Clarification from the agency

Open to the public. This vacancy announcement is an "external" job announcement. Current permanent VA employees are encouraged to apply under the "internal" announcement to receive consideration based on their current employment status. Internal candidates may apply to CAZM-11738350-23-KSB.

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NOTE: This vacancy is being recruited for as Psychologist, Senior Social Worker and Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor.

NOTE: This vacancy will remain open until filled. The first cut-off date is 12/19/2022. Additional applications will be referred as needed.

The Senior Social Worker is assigned to the Substance Abuse Treatment Program (SATP) of the VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System (VATVCBHCS).

The SATP Social Worker performs specialized treatment of complex physical or mental illness. The SATP Social Worker will provide psycho-therapeutic services with attention to delivering Evidenced-Based Psychotherapy (EBP) to Veterans diagnosed with Substance Use Disorder, PTSD, and/or other comorbid mental health diagnoses. Services may include conducting assessments, delivering psychotherapy (in individual and/or group formats), provision of consultation to staff regarding substance use disorder issues. Additionally, the incumbent incorporates complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment of Veteran patients, including making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnoses within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.

The SATP Social Worker is able to provide individual, group, and family psychotherapy and advanced level case management interventions used in the treatment of Veterans with polytrauma injuries, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, visual impairment, posttraumatic stress disorder, addictions, and other serious disorders. The SATP Social Worker conducts case management for Veterans.

The SATP Social Worker develops and implements methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services in specialty areas, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services. Incumbent demonstrates the ability to design changes based on empirical findings.

The SATP Social Worker offers consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients treated in specialty areas, rendering professional opinions based on experience and expertise and role modeling effective social work practice skills.

The SATP Social Worker demonstrates the ability to teach and mentor staff and students in the special area of practice and to provide supervision for licensure or specialty certifications. The SATP Social Worker will use the social work process (psychosocial assessment, diagnosis, and treatment) to conduct an intake assessment or an update assessment for Veterans; utilizes clinical reminders to evaluate the need for health care, behavioral and mental health services; makes appropriate referrals for health care, individual, group, marital or family treatment services.

The SATP Social Worker completes suicide risk evaluations utilizing assigned and shared templates in the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) on all patients with suicidal ideation and on any patient whose record is flagged "High Risk for Suicide."

The SATP Social Worker additionally conducts a psychosocial evaluation on all new Veterans assigned to their clinic within performance measure standards. The SATP Social Worker coordinates mental health care within their clinic (general mental health, trauma related care teams, primary care mental health team members).

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #:/000000
EDRP Authorized: Contact the EDRP Coordinator at visn17edrp2@va.gov for questions/assistance. Learn more
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized for a Highly Qualified Individual.
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.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• 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.

English Language Proficiency Requirement - Per VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, Paragraph 3j: No person will be appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C., chapter 73 or 74, to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA who is not proficient in written and spoken English.

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/. 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.

Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.

Preferred Experience:

• No less than one year of clinical experience providing clinical services. This experience may accompany VA-based telehealth certification.
• Clear documentation of experience providing evidenced-based clinical practices (i.e., Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for SUD, Motivational Interviewing, Motivational Enhancement Therapy, CPT, PE, etc..).
• No less than one year of clinical experience providing substance use treatment clinical services.

Grade Determinations: GS12 Senior Social Worker

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:
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.

Advanced Practice Level: For all assignments above the full performance (journey) level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Advanced Practice Level is defined as the ability to provide independent and expert clinical psychosocial and case management services in a specialized area of practice to Veterans who tend to have serious and severe crises, may lack any familial and community support, may be poor self-monitors, may frequently fail to comply with instructions and treatment, or may have major deficits in coping skills and require continuing professional psychological support. The advanced practice or senior social worker has an increased depth and breadth of practice skills; has expertise in participating in the professional development of colleagues through mentorship and teaching; demonstrates leadership in developing and expanding professional intervention strategies; demonstrates leadership in defining and attending to professional practice issues; and has the ability to expand the conceptual knowledge of the profession. The advanced practice or senior social worker will make independent professional decisions and recommendations for agency action; the consequences to the Veteran of these decisions and actions may be quite serious. Work involves intensive social work services requiring the exercise of mature professional judgment and the flexible use of a wide range of complex social work practice skills not typically required in routine social work interventions. The advanced practice or senior social worker has mastered a range of specialized interventions and 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. The advanced practice or senior social worker utilizes outcome evaluations to further treatment and designs system changes based on empirical findings.

References: VA Handbook 5005/120 Part II Appendix G39 VA Qualification Standards. http://vaww1.va.gov/ohrm/Directives-Handbooks/Direct_Hand.htmThe full performance level of this vacancy is GS12.

Physical Requirements: light lifting and carrying (under 15 pounds); reaching above shoulder; use of fingers; walking/standing (2 hours); far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other; hearing (aid permitted); mental and emotional stability; cognitive stability.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, résumé, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

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

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.