Job Description
Summary
The incumbent is a professional social worker and functions as a Senior Social Worker for the Eastern Colorado Health Care System's Intensive Community Mental Health Recovery ICMHR program. This program falls within the Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery Section of the Mental Health Services Care Line. The incumbent provides comprehensive social work services to Veterans with serious mental illness enrolled in ICMHR.
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.
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 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
- 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: 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: Experience working on an Assertive Community Treatment Team
- Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit
- The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12
- Physical Requirements: The physical demands of the work are generally minor - as the position requires sitting - standing - and walking
- Frequent travel is required - as the incumbent must conduct daily visits in the community - to address needs of Veterans on their caseload and this may involve traveling long distances
- The emotional demands can be stressful when working with ahigh-risk-for-suicide Veteran population and their families
- A high level of self-awareness is essential
- The work - divided between office and clinical settings - is primarily sedentary
- It may require prolonged standing - moderate walking - and manual dexterity
- It also requires carrying light items - such as books - files - or a laptop computer.
Duties
- Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Duties and skills needed to be successful in this position include - but are not limited to: Conducts psychosocial assessments to determine the needs of Veterans and family members
- Actively participates in the treatment planning process with other disciplines and provides measurement-based care
- Provides appropriate services based on Veterans' needs - acuity level - and preferences for care
- Veterans will be reassessed on a regular basis - no less than quarterly - and in accordance with local policy - for changes in their needs - acuity level - and preferences for care
- Utilizes psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery practices and other evidence-based practice models to promote Veteran engagement and self-efficacy
- Participates in discharge planning with other disciplines as appropriate and is responsible for ensuring that discharge plans are executed in a manner that is timely and appropriate
- Provides individual - family - and group education and counseling as appropriate
- Provides consultation/education to Veterans and families on community resources - advance directives - and VA benefits
- Acts as a consultant to other team/staff members
- Acts as a liaison between VA and community resources - to include marketing and public relations duties as needed
- Provides case management to Veterans and families - as needed - throughout the continuum of care
- Adheres to community-based safety protocols and utilizes Prevention and Management of Disruptive Behavior(PMDB) techniques to ensure a safe and secure environment
- Addresses Advance Directives and Organ Donation in accordance with the standards of their work area
- Provides Whole Health education and facilitates patient/family support groups as appropriate
- Coordinates treatment and communicates with the care lines to facilitate continuity of care for Veterans
- Participates in committee assignments - as deemed necessary by the service manager
- Maintains data and statistical compilations to comply with TJC - CARF - VA - State and medical center policy and procedures
- Assists patients and their significant others with coping and dealing with the loss and grief experiences in disability - terminal illness - and death
- Documents social work interventions and activities in the patient's clinical record utilizing CPRS and ensures appropriate hand-offs when transferring patient care
- Participates in a rotation of on-call social workers - including modification of tour of duty to accommodate patient care needs on weekends
- Maintains familiarity and responsibility for all performance measures relating to the ICMHR Program
- Performs other related duties as assigned Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:30-4 or 8-4:30 Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases
- When setting pay - a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade)
- 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: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position
- Functional Statement #: 554-52280-A
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The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the largest integrated health care system in the United States, providing care at 1,321 health care facilities, including 172 VA Medical Centers and 1,138 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity (VHA outpatient clinics) to over 9 million Veterans enrolled in the VA health care program. VHA Medical Centers provide a wide range of services including traditional hospital-based services such as surgery, critical care, mental health, orthopedics, pharmacy, radiology and physical therapy. In addition, most of our medical centers offer additional medical and surgical specialty services including audiology & speech pathology, dermatology, dental, geriatrics, neurology, oncology, podiatry, prosthetics, urology, and vision care. Some medical centers also offer advanced services such as organ transplants and plastic surgery.
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