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Duties

The Social Worker duties include, but are not limited to:

Collaborates with PCPs and the interdisciplinary PACT to support high quality, effective, and coordinated service delivery at the patient and programmatic levels.
Maintains daily open access availability and encourages same day warm handoffs within PACT.
Completes most individual appointments (e.g., 75%) within 30 minutes.
Uses Measurement Based Care (MBC) in accordance with nationally recommended guidelines for PCMHI.
Conducts initial mental and behavioral health assessments that are focused on the reason(s) for referral and are less extensive than traditional mental health intake evaluations (e.g., 30 minutes vs. 60 or 90 minutes for traditional evaluation).
Supports principles to facilitate "on-time, on target" services to Veterans, matching the intensity of services with the level of clinical need.
Refers Veterans with more severe or complex needs to the appropriate general or specialty mental health program.
Provides time-limited, brief, evidence-based, individual or group interventions (e.g., approximately 1-6 sessions) for a broad range of mental health and health behavior concerns within the primary care setting.
Utilizes intermittent visits and flexible patient contact strategies to support brief PCMHI care as part of PACT.
Ensures quality of care by successfully completing the national VA PCMHI Competency Training Program (or approved equivalent) and associated ongoing education modules

Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Telework: Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 92524-0 (GS-9) / 92525-0 (GS-11)
Fi nancial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
You may be required to serve a probationary period.
Subject to background/security investigation.
Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation.
Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).

Qualifications

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.
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 (link removed) to verify that the social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a masters of social work.
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 (link removed)
- Exception: VHA may waive the licensure or certification requirement for persons who are otherwise qualified, pending completion of state prerequisites for licensure/certification examinations. This exception only applies at the GS-9 grade level. For the GS-11 grade level and above, the candidate must be licensed or certified. For appointments at the GS-9 grade level, VHA social workers who are not licensed or certified at the time of appointment must become licensed or certified at the independent, master's level within three years of their appointment as a social worker. In all cases, social workers must actively pursue meeting state prerequisites for licensure or certification starting from the date of their appointment. Failure to become licensed or certified within the prescribed amount of time will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment.
Proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f).

Grade Determinations:

GS-9 Experience, Education, and Licensure: None beyond the basic requirements.

In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

Ability to work with Veterans and family members from various socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic, educational, and other diversified backgrounds utilizing counseling skills.

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.

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.

Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships and communicate with clients, staff, and representatives of community agencies.

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.

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.

OR

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. In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

Knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services.

Skill in independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic, cultural, ethnic, educational and other diversified backgrounds.

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.

Skill in independently implementing different treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, medical, and social problems to achieve treatment goals.

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.

References: VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39

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-09 to GS-11.

Physical Requirements: Lifting and carrying light objects under 15 pounds, using two hands, walking for up to two hours. Ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination, correctable vision, hearing with or without aid, depth perception and ability to distinguish basic colors and emotional and mental stability.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: (link removed) If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with

US Veterans Health Administration

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