Senior Social Worker
What you'd do
This Senior Social Worker position is part of the Clinical Resource Hub (CRH), Mental Health Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program Centralized Screening Team (MH RRTP CST), and is expected to possess strong clinical skills to provide screening, treatment dispositioning, suicide risk assessment, and crisis intervention to Veterans who are referred for residential treatment.
Major duties
This remote position with the Clinical Resource Hub (CRH) provides support to Veterans in the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System (CAVHS), which is located in Little Rock and North Little Rock, Arkansas. Duties of the Senior Social Worker include, but are not limited to: Must use a high level of skill in assessing and treating the complex factors of suicidality. Maintains high level of skill and expertise to establish and maintain effective therapeutic relationships with Veterans and their families. Independently works with Veterans and their families who are experiencing a wide range of complicated medical, psychiatric, emotional, behavioral, and psychosocial problems within the context of suicide risk. Completes a current psychosocial assessment to determine the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans, after thorough review of the medical record. Completes all reporting requirements set forth by Mental Health Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program (MH RRTP) and Clinical Resource Hub (CRH) to include, but not limited to: Measurement-Based Care, Program evaluation, Quality management, Fidelity, efficacy, and outcomes measures, training required for the position and delivery of care, utilization of tools and resources related to reporting and evaluation (i.e., dashboards, measures, note templates with health factors, etc.). Participates as a member of National and VISN MH RRTP Community of Practice teams and engages in active collaboration with Veterans and family as well as other interdisciplinary treatment team members. Serves as a liaison between Veterans and their families and VA and community resources in order to ensure thorough delivery of services. Provides consultation and education to Veterans and their families regarding community resources, VA benefits, specialty programs, and advance directives. Must possess and demonstrate ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing with people from diverse backgrounds. Provides emergency/crisis intervention services to patients experiencing acute psychological crises. Maintains a level of productivity and quality consistent with the complexity of the assignment and consistent with professional standards, Joint Commission standards, and national standards, as outlined by the national MH RRTP Directive and in conjunction with VHA productivity standards Documents in the Veteran's electronic medical record and completes/updates a thorough assessment utilizing standardized templates. Work Schedule: Work hours negotiated upon hire; Shifts can be selected between Monday - Sunday, 7:00 am - 7:00 pm Telework: Not available Virtual: This is a 100% virtual position Functional Statement #: 598-01304F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
What you need to qualify
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 4 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/. 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. Preferred Experience: Experience in a Mental Health Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program, including screening for programs. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation, see Duties section for essential job duties of the position. May require standing, lifting, carrying, sitting, stooping, bending, pulling, and pushing. May be required to wear personal protective equipment and undergo annual TB screening or testing as conditions of employment. Work Environment: Work is performed in an office/clinic setting with minimal risks that requires normal safety precautions; the area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated. However, the work environment requires someone with the ability to handle several tasks at once in sometimes stressful situations.
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