Senior Social Worker (Caregiver Support Program)

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Major duties include - but are not limited to:

• 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.
• 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.
• Provides leadership - direction - orientation - coaching - in-service training - staff development - and continuing education programs as assigned.
• Serves 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.
• Develops and facilitates caregiver support groups and educational programs and distributes educational materials provided by VA - local - state - and national caregiver organizations.
• Provides caregiver and family clinical interventions to facilitate the treatment of caregiver stress - psychiatric illness - emotional distress - and social needs.
• Affords assistance 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.
• Participates in caregiver support activities in the local community and state to promote and recognize the role of the caregiver and participates on state and local caregiver support committees.

Qualifications

• 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 to verify that the social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a masters of social work.
• 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 .
• Grade Determinations: GS-12 Experience/Education: Senior Social Workers 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.
• In addition to the experience above - candidates must demonstrate the Knowledge - Skills - and Abilities (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.
• 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 incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
• 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.
• Preferred Experience: The incumbent is capable of practicing independently at the advanced practice level and has specialized knowledge - skills - and abilities of practice related to a diagnosis or special Veteran population such as the CSP with complex medical and/or mental health conditions requiring an expert level of psychosocial intervention.
• The Senior Social Worker will adhere to the NASW Code of Ethics - all local Social Work policies - and maintain an unrestricted - unsuspended license to practice Social Work.
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/

Benefits

• Competitive salary and regular salary increases.
• When setting pay - a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).
• Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave - 13 days of sick leave - 11 paid Federal holidays per year).
• Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual - based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.
• Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment - up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth - adoption - or foster care placement of a child.
• Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment - full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.
• Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement).
• Telework: ADHOC
• Virtual: This is not a virtual position

Pay

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases

Physical Requirements

Physical Requirements: See VA Handbook 5019.

Contact Information

Contact VHA.ELRSProgramSupport@va.gov - the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance

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