Senior Social Worker - EDRP Authorized

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

• Contributes to the gathering of biopsychosocial assessment information.
• Uses shared decision making with Veterans to develop a detailed treatment plan for Veterans serviced by BHIP.
• Provides recovery planning and psychological treatment to Veterans with a wide range of co-occurring disorders, including but not limited to anxiety, PTSD, depression, substance use, psychosis, and personality disorders.
• Participates as a member of an interdisciplinary team providing a full range of psychological services (e.g., individual and group psychotherapy) and consultative services within an outpatient general mental health treatment setting.
• Provides evidence-based individual and group psychotherapy to Veterans with complex mental health problems. Treatment approaches utilized should be supported by psychological research regarding effectiveness for the conditions being treated. Treatment approaches may include but are not limited to: acceptance and commitment therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, prolonged exposure, cognitive processing therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, and interpersonal psychotherapy.
• Administers, scores, documents, and discusses screening instruments to monitor treatment outcomes.
• Participates as a member of medical center hospital committees as directed.
• Serves as an advisor, consultant, and/or point of resource to staff within the medical center.
• Maintains appropriate records and follow-up data on patients who are assigned to their patient panel.
• Participates in process redesign efforts aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the treatment program and modifications to better serve the needs of the Veterans.
• Complies with national and local performance measures, including timely health care screening and completion of clinical reminders for all patients.

Requirements

Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Some work may require movement between offices, hospitals, warehouses, and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work. Work may also require walking/standing, in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site. Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds.

Qualifications

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. - 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/.

Skills

• Skilled 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.