Duties

This position serves as the Senior Social worker to the Intensive Community Mental Health Recovery (ICMHR) Team. The goal of the ICMHR Program is to provide intensive clinical case management services to veterans who have chronic, severe and persistent psychiatric illnesses. The ICMHR Program provides comprehensive outpatient treatment with major emphasis on systems intervention for severely disturbed psychiatric patients who make heavy use of inpatient resources.

• Provides consultation to colleagues, renders professional opinions based on experience and expertise, develops new models of psychosocial assessment or intervention, and incorporates complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment.
• Utilizes outcome evaluations to further treatment and designs system changes based on empirical findings.
• Provides a full range of therapeutic & case management services including assessments, consultations and therapies to patients in the ICMHR program.
• Provides evidence based individual, family or group psychotherapies based on assessment and diagnosis.
• Offers psycho-educational programs for Veterans, families and staff and links participants to other VA programs and to community resources.
• Participates in team staffing regarding member selection, determination of treatment plans and goals, progress evaluation, discharge planning, and after care.
• Works assertively and consistently with inpatient teams to assure continuity of care by providing consultation regarding clinical needs, treatment plans, and case management services for assigned members.
• Works to promote appropriate treatment, rehabilitation, and expeditious discharge of assigned members, consistent with program goals and with the individual treatment plans.
• Performs other duties as assigned by ICMHR Program Coordinator, Supervisory Social Worker, Chief of Psychiatry or Associate Chief of Staff for Mental Health.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8a-4:30p
Telework: Not available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Title/Functional Statement #:Senior Social Worker - Intensive Community Mental Health Recovery/PD000000
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized
EDRP Authorized: Contact Rudy Pearson (Rudy.Pearson@va.gov), the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to a background/security investigation
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English
• 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 Department of Veterans Affairs Personnel

Qualifications

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. (NOTE: This applies to the past, current, and upcoming VA Health Professional Trainees (HPT) only. HPT is an individual appointed to temporary positions in one or more VHA medical facilities performing clinical or research training experiences to satisfy program or degree requirements or receiving VA Health Professional Scholarship Program. HPTs can be either VA-paid or Without Compensation (WOC).)

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.
• 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 the CSWE website to verify if that social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a master of social work. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED: If you do not submit the required document, your application may not be reviewed.)
• 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.
• English Language Proficiency: In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English.

GS-12 Grade Determination: Must possess at least two years of experience post advanced practice clinical licensure that was in a specialized area of social work practice of which one year must be equivalent to the GS-11 grade level and that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment.

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) 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.
(c) 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.
(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.

References: VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39

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. The work is performed in an urgent care clinical setting that exposes the incumbent to the communicable disease common to the diseases that are present within the Emergency Department or Urgent Care Clinic. Strenuous physical activity is not required.

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 .

Additional information

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application .