Summary

This position is located at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center - in support of the Social Work service. The employee is a core member of the interdisciplinary Home- Based Primary Care (HBPC) Treatment Team which is a specialized program under the administration of Primary Care. The Senior Social Worker provides expert level psychosocial interventions and case management services to Veterans with complex medical - social and behavioral conditions in which routine clinic-based care is not effective.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States
• Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy
• English Language Proficiency
• Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f)
• 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/
• Failure to Obtain License or Certification
• In all cases - social workers must actively pursue meeting state prerequisites for licensure or certification starting from the date of their appointment
• Failure to become licensed or certified within the prescribed amount of time will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment
• Loss of Licensure or Certification
• 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
• Grandfathering Provision
• 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: 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
• Assignments
• For all assignments above the full performance 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
• Senior social workers are licensed or certified to independently practice social work at an advanced level
• Senior social workers typically practice in a major program area such as but not limited to: Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center or Polytrauma Network Site
• a Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Center - or a national VHA referral center - such as a national Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or a national Transplant Center - or other program areas of equivalent scope and complexity
• The senior social worker may be assigned administrative responsibility for clinical program development and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns
• Assignments include clinical settings where they have limited access to onsite supervision such as CBOCs or satellite outpatient clinics
• The senior social worker collaborates with the other members of the treatment team in the provision of comprehensive health care services to Veterans - ensures equity of access - service - and benefits to this population - ensures the care provided is of the highest quality
• The senior social worker provides leadership - direction - orientation - coaching - in-service training - staff development - and continuing education programs for assigned social work staff
• They serve on committees - work groups - and task forces at the facility - VISN and national level - or in the community as deemed appropriate by the supervisor - Social Work Executive or Chief of Social Work Services
• This assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management
• This assignment must represent substantial additional responsibility over and above that required at the full performance grade level and cannot be used as the full performance level of this occupation
• Travel: 50% or less - you may be expected to travel for this position
• Valid Unrestricted Driver's License required
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
• The full performance level of this vacancy is GS12
• Physical Requirements: The work is sometimes sedentary
• The physical demands of this position involve active listening - reading - observing and evaluating verbal and nonverbal behavior - walking - speaking - writing reports - writing policies and procedures - writing clinical notes - using office equipment such as computers - telephones - fax machines - photocopy machines - and driving throughout the VISN
• The employee must possess a valid driver's license.

Duties

• The Cincinnati VA Medical Center (CVAMC) is a two-division campus located in Cincinnati - OH and Fort Thomas - KY serving 15 counties in Southwest OH - Northern Kentucky - and Southeast Indiana with 6 Community Based Outpatient Clinics located in Bellevue - KY
• Florence - KY
• Lawrenceburg - IN
• Hamilton - OH
• Clermont County - OH - and Georgetown - OH
• The CVAMC also supports two off main campus locations in the Cincinnati area via an Eye Center and Mental Health Outreach Community Division
• Duties include but are not limited to: Provides a comprehensive psychosocial assessment and integrates it into an overall plan of care in collaboration with the interdisciplinary treatment team - the Veteran - family members and significant others - whenever possible
• Designs systems changes based on observations - data and experience
• Facilitates and prioritizes referrals based upon Veterans' needs and eligibility
• Identifies and prioritizes high-risk patients and provides case management services
• Provides consultation services to other staff regarding the psychosocial needs of Veterans and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and adherence to treatment plan
• Possesses the advanced practice skills to independently make a psychosocial diagnosis and offer psychosocial interventions - and then measures outcomes to interventions
• Participates and can lead weekly interdisciplinary care planning meetings when asked by the HBPC program director
• Coordinates community-based services - including information and referral for additional services from other VA programs - other government programs and community agency programs
• Facilitates and prioritizes referrals based upon Veterans needs and eligibility
• Provides education related to VA and community resources - entitlements - Advance Directives/Living Will and will refer Veterans/families to the appropriate interdisciplinary team member for identified health education needs
• Establishes and maintains effective therapeutic relationships with Veterans and their families
• Enters all Veteran/family contacts in the electronic record using appropriate formats and templates
• Establishes and maintains positive working relationships with employees - volunteers - consumers and stakeholders within the VA and outside community agencies
• Collaborates in the performance improvement processes and support performance measures as required by the VA for their specialized population and/or program
• Performs all other duties as assigned
• Work Schedule: Monday through Friday
• 7:30am to 4:00pm Compressed/Flexible: Not Available Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: 91268-0 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized