Senior Social Worker (Patient Aligned Care Team)

The Senior Social Worker Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) is a comprehensive team which delivers primary care to veteran patients in a longitudinal rather than episodic fashion and which has as its focus: prevention; health promotion, coordination, and chronic disease management. The social worker is assigned to Primary Care and covers Urgent Care and Specialty Clinics as well, where appropriate.

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.

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.
• 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.
• English Language Proficiency: Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j, this part.

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 Requirements:

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.The Full Performance level of this vacancy is a GS-12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is a GS-12.

Physical Requirements:

See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services.

Responsibilities:

Senior Social Worker duties include, but aren't limited to the following:

• Independently works with veterans and their families who are experiencing a wide range of complicated medical, psychiatric, emotional, behavioral, and psychosocial problems.
• Frequently offers consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment and care coordination of complex patients as incumbent is seen as an expert and leader among peers in the psychosocial care of medically complex patients.
• Possesses a high level of skill and expertise to establish and maintain effective therapeutic relationships with, and in assessing and treating the complicated psychosocial problems of, veterans and their families/significant others.
• Actively participates as a member of the interdisciplinary treatment team through collaboration with veterans and family as well as interdisciplinary treatment team members to formulate and implement a treatment plan, identifying the patient's problems, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills and assistance needed.
• Accepts referrals originating from any member of the interdisciplinary team, from Veterans and/or their families who call or walk-in for assistance, and from community professionals.
• Conducts thorough assessments to determine psychosocial problems that cause distress, often impacting the health condition and creating barriers to care needs of veterans and family members, the underlying causes of the presenting problem, the interpersonal and environmental factors impacting the problem, and its effect on the patient's ability and desire to comply with the treatment recommendations by the multidisciplinary team.
• Serves on committees, work groups, and task forces at the facility as deemed appropriate by the supervisor or Chief of Primary Care.
• Represents the VA in the community by preparing presentations for community hospitals and community providers groups.
• Develops innovations in practice interventions, participates in program development, assists in assessing and maintaining program effectiveness.
• Provides coverage for, and assistance to, the program supervisor when needed to support the GS-9/11 PACT social worker team, which can be achieved either remotely or in person.
• Provides advanced level case management interventions used in the treatment of veterans with members of the outpatient interdisciplinary team and is provided to coordinate a collaborative effort to meet the agreed upon goals for a veteran's treatment needs.
• Serves as a liaison between veterans and/or their families and VA and community resources to ensure thorough delivery of services.
• Other duties as assigned by management.

Work Schedule: 8:00am-4:30pm Monday-Friday
Telework: Ad hoc Telework Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Salary : $128,178