Senior Social Worker (Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program)

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Wenatchee (WA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

37-50 days of annual paid time off

Federal health, vision, and dental insurance

Job summary

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs invites applications for a Senior Social Worker in Wenatchee, Washington. This role requires expertise in providing psychotherapy services and support for Veterans, utilizing advanced treatment methodologies.

The successful candidate will demonstrate knowledge of complex mental health disorders and deliver comprehensive psychosocial assessments and interventions. This position offers competitive pay, generous leave, and federal benefits.

Qualifications

• Must have a master's degree in social work accredited by CSWE.
• Demonstrated knowledge in psychosocial treatment of patients.

Responsibilities

• Independently assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans.
• Provide a broad range of psychotherapy services for Veterans.

Skills

English Language Proficiency

Skill in specialized interventions

Ability for crisis intervention

Education

Master's degree in social work

Job description

Summary

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP) – a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program approval – award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.

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: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f)
• 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/
• Loss of Licensure or Certification: Once licensed or certified – social workers must maintain a full, valid, and unrestricted independent license or certification to remain qualified for employment
• Loss of licensure or certification will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment
• 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: 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
• Assignments: For all assignments above the full performance level – the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time
• Senior social workers are licensed or certified to independently practice social work at an advanced level
• Senior social workers typically practice in a major program area such as but not limited to: Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center or Polytrauma Network Site
• A Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Center – or a national VHA referral center – such as a national Center for Post‑Traumatic Stress Disorder or a national Transplant Center – or other program areas of equivalent scope and complexity
• The senior social worker may be assigned administrative responsibility for clinical program development and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns
• Assignments include clinical settings where they have limited access to onsite supervision such as CBOCs or satellite outpatient clinics
• The senior social worker collaborates with the other members of the treatment team in the provision of comprehensive health care services to Veterans – ensures equity of access – service – and benefits to this population – ensures the care provided is of the highest quality
• The senior social worker provides leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in‑service training, staff development, and continuing education programs for assigned social work staff
• They serve on committees, work groups, and task forces at the facility, VISN and national level – or in the community as deemed appropriate by the supervisor – Social Work Executive or Chief of Social Work Services
• This assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management
• This assignment must represent substantial additional responsibility over and above that required at the full performance grade level and cannot be used as the full performance level of this occupation
• Preferred Experience: Experience with Veterans – 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.

Duties

• Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional: This Senior Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) psychotherapist is a fully licensed Social Worker at the full performance level with requisite experience for senior level.
• This Senior Social Worker psychotherapist is to provide a broad range of psychotherapy services for Veterans receiving care in BHIP at the CBOC.
• This is the full performance level of the position.
• Duties will include: Clinical Responsibilities – Screening/Assessment: Independently assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans, identifying the Veteran's strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, psychosocial acuity, mental health symptoms according to DSM‑5‑TR, problem identification, diagnosis, treatment planning, implementation, evaluation, and follow‑up.
• Fully utilizes the current DSM in making diagnoses of all mental health diagnoses and formulation of treatment goals and application of appropriate clinical interventions.
• Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnoses and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
• Delivers services both in person and via video technology.
• Treatment Planning/Interventions: Has specialized knowledge of a wide variety of individual, group, or family counseling interventions.
• LICSW will be able to provide advanced therapy and consultation for PTSD, depression, anxiety and other major mental health disorders using evidence‑based practices.
• Provides complex crisis intervention and stabilization to patients who are in psychological distress.
• Ability to assess and safety plan for suicidality.
• Uses Measurement Based Care (MBC) measures to evaluate initial and ongoing treatment needs and episodes of care – utilizing the continuum of care model.
• Demonstrates advanced skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities for Veterans with complex needs including individual, group, and/or family counseling or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial and/or case management interventions used in the treatment of Veterans.
• Academic/Teaching/Training – May provide clinical supervision of non‑licensed and licensed LICSW to assist with clinical skill development.
• Provides leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in‑service training, staff development, and continuing education programs for assigned social work staff.
• Administrative Responsibilities – Provides recommendations to supervisors of any clinical changes to policy and procedure and ability to design system changes based on data.
• Communicates assignments with milestones, priorities, expected outcomes, deadlines, and timeframes for completing assignments.
• Addresses program issues under review and problems to be resolved by providing advice on work methods, practices and procedures.
• Work Schedule: Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
• Recruitment Incentive (Sign‑on Bonus): Not Authorized; Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized; EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive.
• Contact [e-mail] for questions/assistance.
• Learn more: 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 401(k) 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: Ad‑Hoc (Inclement Weather Only); Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
• Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized.