BRISTOL COMMUNITY BASED OUTPATIENT CLINIC (CBOC) SENIOR SOCIAL WORKER

The incumbent serves as a Senior Social Worker assigned to the Bristol Community Based Outpatient Clinic (Bristol CBOC). The incumbent provides evidence-based treatment (EBT) and intensive case management services for Veterans at an advanced practice level to promote sustained stability and addresses issues related to the Veterans MH diagnosis and other complex psychosocial problems. The incumbent is required to interact not only with the patient but also family, significant others, community agencies, and other staff while providing clinical services to the population enrolled at the Bristol CBOC. This includes high quality case management, clinical treatment, advocacy, and coordination of linkages to other appropriate VA or community service providers/ agencies as needed. This is accomplished in collaboration with the interdisciplinary treatment team as appropriate. Clinical interventions are provided through groups, individual psychotherapy, and family counseling to eligible Veterans and their family members to meet biological, psychological, social, and environmental needs. Duties include but are not limited to: Practices independently at the Bristol CBOC and responsible for independently addressing clinical and administrative functions with little direct supervision due to the nature of the work and the remoteness of the setting. Uses initiative and resourcefulness in deviating from traditional methods or trends and patterns to develop new methods, criteria, and proposes new policies where needed. Practices at an advanced level and independently gathers relevant information to guide practice, including community Social Work standards. Provides specialized evidence-based treatment (EBT) for complex physical/mental illness and a full range of Social Work services for Veterans enrolled at Bristol CBOC and the surrounding CBOCs. Treatment options include individual, family and group psychotherapy, intensive case management, early intervention, supportive follow-up to ensure stability and other services as appropriate. Conduct psychosocial assessments to determine needs of Veterans and family members. Incorporates complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment of Veteran patients, including making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnoses within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. Coordinates services and provides case management services for Veterans with poly-trauma injuries, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, visual impairment, post-traumatic stress disorder, addictions, and other serious disorders. Provide services to homeless veterans and their families in the local area and ensure linkage to VA and community services. Develops comprehensive treatment plans with the Veteran and provides recovery-oriented treatment that address the symptoms and other co-occurring disorders independently in the community at the Veteran's highest level of functioning and quality of life. Teaches and mentor staff and students in the special area of practice and provides supervision for licensure or specialty certifications. Participates in policy making, goal setting, and treatment service planning discussions with VA programs and community services. Responsible for the collection of statistical data and for reviewing the data to improve performance and delivery of services. Work Schedule: Monday- Friday 7:45am- 4:30pm Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 61141F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized 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 Requirement • Per VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, Paragraph 3j: No person will be appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C., chapter 73 or 74, to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA who is not proficient in written and spoken English. Education • Candidates must 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 • Senior social workers must be licensed or certified by a state 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) and they must be able to provide supervision for licensure. May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria). Grade Determinations: Experience GS-12 Senior Social Worker: In additional to meeting the basic requirements as stated above, you must have the following: The candidate 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 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. Examples of specialized experience include, but are not limited to: assessing and documenting identified behaviors or symptoms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and/or intimate partner violence; use of clinical social work skills; maintaining patient privacy and confidentiality per policies, handbooks or directives; acting as an advocate with appropriate community service providers and agencies when it serves the best interest of the patient and family members/caregiver; independently assessing the psychosocial functioning and needs of patients and their family members, identifying the patient's strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and psychosocial acuity. Applicable experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment.In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: 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. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: All candidates must be physically and mentally able to perform efficiently the essential functions of the position, with or without reasonable accommodation, without hazard to themselves or others. Candidates must meet the physical requirements outlined in Section II and Section VI of the OPM Operating Manual, Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions and must possess emotional and mental stability. The job is sedentary but requires movement throughout the medical center. You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959. Must be proficient in written and spoken English. Subject to background/security investigation. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.