CAREER CENTER

The Senior Social Worker is assigned to Hines VA's outpatient Mental Health Clinic (MHC). As a member of the Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program (BHIP) this position provides generalist outpatient services to Veterans with a diverse range of mental health concerns. The MHC and Social Work Service are committed to developing and preserving a culture of diversity, inclusion and acceptance and we encourage all qualified candidates to apply. 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. 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/. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). 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: 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. References: VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39, Social Worker Qualification StandardThe 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. ["This Senior Social Worker will provide a full range of proactive, integrated, comprehensive outpatient mental health care that is recovery oriented and evidence-based, to include: screening and assessment; psychotherapy in individual, couples, and group formats, as well as, time-limited supportive therapy services for Veterans requiring a lower level of care. The incumbent has familiarity with a full range of DSM-5 clinical presentations and experience with associated evidence-based psychological interventions for mild, moderate, and severe presentations. The Senior Social Worker will demonstrate knowledge and skill in the delivery of evidence-based psychotherapy such as: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Interpersonal Therapy (IPT), Motivational Interviewing (MI / MET) with special preference for experience in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and/or Couple / Family Therapy. The Senior Social Worker may act as the team leader for their respective BHIP team and provide coverage as needed. The incumbent has knowledge of the psychiatric continuum of care, thorough risk assessment and mental health crisis procedures; demonstrating skill in leading interdisciplinary treatment teams in intervening in patient mental health crises. The Senior Social Worker may work within specialties including, but not limited to women's health, mindfulness focused treatment, intimate partner violence, trauma focused care, and/or eating disorders. The delivery of these mental health services may be implemented in person or through telemental health modalities, such as Clinical Video Teleconferencing (CVT) and VA Video Connect (VVC) to help increase access to mental health care. The Senior Social Worker demonstrates the ability to expand clinical knowledge in the profession, provide consultation and guidance to colleagues, role model effective social work practice, teach or provide orientation and education seminars to mental health professionals, provide clinical supervision to Social Work interns, and develop innovations in practice interventions. As a Senior Social Worker, the incumbent has experience that demonstrates possession of advance practice skills and judgement, and at least two years of experience in an area of specialized social work practice, specifically mental health and substance use disorders. The incumbent possesses specialized knowledge of mental health, evidence based practices, and knowledge related to special populations (PTSD, women veterans, substance use disorders, etc.) The incumbent must be licensed at an advanced practice level. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 10:00am - 6:30pm or similar evening schedule (Compressed tours may also be considered) Financial Disclosure Report: Not required"]

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