Social Worker

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Lexington (KY); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

US Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking a Social Worker to join an interdisciplinary team in Lexington, KY. The role focuses on psychosocial assessments, care planning, and MDS completion, with facilitation of treatment team meetings and culture transformation toward resident-centered planning.

Requirements include an MSW from an accredited program, state licensure, and eligibility for GS-9/11 levels. The position involves coordinating services and applying veteran-centric care across

Qualifications

• Must be a U.S. citizen; non-citizens may be appointed as allowed by VA policy.
• MSW from CSWE-accredited school; doctoral degree cannot substitute for MSW.
• Licensure as a social worker at independent practice level in the state.
• Grandfathering provision may apply for current VA employees in the occupation.
• GS-9 level requires none beyond basic requirements.
• GS-11 level requires one year post-MSW experience and state licensure/certification.
• Knowledge of community resources and referrals; ability to assess psychosocial functioning and formulate a treatment plan.
• Ability to implement treatment modalities with individuals, families, and groups.
• Knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities and terminology.

Responsibilities

• Complete psychosocial history and assessments; psychosocial portions of the care plan and MDS.
• Facilitate Interdisciplinary Treatment Team meetings.
• Advance culture transformation toward resident-centered care planning.

Skills

Veteran centric approach

Psychosocial assessment

Treatment planning

Crisis intervention

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Medical terminology

Education

Master's degree in Social Work

Doctoral degree in Social Work optional substitution

Job description

Thre incumbent is a member of an interdisciplinary team and is primarily responsible for completing psychosocial history and assessments, completing the psychosocial portions of the care plan and the Minimum Data Set (MDS). The Social Worker is also responsible for facilitating the Interdisciplinary Treatment Team meetings, emphasizing culture transformation including resident centered care planning

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

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: 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: 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/.

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

Social Worker, GS-9

Experience, Education, and Licensure

None beyond the basic requirements.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities.

• (a) Ability to utilize a Veteran centric approach when providing interventions and counseling for Veterans, their family members, caregivers, and survivors.
• (b) Ability to assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and their family members, and to formulate and implement a treatment plan, identifying the Veterans problems, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and assistance needed.
• (c) Ability to implement treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups to achieve treatment goals. This requires judgment and skill in utilizing supportive, problem solving, or crisis intervention techniques.
• (d) Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships and communicate with clients, staff, and representatives of community agencies.
• (e) Fundamental knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities, and treatment procedures. This includes acute, chronic, and traumatic illnesses/injuries; common medications and their effects/side effects; and medical terminology.

Social Worker, GS-11

Experience and Licensure.

Appointment to the GS-11 grade level requires completion of a minimum of one year of post-MSW experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the field of health care or other social work-related settings, (VA or non-VA experience) and licensure or certification in a state at the independent practice level. NOTE: For appointment licensure or certification at this level please refer to paragraph 3c.

Education.

In addition to meeting basic requirements, a doctoral degree in social work from a school of social work may be substituted for the required one year of professional social work experience in a clinical setting.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities.

• (a) Knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services.
• (b) Skill in independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic, educational, and other backgrounds.
• (c) Knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities and treatment procedures (i.e. acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses/injuries, common medications and their effects/side effects, and medical terminology) to formulate a treatment plan.
• (d) Skill in independently implementing different treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, 8 medical, and social problems to achieve treatment goals.
• (e) Ability to provide consultation services to new social workers, social work graduate students, and other staff about the psychosocial needs of patients and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and compliance with treatment.

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-11. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-9 to GS-11.

Preferred Experience:

• Hospice or inpatient hospital experience.
• Case Management experience.
• Social Work experience with the Veteran Population.
• Medical Social Work experience.
• Long Term Care Social Work experience.