The Social Worker serves in the specialty medical area providing services to Veterans diagnosed with Chronic Pain. In addition, the incumbent will occasionally provide coverage and services to administration and coordination of social services provided to patients enrolled in all programs offered to Veterans through the Geriatrics & Extended Care Service (GEC) at the Robley Rex VA Medical Center. 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. 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/. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). 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: Senior Social Worker- GS-12 Senior Social Workers 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. 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. In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (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. References: VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services. ["VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Senior Social workers have experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment. At least two years should be in an area of specialized social work practice. The incumbent possesses experience working with advanced medical disease process with expertise in chronic pain and substance dependence. The Senior Social Worker is assigned administrative responsibility for clinical program development for patients with diagnosed Chronic Pain and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns. The incumbent will utilize a patient-centered, biopsychosocial-consistent approach to case management, assistance with program navigation, customer service, and communication with patients and support persons, referring providers, and other stakeholders. Is able to demonstrate knowledge and skill in the use of software applications for drafting documents and data management as well as other computer systems in use by the VHA. Specifically, proficiency in TEAMs, Excel, Word, Access (working knowledge only), Outlook (especially encryption function), and CPRS. Is able to maintain a level of productivity and quality consistent with the complexity of the assignment and consistent with Pain Clinic productivity and quality of work standards, Joint Commission standards, and facility standards. Must actively participate as a member of the interdisciplinary pain treatment team in implementation of patient treatment goals and intervention. Incumbent is a professional, independent social worker assign to the Louisville RRVAMC Pain Clinic. The incumbent must use a high level of skill in assessing and treating complicated psychosocial problems of Veterans living with Chronic pain. Responsibilities include the assessment of psychosocial problems often at a time when the Veteran is experiencing crisis to include evidence-based suicide risk and safety planning/assessments/interventions as well as short term evidence based therapeutic interventions with the Veterans and/or their families. Training in pain-specific interventions is available. The incumbent Must have a high level of skill and expertise to establish and maintain effective therapeutic relationships with Veterans and/or their families. The incumbent is able to independently work with Veterans and their families who are experiencing a wide range of complicated medical, psychiatric, emotional, behavioral, and psychosocial problems. Must possess a working knowledge and experience in use of medical and mental health diagnosis, disabilities, and treatment procedures, including acute, chronic, and traumatic illnesses, common medications, and their effects/side effects, and medical terminology. Overall, social workers in the Geriatrics, Extended Care (GEC) Service are directly responsible for the administration and coordination of social services provided to patients enrolled in all programs offered to veterans through the Geriatric and Extended Care (GEC) Service. She/he will represent GEC at appropriate service and facility meetings, and establish a liaison with agencies pertinent to GEC program operations. Direct liaison with both clinical and administrative service chiefs, necessary to promote effective functioning of these programs, will be the primary responsibility of the incumbent. The Social Worker for the Geriatric and Extended Care (GEC) Service at the Louisville VA Medical Center and may be assigned or provide consultation to any of the following programs or clinics: Home and Community Based Care Program (HCBC), Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) Program, Contract Adult Day Health Care (CADHC) Program, Hospice and Palliative Care (HPC)Program, Transitional Care Program, Community Residential Care (CRC) Program, Medical Foster Home (MFH) Program, Geriatric Primary Care (GPC) Clinic, Cognitive Evaluation Clinic Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm\nVirtual: This is not a virtual position.\nRelocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized\nPermanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized\nFinancial Disclosure Report: Not required"]