The senior social worker is assigned to the Couple & Family Program (CFP). The CFP is a specialty care program housed within Outpatient Mental Health providing specialized couple & family services for Veterans. Services including couples & family assessment, consultation, education about mental illness, parenting education & skills training, communication skills training & evidence-based couple & family treatment in an outpatient setting & via Clinical Video Teleconferencing. *** This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until September 29, 2023. The initial cutoff date for referral of eligible applications will be July 19, 2023. Eligible applications received after that date will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as needed basis until positions are filled. *** 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/. 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 (KSA's): 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: Training and experience in evidence-based couple and family therapies such as Integrated Behavioral Couples Therapy (IBCT}, Family Focused Therapy (FFT} or Behavioral Family Therapy (BFT}, Cognitive Behavioral Conjoint Therapy for PTSD (CBCT-PTSD), and/or Families Over Coming Under Stress (FOCUS). Other evidence-based therapy experience and/or certification. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/120, PART II, APPENDIX G39 The full performance level of this vacancy is 12. Physical Requirements: 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. Social Worker must be able to perform primarily light and sedentary duties with occasionally moderate physical demands, exercise patience, and control emotions, with reasonable accommodation, if necessary, without endangering the health and safety of the social worker or others. This position also requires close visual acuity 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. ["VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtubecom/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Assigned to the Couple and Family Psychotherapy Program providing a full-range of couples and family assessment and treatment services within the Outpatient Mental Health Service. Offers empirically-validated and evidence-based psychotherapies, such as Integrative Behavioral Couples Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Conjoint Therapy, and Emotional Focused Therapy. Treatment modalities may include individual, group, and marital/family therapy. Coordinate treatment & communicate with the care lines to facilitate continuity of care for Veterans Participate in weekly staff conferences regarding administrative, staff development, training, & clinical issues Be an active participant in the treatment planning process with other disciplines & in collaboration with the Veteran & their family & social supports Participate in consultation from other professional staff Utilizes knowledge of community resources, makes referrals to the community & other government agencies as appropriate, & coordinates services Act as liaison between VA & community resources, to include marketing & public relation duties as needed Interact as needed with community agencies (eg, APS, DCFS) as necessary based on ethical & legal requirements to ensure the safety of patients & others Participate in discharge planning with other disciplines & will be responsible for ensuring that discharge plans are executed in a manner that is timely & appropriate Independently conducts psychosocial assessments & treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic, cultural, ethnic, educational, & other diversified backgrounds Assess Veterans to determine their mental health needs within the context of couple & family consultation & treatment Assist Couple & Family Program Manager in referral & consult management Assess the biopsychosocial functions & needs of Veterans & family members/partners to complete & implement a treatment plan identifying problems, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, & assistance needed Supervise the clinical practice of social work trainees, or less experienced social workers Address Advance Directives & Organ Donation in accordance with the standards of their work area Utilizes a range of specialized interventions & treatment modalities in treatment or with specialized Veteran populations, including individual, group, and/or family counseling or psychotherapy, & advanced level psychosocial and/or case management Provide individual, couple, & family treatment along with family consultation & education as appropriate to Veterans & their family members with a wide range of diagnoses & presenting problems Document social work interventions & activities in Veteran's clinical record utilizing the electronic health record & ensure appropriate hand off when transferring Veteran care Provide advanced level case management as appropriate to Veterans & families, as needed, throughout the continuum of care Ensure that clinical time is dedicated to the CFP Thorough familiarity with skills & techniques of couples & family assessment & treatment, including the most current evidence-based practices as applied to the Veteran population Possesses the knowledge of advance interventions, as well as the ability to initiate treatment modalities in accordance with unique patient needs/treatment objectives Functions as an independent therapist & provides couple & family treatment (individually or group format), family consultation, psychoeducation about mental illness, crisis-oriented emergency care as indicated, & case management services Incorporates complex multiple causation in differential diagnoses & treatment within approved clinical privileges Develops treatment plan as appropriate Maintain appropriate clinical charting, records, & reports to facilitate Veteran care, evaluation, & research Engage in measurement-based care Routinely & frequently uses specialized outcome measures, such as The Couple Satisfaction Index to measure the effectiveness of treatment & treatment outcomes Utilize outcome evaluations to further the specialty treatment program & designs system changes & program improvement based on empirical findings & in consultation with other specialty team members Provide specialized consultation to other staff members throughout the Mental Health Service Line, other clinicians within the medical center & healthcare system, within the VISN or nationally Provide specialized consultation/education to medical residents, psychology trainees, & other students on social work practice & VA policy & procedure Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8AM to 4:30PM Compressed/Flexible: Available Telework: Ad-hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position Functional Statement #: 57770-A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required"]

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