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The Senior Social Worker provides clinical psychological assessment and treatment at an advanced practice level to eligible Veterans and their family members to meet biological, psychological, social and environmental needs. Their health care and psychosocial needs are complex and require a high degree of clinical oversight and creative problem solving. Basic Requirements: Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g this part). 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 tohttp://www.cswe.org/Accreditation to verify that the social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a Master 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). GRADE DETERMINATIONS. In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates: (1) 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. (2) 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, within their resume, 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. Preferred Experience: Advanced, Independent Social Work Licensure, LCSW or equivalent. If licensed in Louisiana must have BACS to qualify for this GS-12 position. References: VA Handbook 5005/120 Part II, Appendix G39, September 10, 2019. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: Work is sedentary, involves the use of fingers, both hands, standing, walking, bending, twisting, speaking clearly and being emotionally stable. ["The duties of the Senior Social Worker-Outpatient/Inpatient Surgical Specialty Clinics include, but are not limited to: The Senior Social Worker in the Outpatient/Inpatient Surgical Specialty Clinics performs specialized psychosocial treatment and intervention of complex physical or medical illness. They are responsible for the overall function of program development, recruitment of Veteran patients, case management, networking with community resources, and coordination of care with the mental health team and medical staff on site as well as various departments at the SLVHCS and community facilities in the primary service area. The incumbent has specialized knowledge of the psychosocial issues in the medical specialties that include various cancers, their treatments, hematology and radiation oncology, including issues faced by people with cancer, nephrology, unique issues associated with kidney disease, treatment and transplants, palliative care, pulmonary, hepatology, ophthalmology, gastroenterology, transplant services, orthopedics, urology, neurology, infectious disease, cardiology, and internal medicine, and the associated community resources and specialized benefits in these specialty programs. As a member of a PACT / ITT, the incumbent may work independently using his/her educational training, clinical experience, VA policies, and TJC standards in administering direct services to surgical patients. The specialized Senior Social Worker is to provide supportive counseling and appropriate case management services to reduce the Veteran's stress and maximize psychosocial wellbeing throughout all phases of their medical treatment and care. The Senior Social Worker independently identifies high-risk patients and provides crisis intervention services and measures outcomes to interventions. The incumbent makes rapid assessments and develops crisis management plans for admission to mental health and/or medical inpatient programs. The Senior Social Worker refers and connects patients to appropriate VA treatment programs and benefits. The Senior Social Worker establishes and maintains effective therapeutic relationships with veterans and their families. Incumbent is able to independently work with patients and families who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, medical and social problems utilizing individual, group and family counseling and therapy skills. In conjunction with the PACT / ITT, the incumbent seeks to address the cause as well as the presenting complaint, coordinates family conferences and serves as the liaison for the PACT / ITT to the family members to ensure they understand the medical and psychosocial issues, proposed medical care, provide health education, advanced heath care planning and discharge and/or after-care planning. The Social Worker has the ability to expand clinical knowledge in the profession, provide consultation and guidance to colleagues, role model effective Social Work practice skills, teach or provide orientation or internship supervision to less experienced Social Workers, develop innovations in practice interventions, and provide clinical supervision for Social Work licensure or certification. Provides training to Social Work interns, residents and staff from other disciplines. The Senior Social Worker has extensive knowledge of medical center policies and procedures, VHA and VBA regulations, as well as a knowledge base of reporting to suspected abuse and neglect cases, according to the State of Louisiana. The Senior Social Worker documents independently in CPRS electronic medical records, including psychosocial assessments, diagnostics, treatment, progress notes, follow up and referrals. The Senior Social Worker places, receives and completes consults and orders to/from interdisciplinary teams and other Social Workers on complex difficult cases using advance practice skills and expertise. The Senior Social Worker will establish and maintain positive working relationships with co-workers, volunteers, consumers and stakeholders within the VA and outside community agencies. Incumbent will attend all appropriate staff meetings, interdisciplinary treatment team meetings, and other committees as appropriate, and perform other duties as required to accomplish his/her mission. This Senior Social Worker evaluates his/her practice on an on-going basis through participation in professional peer review, case conferences, research studies, or other organized means. Work Schedule: Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 4:00pm Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 629-00020-F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required"]

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