Summary

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP) - a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific eligibility requirements per VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval - award amount (up to $200 -000) & eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

• The basic requirements for employment as a VHA social worker are prescribed by statute in 38 U.S.C. § 7402(b)(9) - as amended by section 205 of Public Law 106-419 - enacted November 1 - 2000
• To qualify for appointment as a social worker in VHA - all applicants must meet the following: Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States
• (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3 - section A - paragraph 3g this part)
• 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 SW Licensure Summary by State
• Exception: VHA may waive the licensure or certification requirement for persons who are otherwise qualified - pending completion of state prerequisites for licensure/certification examinations
• This exception only applies at the GS-9 grade level
• For the GS-11 grade level and above - the candidate must be licensed or certified
• At the time of appointment - the supervisor - chief social work or social work executive will provide the unlicensed/uncertified social worker with the written requirements for licensure or certification - including the time by which the license or certification must be obtained and the consequences for not becoming licensed or certified by the deadline
• Different states have different levels of licensure or certification - making it difficult for VHA staff to determine the independent practice level
• Each state - Puerto Rico - and the District of Columbia completed surveys identifying the level of licensure or certification allowing independent practice
• Copies of the surveys are on file in the VHA Office of Care Management and Social Work Services - and a summary spreadsheet of the levels of licensure or certification is available to social work professional standards board members for purposes of determining whether the social worker's level of licensure or certification meets the VHA qualification standards
• All states except California use a series of licensure exams administered by the ASWB
• Information can be found at https://www.aswb.org/
• The ASWB is the association of boards that regulates social work
• ASWB develops and maintains the social work licensing examination used across the country and is a central resource for information on the legal regulation of social work
• The ASWB offers three examinations
• The master's examination is generally used by states for the independent practice level of licensure or certification - while the advanced generalist and the clinical examinations are used for the advanced practice level of licensure or certification
• Differences between the master's and the advanced exams demonstrate the expectation that advanced practice social workers will have a more sophisticated knowledge of practice theory and its application
• Failure to Obtain License or Certification: In all cases - social workers must actively pursue meeting state prerequisites for licensure or certification starting from the date of their appointment
• Failure to become licensed or certified within the prescribed amount of time will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment
• Loss of Licensure or Certification: Once licensed or certified - social workers must maintain a full - valid - and unrestricted independent license or certification to remain qualified for employment
• Loss of licensure or certification will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment
• 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
• References: VA Handbook 5005/120 - Part II - Appendix G39 - Social Worker Qualification Standard - GS-0185 - Veterans Health Administration - dated September 10 - 2019
• Driver's License: Candidate must have a current state issued driver's license
• 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: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019 Employee Occupational Health Service

Duties

• Major duties include but not limited to: Provides Outreach services for HUD-VASH in the community and training for other members of the multidisciplinary treatment team in areas related to SUD assessment - anger management - and life skills and SUD with co-occurring disorders
• Independently conducts intakes and needs assessment of homeless Veterans and their significant others
• Identifies symptoms leading to clinical diagnoses of SUD provides all necessary assessment functions - e.g
• interviewing - psychosocial histories - and SUD assessments to aid in the development of treatment plans
• Develops comprehensive treatment plans with the Veteran that address the factors that contributed to homelessness - including SUD and other co-occurring factors within a recovery model framework
• Works with the Veteran to realize the Veteran's treatment goals and reassesses and revises goals as indicated by the Veteran's engagement in treatment
• Organizes and conducts individual and group case management and SUD treatment - to include early interventions and supportive follow-up to ensure stability in home visits and facility-based contacts
• Provides SUD support to the HUD-VASH team as a functional member of this team - to include consultation - interventions - or accompanying other case managers on home visits - when indicated by suspicion of HUD-VASH participant SUD use
• Develop partnerships with community agencies - especially those serving homeless and SUD Veterans - with regular contact and communication
• Provide liaison services with other programs referring homeless Veterans to HUD-VASH to ensure continuity of care and promote successful transition of Veterans from one program to another
• Provide appropriate clinical documentation for all contacts with or about Veterans
• Responsible for the collections of statistical data and for reviewing the data to improve performance and delivery of services to homeless Veterans
• Provides recovery-oriented treatment with the goal of establishing the Veteran independently in the community at the Veteran's highest level of functioning and quality of life
• Knowledge Required by the Position: Advanced knowledge of and mastery of theories and modalities used in the specialized treatment of complex physical or mental illness
• Advanced knowledge and expert skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities used in providing individual and group treatment interventions to patients presenting with a wide variety of mental health and psychosocial issues such as those diagnoses found in the DSM IV - and particularly SMI (including PTSD) - Dual Diagnosis - personality disorders - substance abuse - and issues arising from homelessness
• Advanced knowledge and expert skill in developing and implementing methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services with homeless Veterans with SUD and co-occurring disorder histories
• Ability to provide subject matter consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients treated in the specialty area - rendering professional opinions based on experience and expertise and role modeling effective social work practice skills
• Advanced knowledge and demonstrated ability to expand clinical knowledge in the profession - demonstrating innovation in the creation of new models of psychosocial assessment and intervention - evidenced through the ability to present histories - assessments - behavioral observations - SUD test results - and discuss diagnostic issues in training sessions - treatment team meetings - and in other case conferences
• Skilled administrator of structured interviews and assessments with a wide variety of patient populations - particularly Homeless Veteran populations with SUD who are also Seriously Mentally Ill (SMI) Veterans - Women Veterans - Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF/ OIF) Veterans - elderly Veterans and /or Veterans with families
• Work Schedule: 8:00am - 4:30pm Monday - Friday Telework: This position is eligible for telework on an Ad -Hoc basis Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• EDRP Authorized: Contact V21CCOEEDRP@VA.GOV - the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance
• Learn more Financial Disclosure Report: Not required