Social Worker

Summary **This position may be filled by a Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor or Social Worker.

These positions are advertised on separate USA jobs announcements.

If you are interested in the Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor position, you will need to apply to that vacancy announcement.** Responsibilities **This is an Open Continuous Announcement.

The first review/referral of applications will occur 15 business days after the opening of this announcement; after this date applicants will be reviewed as they are received.

The incumbent is responsible for case management, coordination and provision of social work services for the Mental Health Outpatient Clinic.

Management of workload and assignments for the Mental Health Service Line is coordinated through the Mental Health Social Work Supervisor.

The location of service delivery will focus on the needs of each individual veteran and may include the outpatient mental health clinic as well as inpatient psychiatry, PRTP urgent care area, primary care clinics, and related mental health programs.

Duties include, but are not limited to: Conducts psychosocial assessments to determine needs of veterans and family members.

Participates in the treatment planning process with other disciplines.

Participates in discharge planning with other disciplines and will be responsible for ensuring that discharge plans are executed in a manner that is timely and appropriate.

Provides individual, family and group counseling as appropriate.

Provides consultation/education to veterans and families on community resources, advance directives and VA benefits.

Acts as a consultant to other team/staff members.

Provides consultation/education to medical residents on social work practice and VA policy and procedure.

Acts as liaison between VA and community resources, to include marketing and public relation duties as needed.

Provides case management to veterans and families, as needed, throughout the continuum of care.

Participate in community outreach events as assigned.

Participation in such events focuses on providing veteran education of VA mental health care services and other Health care benefits.

Provides a full range of social work services within commonly accepted standards of social work practice which includes casework, individual, family, and group counseling, discharge planning, case management, and other services as appropriate.

Work Schedule: Monday
– Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm Telework: Telework, if approved, will be on an Ad-Hoc basis Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Title/Functional Statement #:Social Worker/PD000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/04/2022.

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: (a) Citizenship.

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.) (b) English Language Proficiency.

Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C.

§ 7403(f).

(c) Education and Experience.

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.

(d) 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/.

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.

For appointments at the GS-9 grade level, VHA social workers who are not licensed or certified at the time of appointment must become licensed or certified at the independent, master’s level within three years of their appointment as a social worker.

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).

GS-9 Grade Requirements: (a) Experience, Education, and Licensure.

None beyond the basic requirements (b) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities.

In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: Ability to work with Veterans and family members from various socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic, educational, and other diversified backgrounds utilizing counseling skills.

Ability to assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and their family members, and to formulate and implement a treatment plan, identifying the Veterans problems, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and assistance needed.

Ability to implement treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups to achieve treatment goals.

This requires judgment and skill in utilizing supportive, problem solving, or crisis intervention techniques.

Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships and communicate with clients, staff, and representatives of community agencies.

Fundamental knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities, and treatment procedures.

This includes acute, chronic, and traumatic illnesses/injuries; common medications and their effects/side effects; and medical terminology.

GS-11 Grade Requirements: (a) Experience and Licensure.

Appointment to the GS-11 grade level requires completion of a minimum of one year of post-MSW experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the field of health care or other social work-related settings, (VA or non-VA experience) and licensure or certification in a state at the independent practice level; OR (b) Education.

In addition to meeting basic requirements, a doctoral degree in social work from a school of social work may be substituted for the required one year of professional social work experience in a clinical setting.

(c) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities.

In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: Knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services.

Skill in independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic, cultural, ethnic, educational and other diversified backgrounds.

Knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities and treatment procedures (i.e.

acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses/injuries, common medications and their effects/side effects, and medical terminology) to formulate a treatment plan.

Skill in independently implementing different treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, medical, and social problems to achieve treatment goals.

Ability to provide consultation services to new social workers, social work graduate students, and other staff about the psychosocial needs of patients and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and compliance with treatment.

References: VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39, dated September 10, 2019.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11.

The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-9 to GS-11 Education IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application.

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.

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.

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.