This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP). For More information, please see the Duties Section of this announcement. A Recruitment/Relocation Incentive may be offered to a highly qualified candidate. To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/01/2022. 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/. 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. Preferred Experience: At least 2 years experience practicing working in Behavioral Health population Experience in evidenced based therapies Experience working with substance use issues 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.htm The full performance level of this vacancy is GS12. Physical Requirements: moderate lifting and carrying (15 - 44 pounds) reaching above shoulder use of fingers walking/standing (up to 4 hours) near vision, correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4 far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other hearing (aid permitted) mental and emotional stability ["The Senior Social Worker (Primary Care Mental Health Initiative - PCMHI) provides Behavioral Health services to the Veterans enrolled in the El Paso\nTexas VA Health Care System. This includes high quality case management, clinical treatment, advocacy, and coordination of care to other appropriate VA or community service providers/agencies as needed by the patient. This is accomplished in collaboration with other members of the interdisciplinary\ntreatment teams as appropriate. FUNCTIONS OF THE POSITION Include the following: Screening/Assessment- The Senior Social Worker develops an assessment of the Veteran, through a bio-psychosocial that includes a diagnosis. The Senior Social Social Worker works in collaboration with the interdisciplinary treatment team, the veteran, family members and significant others. Treatment Planning/Goal Setting - The Senior Social Worker is responsible for developing the treatment plan, and setting achievable treatment goals with the Veteran/family from the bio-psychosocial. The treatment plan will be completed by the patient's third visit for mental health services. The plan will be updated every six months or more frequently if there is a change in the patient's condition or needs. Treatment - The Senior Social Worker provided individual, family and group psychotherapy and independent case management interventions. Referral to Service Providers - Throughout the course of treatment, the Senior Social Worker is the subject matter expert on VA and/or community resources and collaborates with other service providers in reassessing the Veteran's needs. Resource Usage/Development - The Senior Social Worker is responsible for using the current social work resource file of VA and community service programs and enhancing the content to benefit Veterans, referring Veterans to needed services. Advocacy - The Senior Social Worker acts as an advocate to serve the best interest of Veterans and their families. When appropriate and feasible, the Senior Social Worker provided education and encouragement to the Veteran/family to advocate on their behalf, thus fostering a sense of independence and empowerment. Crisis Intervention - The Senior Social Worker makes rapid assessments and develops crisis management plans for admission to mental health programs, and, in the event of a medical or psychiatric emergency, follows to protocol of the VA Medical Center. Education/Health Promotion and Prevention - The Senior Social Worker provides education related to VA and community resources, entitlements, Advance Directives/Living Will and refers Veterans/families to the appropriate interdisciplinary team member for identified health education needs. Coordination of non-institutional and institutional services - The Senior Social Worker reviews the progress notes form other providers to accurately determine the strengths and limitations of each Veteran being referred for mental health services. The Senior Social Worker educates the Veteran, their families and the team of all options available to them and will collaborate with the Veteran and family on the preferred option. Supportive & Empirically Based Counseling/Therapy - The Senior Social Worker provides Veterans and their caregivers with ongoing supportive counseling. The purpose of such counseling is to deal with the psychosocial impact of coping with mental health and chronic/disabling illness. Administrative responsibilities - The Senior Social Worker enters all veteran/family contacts in the electronic record using appropriate formats and templates. This information will be entered in a complete, confidential, and professional manner to insure information on the patient is shared with other VA staff. This information will be reviewed on a regular basis. The Senior Social Worker establishes and maintains positive working relationships with employees, volunteers, consumers and stakeholders within the VA and outside community agencies. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8 AM - 4:30 PM\nTelework: Not available\nVirtual: This is not a virtual position.\nFunctional Statement #: 000000\nRelocation/Recruitment Incentives: may be authorized for a highly qualified candidate\nEDRP Authorized: This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application. The VISN 17 EDRP Coordinators can be reached at VISN17EDRP2@va.gov\nPermanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized\nFinancial Disclosure Report: Not required"]