The Caregiver Support Program (CSP) is one of the Veterans Health Administration's (VHA) most rapidly growing service areas, as a result of infrastructure modernization, programming innovation, and expansion of population-served by the Program of General Caregiver Support Services (PGCSS) under the MISSION Act. Basic Requirements: Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Education. Have a Master's degree in social work (MSW) 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. Please note: A doctoral degree in social work may not be substituted for the master's degree in social work. Licensure. Licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level. VHA may waive the licensure requirement for persons who are otherwise qualified, pending completion of state prerequisites. English Language Proficiency. Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Regulations. 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). Must pass a background check. Grade Requirements: GS-12 Senior Social Worker 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 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. 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. References: VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39, Social Worker Qualification Standard. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is a GS-12. Physical Requirements: The incumbent must be in overall good health, able to sit at a desk working at a computer, engage in light to moderate physical activity including sitting, walking, bending, and carrying supplies. The incumbent must be able to perform primarily light and sedentary duties with occasionally moderate physical demands with reasonable accommodation if necessary, without endangering the health and safety of the Social Worker or others. Position requires walking throughout the clinic and/or Medical Center, standing for extended periods of time, and involves sitting at a computer and in counsel and consultation with Veterans and interdisciplinary teams. Position may require minimal travel into the community to meet with community agencies and partners who aid, help, and provide support to the Caregiver Support Program, its Veterans, and caregivers. This position also requires close visual activity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading; and repetitive motions of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers. ["CSP expansion puts the VHA out front of the health care industry as a health care system pioneer - caring for the caregiver. The program goal is to not only support caregivers in their role but to also promote their health and well-being through education, therapeutic engagement, and resource and service linkage. The Senior Social Worker working in the Caregiver Support Program primary responsibilities are to provide clinical evidence based services and interventions; caregiver, Veteran, and staff education on caregiver issues; community outreach; resource development; continuous quality improvement activities; and evaluation/consultation. In addition, the incumbent must be a skilled communicator capable of developing effective partnerships with local, state, and federal agencies as well as non-governmental organizations. The GS-12 Caregiver Support Program (CSP) Senior Social Worker for the Program of General Caregiver Support Services is assigned to the CSP with responsibility to act as a subject matter expert (SME) within CSP team. The incumbent will provide specialized consultation on the administrative and clinical considerations of the CSP as referenced in VHA Directive 2020-31. The PGCSS provides education and training, respite care, caregivers support line, self-care courses, whole health, inclusive care, Caregivers First Initiative as set forth in VHA Directive Notice 2020-31. These services are provided to family caregivers of qualified Veterans as outlined in the MISSION Act. The CSP Senior Social Worker assists in the day-to-day operations of the Caregiver Support Program and ensures compliance and collaboration with local facility and VA Central Office Caregiver Support Program initiatives. The incumbent collaborates with the other members of the CSP team in the provision of comprehensive health care services to Veterans, ensuring equity of access, service, and benefits to this population, and ensures the care provided is of the highest quality. The incumbent provides leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs as assigned. 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. The incumbent assists in coordinating events and programs for the annual National Family Caregivers Month in November, which includes announcements and advertising of month-long activities, mobilization of participants, educational sessions, caregiver recognition events, and caregiver support programs. The incumbent possesses or develops an understanding and sensitivity of the individual needs, beliefs, and/or expectations of patients with various backgrounds. They are respectful toward patients' values and practices resulting in overall patient satisfaction and comfort level. Incumbent takes into consideration the following on each individual patient: a) Cause of his/her condition b) Treatment/ medications used c) Views on health d) Gender, religious beliefs/ practices, sexual orientation e) Expectations of displaying respect f) Communication style and preference g) Language(s) commonly used h) Views on birth and/or death i) Food preferences j) Socioeconomic status k) Presence of disability (physical or mental) l) Period of war-time service m) Important relationships (family, community, etc) n) Other significant factors as related Perform other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: 8:00 am - 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday Telework: May be available after Orientation and Training Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 53008F Financial Disclosure Report: Not required"]

Return to Search Results