handbook 5005/23 – 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
The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12 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)
Reference: For more information on this qualification standard – please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019
Duties
VA Careers - Licensed Clinical Social Worker: https://youtube.com/embed/U_xC25QsN0w Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Generalist and integrated mental health services are provided at Truman VA and each CBOC
PCMHI providers are co-located with Patient Aligned Care Teams (PACT) in Primary Care at the main facility as well as the CBOCs
The BH Service Line has over 150 direct and indirect FTE comprised of both outpatient and inpatient services – with Psychiatrists – Psychologists – Social Workers – Nurses – Rehabilitation Counselors – and Licensed Marital and Family Therapists providing multidisciplinary and collaborative treatment interventions
Duties include – but are not limited to: Serves as an integral member of the primary care team to provide accessible – integrated – biopsychosocial health care services to patients assigned to the primary care team
Performs brief comprehensive biopsychosocial assessments for Veterans and family members with complex physical and behavioral disorders to determine the nature of the presenting problem – biological – social – emotional – cognitive – and behavioral factors related to the presenting problem – and the impact of the presenting problem on the Veteran's physical – social – emotional – recreational – and occupational functioning
Documents biopsychosocial assessments in compliance with the documentation and timeliness standards established by the Medical Center and The Joint Commission
Assesses high risk factors – acuity – and need for services with Veterans who have frequent and severe crises – lack family or an adequate community support network – poor at self‑monitoring – frequently fail to comply with instructions and treatment – or have significant deficits in coping skills and require continuing professional psychosocial support
The incumbent completes comprehensive suicide risk assessments and safety planning for Veterans in crisis Designs – develops – and implements PCMHI clinical programming – and executes ongoing program evaluation and data-driven quality improvement projects to monitor the effectiveness of social work clinical programming
The incumbent facilitates liaisons with other health care programs to effectively coordinate and improve services
Coordinates services with other services offered in the treatment program assuring such services are complementary and comprehensive
Directs activities to maximize effectiveness – efficiency – and continuity of care for Veterans
Provides case management services to those Veterans at high social or medical risk – serving as the liaison to other treatment programs
Regularly attends and actively participates in PACT and PCMHI Team meetings
Incumbent also attends and participates in administrative and informational meetings held by the Service Line Chief (or designee) – Social Work Chief – program supervisor and/or facility Director – as appropriate
The incumbent may also participate in Behavioral Health and/or hospital/CBOC committees or work groups – as assigned
May serve as the Behavioral Health representative for Truman VA – VISN – and/or National committees – workgroups – task forces – as pertains to the incumbent's position and expertise and as assigned by the program supervisor and/or Service Line Chief
Other duties as assigned
Work Schedule: Monday - Friday - 8:00am-4:30pm Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive
Contact VISN15EDRP@Va.gov - the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance
Learn more 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
Functional Statement #: 000000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
#J-18808-Ljbffr
This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP) – a student loan payment reimbursement program. Program approval – award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.
Qualifications
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
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/
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)
Grade Determinations: (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 (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
The senior social worker collaborates with the other members of the treatment team in the provision of comprehensive health care services to Veterans – ensures equity of access – service – and benefits to this population – ensures the care provided is of the highest quality
The senior social worker provides leadership – direction – orientation – coaching – in‑service training – staff development – and continuing education programs for assigned social work staff
They serve on committees – work groups – and task forces at the facility – VISN and national level – or in the community as deemed appropriate by the supervisor – Social Work Executive or Chief of Social Work Services
This assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management
This assignment must represent substantial additional responsibility over and above that required at the full performance grade level and cannot be used as the full performance level of this occupation
References: VA Handbook 5005/23 – 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
The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12 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)
Reference: For more information on this qualification standard – please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019
Duties
VA Careers - Licensed Clinical Social Worker: https://youtube.com/embed/U_xC25QsN0w Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Generalist and integrated mental health services are provided at Truman VA and each CBOC
PCMHI providers are co-located with Patient Aligned Care Teams (PACT) in Primary Care at the main facility as well as the CBOCs
The BH Service Line has over 150 direct and indirect FTE comprised of both outpatient and inpatient services – with Psychiatrists – Psychologists – Social Workers – Nurses – Rehabilitation Counselors – and Licensed Marital and Family Therapists providing multidisciplinary and collaborative treatment interventions
Duties include – but are not limited to: Serves as an integral member of the primary care team to provide accessible – integrated – biopsychosocial health care services to patients assigned to the primary care team
Performs brief comprehensive biopsychosocial assessments for Veterans and family members with complex physical and behavioral disorders to determine the nature of the presenting problem – biological – social – emotional – cognitive – and behavioral factors related to the presenting problem – and the impact of the presenting problem on the Veteran's physical – social – emotional – recreational – and occupational functioning
Documents biopsychosocial assessments in compliance with the documentation and timeliness standards established by the Medical Center and The Joint Commission
Assesses high risk factors – acuity – and need for services with Veterans who have frequent and severe crises – lack family or an adequate community support network – poor at self‑monitoring – frequently fail to comply with instructions and treatment – or have significant deficits in coping skills and require continuing professional psychosocial support
The incumbent completes comprehensive suicide risk assessments and safety planning for Veterans in crisis Designs – develops – and implements PCMHI clinical programming – and executes ongoing program evaluation and data-driven quality improvement projects to monitor the effectiveness of social work clinical programming
The incumbent facilitates liaisons with other health care programs to effectively coordinate and improve services
Coordinates services with other services offered in the treatment program assuring such services are complementary and comprehensive
Directs activities to maximize effectiveness – efficiency – and continuity of care for Veterans
Provides case management services to those Veterans at high social or medical risk – serving as the liaison to other treatment programs
Regularly attends and actively participates in PACT and PCMHI Team meetings
Incumbent also attends and participates in administrative and informational meetings held by the Service Line Chief (or designee) – Social Work Chief – program supervisor and/or facility Director – as appropriate
The incumbent may also participate in Behavioral Health and/or hospital/CBOC committees or work groups – as assigned
May serve as the Behavioral Health representative for Truman VA – VISN – and/or National committees – workgroups – task forces – as pertains to the incumbent's position and expertise and as assigned by the program supervisor and/or Service Line Chief
Other duties as assigned
Work Schedule: Monday - Friday - 8:00am-4:30pm Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive
Contact VISN15EDRP@Va.gov - the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance
Learn more 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
Functional Statement #: 000000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
#J-18808-Ljbffr