Senior Social Worker

About the role

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.

Responsibilities

• Provides applied advanced clinical skills and case management services in a specialized program.
• Provides brief, evidence-based interventions targeting conditions commonly seen in PCMHI (e.g., depression, anxiety, adjustment, stress, insomnia, chronic disease management, health behavior change).
• Interacts not only with the patient but also family, significant others, community agencies, and other staff.
• Collaborates closely with Primary Care Providers (PCPs), nurses, and other team members to support shared treatment planning and coordinated care.
• Provides real-time behavioral health consultation to primary care staff regarding mental health symptoms, risk factors, behavior change strategies, motivational approaches, treatment options, and referrals.
• Collaborates with other programs of service to the same group of clients.
• Provides a full range of advanced practice psychological assessment services and diagnose mental disorders, particularly for complex or unusually difficult patients.
• Affords assistance with program development, evaluation, and effectiveness.
• Provides clinical psychosocial and case management services at an advanced practice level for Veterans.
• Provides supportive counseling and appropriate case management services to reduce the Veteran's stress throughout all phases of treatment. Incorporates complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment of Veteran patients, including making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnoses within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
• Interviews Clients and Conducts Psychosocial Assessments.
• Provides supportive counseling, develops collaborative mental health treatment plans, and provides appropriate case management services to reduce the Veteran's stress throughout all phases of treatment.

Requirements

The Senior Social Worker position is located in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Southeast Network (VISN 7), VA Augusta Health Care System (VAAHCS) in Augusta, GA located in the Mental Health Service. The Senior Social Worker serves as an independently licensed clinician within the Primary Care-Mental Health Integration (PCMHI) program.

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.

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.