Career Center

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. 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. 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. 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. 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 tohttp://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/. NOTE: Licensure/Certification. Individuals assigned as social worker program coordinator must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level, and must be able to provide supervision for licensure. 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: GS 12 - Senior Social Worker: 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. Assignment. 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. Preferred Experience: Prior Veterans Health Administration (VHA) & Military Treatment Facility (MTF) knowledge and experience to represent the VA in all aspects of patient care, transfer, outreach, and care coordination. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/120 PART II APPENDIX G39 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. Physical Requirements: The physical demands of this position involve active listening, reading, observing and evaluating verbal and nonverbal behavior, walking, speaking, bending, carrying light items such as paper, books, small parts, writing reports, writing clinical notes, using office equipment such as computers, telephones, fax machines, photocopy machines, and possibly driving an automobile. Some work is performed in a clinical setting that exposes the incumbent to the communicable disease common of the homeless population. Strenuous physical activity is not required. ["The Senior Social Worker (M2VA Liaison), will report administratively to the M2VA Program Manager under the Social Work Service at the Washington DC VA Medical Center and will report programmatically to the VA Liaison Program Manager in the Care Management and Social Work Service (11CMSW), VA Central Office. The VA Liaison for Health Care (hereinafter referred to as VA Liaison) is seen as the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) representative to the military installation and must represent the VA in all aspects of patient care, transfer, and outreach. The primary role of the VA Liaison is to ensure the transfer of health care, both inpatient and outpatient, from the Military Treatment Facility (MTF) to the appropriate VA health care facility. The VA Liaisons must work on site at the MTF with staff, service member(s), families, and Veterans to ensure priority access to needed health care services and education regarding VHA benefits. Some duties include, but are not limited to: Works closely with the MTF treatment team, as an independent practitioner, using advanced practice skills and expertise to provide ongoing consultation regarding complex discharge planning issues, VA health care benefits, resources, and facilities. Develops relationships and collaborates with the MTF social workers, nurses, case managers, managed care staff, and discharge planners to identify patients ready for discharge to a VA health care facility and to obtain clear referral information and authorization for VHA to treat those still on active duty. Meets with the service member and/or family to provide education and an overview of VA health benefits and resources to address current medical and psychosocial issues identified as part of the service member's treatment plan. Coordinates with the liaison's home VA health care facility Enrollment Coordinator to initially register active-duty service members or enroll veterans at their facility utilizing the referral information. Collaborates with MTF social workers, nurses, and case managers to identify the VA health care facility where care will be transferred and an accepting physician at that facility. Identifies and communicates with the Post 9/11 M2VA Program Manager at the receiving VA health care facility to initiate and process referrals and linkages for transfers of care. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00AM - 4:30PM Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: Contact VISN5HREDRPCoordinators@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required"]

Return to Search Results