Social Worker - Addiction Disorder Services (ADS)

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

• Conduct psychosocial assessments to determine needs of veterans and family members.
• Be an active participant in the treatment planning process with the veteran as well as with other disciplines.
• Cookordinate and refer care with other disciplines and ensure the treatment plan is timely and appropriate.
• Provide individual, family and group counseling to support treatment and recovery of Veterans experiencing addictions, complex mental health conditions, and PTSD.
• Provide consultation/education to veterans and families on community resources, advance directives and VA benefits.
• Act as a consultant, mentor, and/or trainer to other team/staff members.
• Act as liaison between VA and community resources, to include marketing and public relations duties as needed.
• Provide case management/coordination to veterans. Engage family and other supports to promote recovery for Veterans.
• Provide a range of social work services within commonly accepted standards of social work practice which includes individual, family and group counseling, discharge planning, case management, crisis management, and other services as appropriate.
• Serve as a supervisor for students, interns, or less experienced social workers, when assigned.
• Participate in committee assignments and meetings, as deemed necessary.
• Maintain data and statistical compilations to comply with accreditation services and other medical center policy and procedures.
• Document social work interventions and activities in patient's clinical record utilizing electronic medical records and ensure appropriate warm hand off when transferring of patient care.
• Be solution focused in all work aspects to include found issues.
• Provide crisis intervention services, coordinating and working with the suicide prevention and other professional on their care team.

Requirements

A relocation/recruitment incentive may be approved for highly qualified candidates.

This position will function within the Addiction Disorder Services (ADS) Track within the Domiciliary. The incumbent will provide clinical services to veterans admitted to the RRTP, which includes DCHV (Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans) programming, addictions treatment, mental health treatment, and PTSD treatment. The incumbent will provide clinical case management and therapeutic intervention services to assigned Veterans.

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.
• English Language Proficiency: Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j, this part.
• Education Requirement: 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 Requirement: 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/.
• Grade Determinations:
• GS-9 (Entry Level): Experience and Licensure: None beyond the basic requirements. For appointments at the GS-9 grade level, VHA social workers who are not licensed or certified at the time of appointment must become licensed or certified at the independent, master's level within three years of their appointment as a social worker. Most states require two years of post-MSW experience as a prerequisite to taking the licensure/certification exam, and VHA gives social workers one additional year to pass the licensure/certification exam.
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: In addition to the experience above, the applicant's resume must demonstrate all of the following KSAs.
• Ability to utilize a Veteran centric approach when providing interventions and counseling for Veterans, their family members, caregivers, and survivors.
• Ability to assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and their family members, and to formulate and implement a treatment plan, identifying the Veterans problems, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and assistance needed.
• Ability to implement treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups to achieve treatment goals. This requires judgment and skill in utilizing supportive, problem solving, or crisis intervention techniques.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships and communicate with clients, staff, and representatives of community agencies.
• Fundamental knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities, and treatment procedures. This includes acute, chronic, and traumatic illnesses/injuries; common medications and their effects/side effects; and medical terminology.