Career Center

Summary

The Senior Social Worker - locally titled PCAFC Clinical Assessor - has primary responsibility to provide clinical evidence-based services and interventions; program development; caregiver - Veteran and staff education on caregiver issues; community outreach; resource development; continuous quality improvement activities; and evaluation/consultation. This position requires the incumbent to operate a government vehicle and must be licensed to operate a motor vehicle.

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. Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

Basic Requirements:

• 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
• 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/
• Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment - the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates
• 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
• Preferred Experience: Two years post licensure
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
• The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12
• Physical Requirements: IAW VA Directive and handbook 5019 - Employee Occupational Health Services

Duties

• VA Careers - Licensed Clinical Social Worker: https://youtube.com/embed/U_xC25QsN0w Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Major duties and responsibilities of the position include but are not limited to: The incumbent - in collaboration with the CSP Manager - is administratively responsible for the clinical programming and daily operations of the program
• Develops policies and procedures for program operation and prepares reports and statistics for facility - VISN - and national use
• The incumbent manages and controls the use of data related to these programs regarding day- t o - d ay functioning and program evaluation within the Muskogee VAHCS
• The PCAFC Clinical Assessor - develops and implements the Caregiver Support Program specific to his/her area of assignment and ensures compliance and collaboration with local facility and the VA Central Office Caregiver Support Program initiatives
• The incumbent administers information and analytical systems to evaluate and enhance the quality of service provided to caregivers - families - and Veterans
• Develops and implements information systems to track service activities including visits - referrals - caregiver demographics - equipment utilization and caregiver and Veteran satisfaction
• Develops implements and evaluates clinical guidelines and protocols to establish appropriate utilization of services
• The incumbent participates in direct caregiver and Veteran contacts to identify and assess caregiver stress/burden and the development and application of directed clinical treatment interventions
• Advises and collaborates with interdisciplinary teams throughout the medical center on caregiver issues
• Creates educational tools - develops programs - and implements training focused on specific caregiver needs/issues
• Provides education and in-service training to VAMC employees - Veterans - families - and caregivers
• Provides ongoing consultation and support to colleagues regarding caregiver support
• Develops and facilitates caregiver support groups (face-to-face or VANTS telephone line) and educational programs
• Distributes educational materials provided by VA - local - state - and national caregiver organizations
• The incumbent conducts caregiver and family clinical interventions to facilitate the identification of caregiver stress - psychiatric illness - emotional distress - and social needs as treatment issues
• Professional judgment - including the knowledge of normal and abnormal behavior - is an inherent competency applied in daily interactions with caregivers and the Veterans they care for
• The incumbent provides referral to VA medical and mental health treatment and to other VA services including VA benefits - as well as community-based social services and other non-VA entitlement programs
• If appropriate - the incumbent provides referrals or consults - or in some cases direct admission of a Veteran to other VA programs Rocky Mountain Network Human Resources Title 38/Hybrid Title 38 Functional Statement Updated 10/2024 including but not limited to the Community Residential Care Program - Respite Program - Community Health Care Coordination Program - Hospice - Home Based Primary Care - Telehealth and Community Nursing Home Program
• Work Schedule: Monday through Friday - 8:00 a.m to 4:30 p.m Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases
• Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave - 13 days of sick leave - 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual - based on prior [work experience] or military service experience
• Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment - up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth - adoption - or foster care placement of a child
• Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment - full time employees with a total family income below $144 -000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66
• Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Telework: Ad- Hoc/Situational Functional Statement #: 60135-A