Senior Social Worker

Summary

The incumbent is a Senior Social Worker whose duties and responsibilities relate to the case management of Veterans who are identified as "high risk" for suicide or suicide behaviors.

Qualifications

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: 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
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit
• The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12
• Physical Requirements: Work is primarily performed in an office setting in the MH RRTP located at the Dayton VA Medical Center
• Work is mostly sedentary
• however - the incumbent must follow appropriate safety procedures as there will be some periods of walking and may involve light lifting - turning - or moving hands - arms - feet - and legs to operate hand and foot controls
• The position requires the use of office equipment such as computers - keyboards - telephones - fax machines - and photocopy machines
• Visual acuity - keen hearing - clear distinctive speech - and manual dexterity are required
• The incumbent may occasionally be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium - dementia - or psychiatric disorders
• The incumbent must be a mature - flexible - sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations - able to shift priorities based on patient needs
• May be exposed to infected patients and/or contaminated materials and will be required to take appropriate safety and protective measures.

Duties

• VA Careers - Licensed Clinical Social Worker: Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Duties: The Senior Social Worker will conduct psychosocial assessments to determine needs of veterans and family members
• The incumbent evaluates the need for mental health services and makes appropriate referrals for individual - group marital and family treatment services
• The incumbent will conduct crisis management intervention to suicidal patients including conducting suicide risk assessments - referral to the appropriate level of care for continued mental health treatment - means reduction and the development of crisis management safety plans with patient input
• The incumbent will assist with coordinating the enhanced care which are required for a ninety-day period or longer for patients on the facility high risk for suicide flag
• The incumbent will participate in discharge planning with other disciplines and will be responsible for ensuring that discharge plans include the appropriate follow for patients that are flagged high risk for suicide in a manner that is timely and appropriate
• The incumbent will provide consultation/education to patient's treatment team and facility administration to determine initiation and maintenance of the patient record high risk for suicide flag
• The incumbent responds to referrals from the Veterans Crisis Line
• The incumbent will act as liaison between VA and community resources - to include marketing and public relation duties as needed
• The incumbent will address advance directives - guardianships - organ donations - and applications for home care and extended care services in accordance with the standards of their work area
• The incumbent will provide clinical case management to Veterans and families - as needed - throughout the continuum of care
• Provide support for the identification of Veterans at high risk for suicide and develops effective - evidence-based strategies for reducing the incidence of suicide
• The incumbent will provide a full range of social work services within commonly accepted standards of social work practice which include case work - individual - family and group counseling - discharge planning - case management and other services as appropriate
• The incumbent will coordinate treatment and communicate with the care lines to facilitate continuity of care for Veterans
• The incumbent will document social work interventions and activities in patient's clinical record utilizing Electronic Health Records and ensure appropriate hand off when transferring of patient care
• Frequent travel may be required as part of providing suicide prevention social work case management services to suicidal service members and/or patients and their families - at locations such as CBOCs - community agencies or patient residences - etc
• Such travel may require the incumbent to function without immediate supervision and consultation
• Must be able to provide supervision for licensure and social work student supervision
• The incumbent performs other duties as assigned Work Schedule: Monday-Friday
• 8:00am-4:30pm Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases 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 #: 92212

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.