Senior Social Worker-Home Based Primary Care

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

The Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston is seeking a Senior Social Worker (GS-12) to provide expert clinical social work services in a complex care setting, collaborating with an interdisciplinary team to support Veterans’ care and well-being.

The incumbent will apply advanced practice skills, supervise licensure-related activities, contribute to program development, and participate in quality improvement and care coordination initiatives for Veterans served by the facility.

Qualifications

• Skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities in specialty programs.
• Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment.
• Knowledge in developing and implementing methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice.
• Ability to provide specialized consultation to colleagues and students on psychosocial treatment.
• Ability to expand clinical knowledge and write policies, procedures, or guidelines.

Skills

Specialized interventions

Complex differential diagnosis

Outcome evaluation

Clinical consultation

Policy development

Education

Master's in Social Work

Job description

The Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, a Complexity Level 1A VHA facility, serves as the primary health care provider for more than 120,000 Veterans in southeast Texas. It is home to a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Clinic; a Network Polytrauma Center; an award-winning Cardiac and General Surgery Program; a Liver Transplant Center; and one of the VA's six Parkinson's disease Research, Education, and Care Centers.

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).
• 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.
• 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.

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

Education and Experience.

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, the candidate 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:

• Working with Geriatric patients and caregivers, working on an interdisciplinary team, working in the Field doing home visits.
• Experience working with geriatric patients and their caregivers
• Experience collaborating as part of an interdisciplinary team
• Experience conducting field-based work and home visits

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:

Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for this occupation, see duty section for essential duties of this position. May require standing, lifting, carrying, sitting, stooping, bending, pulling, and pushing. May be required to wear personal protective equipment and undergo annual TB screening or testing as conditions of employment.

Work Environment:

Work is performed in an office/clinic setting with minimal risks that requires normal safety precautions; the area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated. However, the work environment requires someone with the ability to handle several tasks at once in sometimes stressful situations.