BRISTOL COMMUNITY BASED OUTPATIENT CLINIC (CBOC) SENIOR SOCIAL WORKER

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Bristol (VA); On-site; USD 82,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

The US Department of Veterans Affairs' Bristol Community Based Outpatient Clinic seeks a Senior Social Worker to provide evidence-based treatment and intensive case management for Veterans with complex psychosocial needs.

The incumbent conducts advanced clinical assessments, develops treatment plans, and coordinates care across services, ensuring privacy and advocacy for patients and families within approved clinical privileges.

Qualifications

• MSW from CSWE-accredited program; doctoral degree not accepted.
• State licensure at advanced practice level required.
• English proficiency in written and spoken English as per VA policy.
• U.S. citizenship requirement; non-citizens may be appointed only under VA policy.

Responsibilities

• Provide evidence-based treatment and intensive case management for Veterans.
• Independently assess psychosocial functioning and needs of patients and families.
• Maintain patient privacy and confidentiality per policies and directives.
• Advocate with community service providers and agencies when in the patients best interest.
• Develop and implement methods to measure effectiveness of social work practice and services.

Skills

Advanced clinical social work

Individual counseling

Group counseling

Family therapy

Intensive case management

Advocacy

Privacy/confidentiality

Education

MSW from CSWE-accredited program

Job description

The incumbent serves as a Senior Social Worker assigned to the Bristol Community Based Outpatient Clinic (Bristol CBOC). The incumbent provides evidence-based treatment (EBT) and intensive case management services for Veterans at an advanced practice level to promote sustained stability and addresses issues related to the Veterans MH diagnosis and other complex psychosocial problems.

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.
• English Language Proficiency Requirement - Per VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, Paragraph 3j: No person will be appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C., chapter 73 or 74, to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA who is not proficient in written and spoken English.
• Education - Candidates must 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 - 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.

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

Experience GS-12 Senior Social Worker:

In additional to meeting the basic requirements as stated above, you must have the following:

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 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. Examples of specialized experience include, but are not limited to: assessing and documenting identified behaviors or symptoms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and/or intimate partner violence; use of clinical social work skills; maintaining patient privacy and confidentiality per policies, handbooks or directives; acting as an advocate with appropriate community service providers and agencies when it serves the best interest of the patient and family members/caregiver; independently assessing the psychosocial functioning and needs of patients and their family members, identifying the patient's strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and psychosocial acuity. Applicable experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment.

In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

1. 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.
2. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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 https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12.

Physical Requirements:

All candidates must be physically and mentally able to perform efficiently the essential functions of the position, with or without reasonable accommodation, without hazard to themselves or others. Candidates must meet the physical requirements outlined in Section II and Section VI of the OPM Operating Manual, Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions and must possess emotional and mental stability. The job is sedentary but requires movement throughout the medical center.