Career Center

Incumbent serves as a core member of the interdisciplinary Trauma Recovery Division (TRD.) The TRD is a specialized program under the administration of the Behavioral Health Care Line. The TRD treats military trauma (including combat and military sexual trauma) as well as a wide range of civilian traumas (childhood physical and/or sexual abuse, accidents, etc.), and serves Veterans from all eras, as well as those still involved with the military (e.g., national guard and reservists). 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. Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g this part). 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. 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. Exception. VHA may waive the licensure or certification requirement for persons who are otherwise qualified, pending completion of state prerequisites for licensure/certification examinations. This exception only applies at the GS-9 grade level. For the GS-11 grade level and above, the candidate must be licensed or certified. At the time of appointment, the supervisor, chief social work or social work executive will provide the unlicensed/uncertified social worker with the written requirements for licensure or certification, including the time by which the license or certification must be obtained and the consequences for not becoming licensed or certified by the deadline. 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 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. (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. 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 5005/120 PART II APPENDIX G39 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: This position also requires close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading; and repetitive motions of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers. This position requires mostly periods of continued sitting, walking, and standing. The incumbent may be exposed to infected patients and contaminated materials and may be required to don protective clothing in isolation situations. At times the incumbent will need to exercise patience and control of emotions when engaging with patients. The incumbent must be a mature, flexible, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations, able to shift priorities based on stakeholder needs ["VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU CLINICAL RESPONSIBILITIES (90-95% of time) At the GS 12 level, the following clinical activities are expected in the assignment: The Senior Social Worker has at least two years of specialized PTSD treatment in at least Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and/or Prolonged Exposure (PE). Incumbent independently provides a comprehensive psychosocial and specialized diagnostic assessment of complex PTSD and integrates it into an overall plan of care in collaboration with the interdisciplinary treatment team, the Veteran, family members and significant others, whenever possible. The goal of the assessment is to determine the Veteran's treatment needs to address symptoms of PTSD and to highlight the Veteran's strengths, limitations, and internal/external supports and service needs in order to optimize the effectiveness of these treatments. The assessment requires a structured diagnostic evaluation and integration of patient self-reported symptoms on relevant clinical measures. It is the responsibility of the incumbent, working within the interdisciplinary treatment team, to develop a treatment plan with the Veteran based on this assessment. Incumbent possesses the advanced practice skills to independently make a clinical mental health diagnosis and offer psychosocial interventions, and then measures outcomes to interventions. The incumbent participates and can lead weekly interdisciplinary treatment team meetings. The incumbent is empowered to design systems changes based on observations, data and experience. Incumbent enters all Veteran/family contacts in the electronic record using appropriate formats and templates. This information will be entered in a complete, confidential, and professional manner to insure information on the patient is shared with other VA staff. The incumbent will assume a leadership role in the TR Division and periodically review and update documentation templates to ensure compliance with regulatory guidelines, social work standards of practice, and VHA policies. The incumbent may also be asked to periodically review, update and write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines pertaining to the specialty population or specialty treatment program based on experience and evidence based practice research. Incumbent will establish and maintain positive working relationships with employees, volunteers, consumers and stakeholders within the VA and outside community agencies. ENRICHING ELEMENTS (not all elements may apply) Academic/Teaching/Training: (up to 5 % of time) Incumbent will serve as a subject matter expert to colleagues, providing professional opinions and support for psychosocial treatment of this complex population when consulted. The incumbent also serves as a mentor to other social workers, particularly those at the entry level, and provides clinical supervision for unlicensed social workers. Also supervises social work graduate students and provides a training experience for them in the Social Work Service. They may also serve as a regional trainer for an evidence-based psychotherapy (EBP) as part of the VA EBP Consultation Program. Research/Program Evaluation (up to 5% time) Incumbent will collaborate in the performance improvement processes and support performance measures as required by the VA for their specialized population and/or program. Incumbent is accountable and assigned administrative responsibility for clinical social work program development and effectiveness, to enhance or modify services as needed based on program effectiveness outcome data, performance monitors, and client feedback. This may include coverage responsibilities in the absence of other staff to ensure timely access and coordination of care. Other Significant Responsibilities (5% time) Incumbent will attend weekly MH&BS and Trauma Recovery meetings and other treatment team meetings as assigned up to. Incumbent will perform all other duties as assigned. Other Significant Responsibilities (5% time) Incumbent will attend weekly MH&BS and Trauma Recovery meetings and other treatment team meetings as assigned up to. Incumbent will perform all other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm\nTelework: Not Authorized\nVirtual: This is not a virtual position.\nFunctional Statement #: 91553-A\nRelocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized\nPermanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized\nPCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized\nFinancial Disclosure Report: Not required"]