Senior Social Worker - Primary Care Mental Health Integration

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) — is determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants are ineligible to apply for this incentive. Contact the EDRP Coordinator at VISN15EDRP@Va.gov for questions or assistance.

Generalist and integrated mental health services are provided at Truman VA and each CBOC. PCMHI providers are co-located with Patient Aligned Care Teams (PACT) in Primary Care at the main facility as well as the CBOCs. The Behavioral Health Service Line has over 150 direct and indirect FTE comprised of both outpatient and inpatient services, with Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Social Workers, Nurses, Rehabilitation Counselors, and Licensed Marital and Family Therapists providing multidisciplinary and collaborative treatment interventions.

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: 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 in candidacy status do not meet this requirement until fully accredited. A doctoral degree in social work may not be substituted for the master's degree. Verify accreditation at cswe.org/Accreditation.
• Licensure: Must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level. Current state requirements at vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/.
• Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019 — Employee Occupational Health Services.
• English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English as authorized by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f).

Grade Determinations (GS-12 Full Performance Level)

• Experience/Education: At least two years of experience post advanced practice clinical licensure in a specialized area of social work practice, with one year equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Senior social workers demonstrate advanced practice skills and judgment, are experts in their specialized area, and may have certification or post-masters training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university with a defined curriculum and supervised professional experience in a specialty.
• Licensure/Certification: Must be licensed or certified by a state at the advanced practice level, which included an advanced generalist or clinical examination — unless grandfathered by the state (except California, which administers its own clinical examination). Must be able to provide supervision for licensure.
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs):
  • (a) Skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities used in specialty treatment programs or with special patient populations, including individual, group, and/or family counseling or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial and/or case management.
  • (b) Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
  • (c) 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 design system changes.
  • (d) 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.
  • (e) 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: Higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity, and variety, performed at least 25% of the time. Senior social workers are licensed to independently practice at an advanced level and typically practice in major program areas such as Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center, Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Center, national VHA referral centers (e.g., National Center for PTSD, National Transplant Center), or equivalent scope. May be assigned administrative responsibility for clinical program development and accountability for clinical program effectiveness. Assignments include clinical settings with limited onsite supervision (CBOCs, satellite outpatient clinics). Collaborates with treatment team to provide comprehensive health care to Veterans, ensuring equity of access, service, and benefits. Provides leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education for assigned social work staff. Serves on committees, work groups, and task forces at facility, VISN, and national levels or in the community as appropriate.

Reference: VA Handbook 5005/23, Part II, Appendix G39 — Social Worker Qualification Standard. Full performance level is GS-12. May qualify under the Grandfathering Provision (applicable only to current VHA employees in this occupation who meet criteria). More information at va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

Responsibilities

• Serves as an integral member of the primary care team to provide accessible, integrated, biopsychosocial health care services to patients assigned to the primary care team.
• Performs brief comprehensive biopsychosocial assessments for Veterans and family members with complex physical and behavioral disorders to determine the nature of the presenting problem, biological, social, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral factors, and the impact on the Veteran's physical, social, emotional, recreational, and occupational functioning.
• Documents biopsychosocial assessments in compliance with documentation and timeliness standards established by the Medical Center and The Joint Commission.
• Assesses high-risk factors, acuity, and need for services with Veterans who have frequent and severe crises, lack family or adequate community support, poor self-monitoring, frequent non-compliance with treatment, or significant deficits in coping skills requiring continuing professional psychosocial support.
• Completes comprehensive suicide risk assessments and safety planning for Veterans in crisis.
• Designs, develops, and implements PCMHI clinical programming, and executes ongoing program evaluation and data-driven quality improvement projects to monitor the effectiveness of social work clinical programming.
• Facilitates liaisons with other health care programs to effectively coordinate and improve services.
• Coordinates services with other services offered in the treatment program, assuring such services are complementary and comprehensive.
• Directs activities to maximize effectiveness, efficiency, and continuity of care for Veterans.
• Provides case management services to Veterans at high social or medical risk, serving as liaison to other treatment programs.
• Regularly attends and actively participates in PACT and PCMHI Team meetings.
• Attends and participates in administrative and informational meetings held by the Service Line Chief (or designee), Social Work Chief, program supervisor, and/or facility Director, as appropriate.
• May participate in Behavioral Health and/or hospital/CBOC committees or work groups, as assigned.
• May serve as the Behavioral Health representative for Truman VA, VISN, and/or National committees, workgroups, task forces, as pertains to the incumbent's position and expertise and as assigned by the program supervisor and/or Service Line Chief.
• Other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule

Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 4:30 pm. Telework is not available; this is not a virtual position.

Pay & Benefits

• Pay: Competitive salary with regular salary increases. 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 off per year (13–26 days annual leave, 13 days sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year).
• 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 Subs