Senior Social Worker - BHIP/PCMM

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

• Perform clinical management and tracking of Veterans engaged in MH services as identified by PCMM, care coordination, and case coordination.
• Assess treatment needs and engagement, evaluate if at risk and coordinate care with MH programs.
• Track, contact, and refer Veterans identified under PCMM to include approximately 1,000 Veterans.
• Participate in committees and workgroups related to patient safety, suicide risk, and engagement in treatment services.
• Participate in the development and implementation of Standard Operating Procedures for the MHTC portion of the BHIP Program supporting MHBS service line.
• Conduct telephone and VVC interactions with Veterans assigned to MHBS, psychoeducation of Veterans (e.g. resources and programs), supportive counseling of Veterans and care coordination services to assigned Veterans consistent with the goals and treatment methods of MH.
• Provide supportive Care Coordination to increase access and enable fluid transition between programs and resources with a focus on strengthening the Veteran's ability to address acute and chronic problems.
• Manage a diverse Veteran caseload with some Veterans needing more intense follow up than others.
• Potential engagement with Community Care providers.

Requirements

Must be proficient in written and spoken English.

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).

Licensure

Persons hired or reassigned to social worker positions in the GS-0185 series in VHA must be licensed 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).

English Language Proficiency

Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

Grade Determinations

Senior Social Worker, GS-12 Experience/Education. Applicant 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.

Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities

In addition to the experience above, the candidate 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.