Summary

This Senior Social Worker is assigned primarily to the Emergency Department (ED) to provide direct services for adult Veterans and their families who present for services. This incumbent will also provide off-tour mental health coverage - collaborates with ED staff - the triage officer - and the on-call psychiatrist regarding assessments - disposition - and referrals for ED patients.

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
• English Language Proficiency Requirement - Per VA Handbook 5005 - Part II - Chapter 3 - Section A - Paragraph 3j: No person will be appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C. - chapter 73 or 74 - to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA who is not proficient in written and spoken English
• 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 dependently practice social work at the master's degree level
• Current state requirements may be found by going to http://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/
• Grade Determinations: Senior Social Worker GS-12 Experience and 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 - the candidate 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
• Preferred Experience: Experience working in an Emergency Room
• Experience with mental health holds - suicide risk assessments and safety planning.

Duties

• VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Provides suicide risk assessments for those patients presenting in the ED for emotional issues
• Collaborates with the on- call psychiatrist by phone - when appropriate - for consultation regarding treatment and disposition for patients in the ED
• Completes suicide behavior reports for veterans who present with recent suicide attempts
• Provides family comfort/care for distraught family members who have brought the veteran in to the ED
• Assists in forming discharge plans for: veterans with complex/difficult dispositions - for suicide risk patients - patients who are intoxicated - impaired or undergoing detox - adult protection issues - skilled nursing home facilities placements - home-care referrals - homeless patients - and general medical or behavioral health social work discharges that involve follow up with case management - family/care-giver advice - or community resources
• Provides individual brief therapy - crisis management - family consultation - and advanced level case management interventions used in the treatment of veterans with polytrauma injuries - spinal cord injuries - traumatic brain injuries - visual impairment - serious mental illness - addictions - and other serious disorders both physical and emotional
• Establishes and maintains effective therapeutic relationships with veterans and their families
• Communicates effectively - both orally and in writing - with people from varied backgrounds
• Work Schedule: Week 1-Tuesday - Wednesday - and Saturday 7:30pm-8am
• Week 2 is Sunday - Monday - and Thursday 7:30pm-8am and Friday 11:30pm-8am Telework: Not Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized