Duties
VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU
VA Careers - Licensed Clinical Social Worker: https://youtube.com/embed/U_xC25QsN0w
Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf
Social Work: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Social-Worker-Career-Flyer.pdf
The Senior Social Worker must be sensitive to the ethnic and cultural diversity and age-specific challenges across the spectrum of Veterans served and facilitate efficient and appropriate delivery of behavioral health services across episodes of Veteran care, both within the main VA clinic and surrounding Community Based Outpatient Clinics. The Senior Social Worker works both independently and collaboratively with other treatment team members, professionals, and non-professionals both at VA facilities and other community agencies to assist Veterans in managing their mental health issues, psychosocial needs, and barriers to treatment in order to mitigate risk factors related to suicide. The Senior Social Worker assesses psychosocial and environmental needs secondary to, or exacerbating the psychiatric issues which might contribute to the risk of suicide. The Senior Social Worker establishes and maintains an intensive therapeutic relationship with the Veteran, family, and/or significant others, if appropriate, and assists in identifying needs, stressors and problems. The Senior Social Worker provides ongoing continuity of care to Veterans, in conjunction with the Veteran's care providers, and assists in the development of a structured continuum of care for each case assigned. The work of this position is highly complex, involving a combination of mental health administrative skills and intensive clinical services and carries full professional responsibility for cases presenting with complex and varied psychosocial issues.
The Senior Social Worker serves in conjunction with Suicide Prevention Program and other facility staff to provide individualized comprehensive care coordination, clinical services and crisis intervention to Veterans identified as high risk for suicide. The Senior Social Worker must use a high level of skill in assessing and managing the complicated psychosocial problems of identified high-risk Veterans who are experiencing a wide range of complicated mental, emotional, behavioral, physical, psychosocial, and environmental issues to include but not limited to acute and chronic illness, combat stress, the residuals of traumatic brain injury (TBI), community adjustment, and addictions.
Duties are continued in the Education Section of this announcement.
Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8 AM - 4:45 PM
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Authorized
Recruitment Incentives. Recruitment incentives may be authorized to full-time, part time[,] or intermittent individuals in their first appointment as a Federal employee or to a newly appointed former Federal employee with at least a 90-day break in service
Relocation Incentives. Relocation incentives may be authorized to full-time Federal employees who must change worksite[s] and physically relocate to a different geographic area when the approving official determines that without the incentive, it would be difficult to fill the position with a high-quality candidate.
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
EDRP Authorized: Contact the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance at VISN17EDRP2@va.gov.
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 existing pay, 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)
Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.
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: Ad/Hoc Telework may be authorized
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
Conditions of Employment
- You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
- Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
- Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
- You may be required to serve a probationary period.
- Subject to background/security investigation.
- Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
- Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
- Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.
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.
- 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. Moderate lifting/carrying (15-44 lbs), Use of fingers, Walking 5 hours, Standing 3 hours, Operation of a crane, truck, tractor, or motor vehicle, Ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously, Near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4, Far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other, Both eyes required, Depth Perception, Ability to distinguish basic colors, Hearing (aid permitted)
- English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
- May meet this requirement through the Grandfathering Provision
Preferred Experience:
- Experience working with or providing case management for patients with complex needs
- experience working with veterans in crisis and conducting risk assessments
- at least one year of experience with developing and implementing large scale outreach events
- experience with providing education and consultation to multidisciplinary teams
- experience with completing safety plans
Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade level.
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. Individuals assigned Senior Social Worker must be licensed or certified at the
advanced practice level and 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:
(a) 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.
(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
Physical Requirements:
There are no set physical requirements for this position. Use of eyes, hands, walking/standing and hearing may be needed to perform some functions. Mental, emotional, and cognitive stability are required.
References: VA Handbook 5005/120 Part II Appendix G39, September 10, 2019
The grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12.
Education
IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.
Note: If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.
Note: If your school was accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) at the time of graduation but is no longer listed on the CSWE website, you must provide documentation of accreditation with your application packet. 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.
Duties Continued: Case management responsibilities include but are not limited to:
- Personal contact with all high-risk Veterans assigned to the incumbent's
caseload
- Data collection, administrative record keeping, monitoring of patient program clinical indicators, and performance measurements
- In conjunction with the treatment team, ensuring a Safety Plan has been completed and is routinely updated;
- In conjunction with the treatment team, ensuring ongoing suicide risk assessments are completed;
- In conjunction with the treatment team, ensure that all high-risk Veterans receive comprehensive behavioral health care;
- Participation in treatment team meetings/staffings and staff consultation to assist treatment team members with management of high risk Veterans;
- Completion of specialized training and/or certification in evidenced-based treatment for high-risk behavior as needed;
- Review/provision of comprehensive discharge planning and social service referrals to high- risk Veterans and families;
- No show and appointment cancellation follow-up - consulting with treatment team members regarding follow up contact attempts for Veterans on the high risk list who have no showed or cancelled appointments when the care team has been unable to contact them
- Ensuring that identified high-risk Veterans have been provided with the Veterans Crisis Line 24-hour resource number to call and/or other strategies for receiving assistance if an immediate crisis should occur;
- Obtaining relevant release of information documentation in compliance with HIPAA and other federal mandates to allow transmittal of facility data on suicide attempts and individuals at risk and transmitting the data following cyber security requirements as applicable for this sensitive data;
- Participation and assistance with facilitating high risk for suicide staffings to determine initial, continuation, or removal of high risk status;
- Respond to new referrals from staff members, VCL, or other touch points for determination of high risk status;
- Provide consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial and psychiatric treatment of Veterans at high risk for suicide, rendering professional opinions based on experience and expertise and role modeling effective social work practice skills.
Facilitation of suicide prevention strategies to internal and external stakeholders:
The incumbent is responsible for the education of providers, Veterans,
families and community stakeholders on the risk factors and warning signs for
suicide, suicide risk assessment and safety planning, lethal means counseling, self-directed violence behavior classification system, and treatment strategies for Veterans at risk for suicide. In addition to education and training, the incumbent is also responsible for assisting with data collection for all suicides and suicidal behavior as required by local, VISN, and VACO suicide prevention requirements and participation and facilitation of performance improvement activities.
Suicide prevention responsibilities include but are not limited to:
- Provision of Operation VA SAVE (warning signs and risk factors of suicide as well as intervention) training to employees, including new employees during New Employee Orientation as well as to community stakeholders including Veterans, family members, Veterans service organizations, and any other agencies that interact with Veterans;
- Provision of training for clinical staff to include topics such as suicide risk assessment, safety planning, lethal means counseling, and the self-directed violence classification system;
- Provision of training to non-clinical staff to manage suicidal callers;
- Monthly outreach activities to community stakeholders on suicide prevention in the assigned catchment area
- Ongoing data tracking using national, VISN, and other local level data collection applications as needed to include suicides, suicide attempts, other serious suicidal behavior and ideation, Veterans identified as high risk, and outreach activities in the ELPVA catchment area;
- Completion of Behavioral Health Autopsy Program (BHAP) and Family Interview Tool - Contact (FIT-C) forms for suicides as assigned;
- Participation in administrative committees associated with tracking and monitoring of high-risk Veterans and serving as back-up to other Suicide Prevention Program staff as needed;
- Assistance with maintaining and implementing the facility suicide prevention mail program;
Duties are continued in the Additional Information Section of the announcement.
Benefits
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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the full questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 01/31/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12299169.
- To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
- Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package.
NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.
To verify your application is complete, log into your USA JOBS account,
https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then select the more information link for this position. The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process. To return to an incomplete application, log into your USA JOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USA JOBS account or your application will be incomplete.
Next steps
Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. After we receive application packages (including all required documents) and the vacancy announcement closes, we will review applications to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued and applicants will be notified of their status by email. Referred applicants will be notified as such and may be contacted directly by the hiring office for an interview. All referred applicants receive a final notification once a selection decision has been made.
You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USA Jobs account and clicking on Applications. Information regarding your application status can be found in the USAJobs Help Center.
NOTE: Participation in the seasonal influenza program is a condition of employment and a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). It is a requirement that all HCP to receive annual seasonal influenza vaccination or obtain an exemption for medical or religious reasons. Wearing a face mask is required when an exemption to the influenza vaccination has been granted. HCP in violation of this directive may face disciplinary action up to and including removal from federal service. HCP are individuals who, during the influenza season, work in VHA locations or who come into contact with VA patients or other HCP as part of their duties. VHA locations include, but are not limited to, VA hospitals and associated clinics, community living centers (CLCs), community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs), domiciliary units, Vet centers and VA-leased medical facilities. HCP include all VA licensed and unlicensed, clinical and administrative, remote and onsite, paid and without compensation, full- and part-time employees, intermittent employees, fee basis employees, VA contractors, researchers, volunteers and health professions trainees (HPTs) who are expected to perform any or all of their work at these facilities. HPTs may be paid or unpaid and include residents, interns, fellows and students. HCP also includes VHA personnel providing home-based care to Veterans and drivers and other personnel whose duties put them in contact with patients outside VA medical facilities.