Career Center

Summary

Social Worker will be assigned to work with highly complex mental health problems requiring expert level psychosocial interventions in a traumatized Veteran population. Social Worker will need expertise (i.e. - comprehensive training and at least 1 year providing the therapy) in at least 1 evidenced based treatment (EBTs) for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - including Prolonged Exposure (PE) - Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) - and/or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).

Qualifications

To qualify for this position - applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. 03/11/2025.

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: 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: 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/
• (NOTE: For those who have a Florida LCSW license - you must be registered with the state as a "Qualified Supervisor" in order to provide supervision for licensure or specialty certification
• All others must meet the requirements of their state of licensure to be able to provide supervision for licensure.) Applicants with Puerto Rico LSW must be an active member of the College of Social Work Professionals of Puerto Rico (CPTSPR) and must provide CPTSPR active membership certification
• For additional information - please visit Membership - CPTSPR
• English Language: Must be proficient in spoken and written English 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)
• All persons employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title - series and grade held - including positive education and licensure or certification that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation
• For employees who do not meet all of the basic requirements in this standard - but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it - the following provisions apply: Such employees in an occupation that requires a licensure or certification - may be reassigned - promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level - or changed to lower grade within the occupation - but may not be promoted beyond the journey level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions
• Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed - on a temporary or permanent basis - until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard
• Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation - who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration that meet all of the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation
• If an employee who was retained in an occupation listed in 38 U.S.C. § 7401 (3) under this provision leaves that occupation - the employee loses protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation
• Grade Determinations: Social Worker - GS-11 Experience and Licensure: Appointment to the GS-11 grade level requires completion of a minimum of one year of post-MSW experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the field of health care or other social work-related settings - (VA or non-VA experience) and licensure or certification in a state at the independent practice level
• Education: In addition to meeting basic requirements - a doctoral degree in social work from a school of social work may be substituted for the required one year of professional social work experience in a clinical setting
• Preferred Experience: Those candidates with training and experience providing (2) of the (3) following - EMDR - CPT - and/or PE - are highly preferred
• Reference: VA Handbook 5005/120 - Part II - Appendix G39
• For more information on this qualification standard - please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
• Physical Requirements: The position requires performance of work which involves light physical effort - such as that involved in lifting light files - bending - standing - reaching - operating office equipment such as telephone - copier - fax machine - scanner - etc
• The physical demands of the work requires use of fingers
• moderate walking and standing
• near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4
• far vision correctable in on eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other
• hearing aid permitted
• clear speech
• emotional stability
• moderate duty.

Duties

• Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf Social Work: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Social-Worker-Career-Flyer.pdf Some of the duties of this position include - but are not limited to
• Provides expert consultation and guidance to colleagues - expands clinical knowledge in the profession - role models effective social work practice skills - teaches or provides orientation to less experienced social workers - and develops innovations in practice interventions
• Conducts a full bio-psychosocial assessment utilizing evidence-based diagnostic interviews (e.g. - CAPS - PSSI) of the Veteran with specific examination of current coping skills - emotion regulation - and support networks in place
• Provides Evidence Based Therapy for PTSD - such as PE - CPT and EMDR
• Possesses the knowledge of advance interventions - as well as the ability to initiate treatment modalities in accordance with unique patient needs/treatment objectives
• Routinely and frequently use specialized outcome measures - such as the PTSD Checklist (PCL5) and the Pittsburg Health Questionnaire (PHQ9) - to measure the effectiveness of treatment and treatment outcomes
• Utilizes outcome evaluations to further treatment and designs system changes based on empirical findings and in consultation with other specialty team members
• Provides consultation to students and colleagues regarding PTSD training opportunities and procedures - approved national consultants - and arranges trainings as appropriate
• Act as a consultant to other PCT team/staff members - other clinicians within the medical center - within the VISN - and/or nationally
• Is an active participant in the treatment planning process with other disciplines
• Participates in discharge planning with other disciplines and will be responsible for ensuring that discharge plans are executed in a manner that is timely and appropriate
• Provides individual - family and group counseling as appropriate
• Provides consultation/education to medical residents on social work practice and VA policy and procedure
• Provides case management to Veterans and families - as needed - throughout the continuum of care
• Coordinates treatment and communicate with the care lines to facilitate continuity of care for veterans
• Participates in committee assignments - as deemed necessary by mental health leadership
• Assists patients and their significant others with coping and dealing with the loss and grief experiences in disability - terminal illness and death
• Other duties as assigned
• Work Schedule: The primary tour of duty will be M-F 8am to 4:30pm
• However - the selectee may also be required to work various shifts on a permanent or temporary basis - based on the needs of the service and patient care
• Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized
• Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized
• Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases 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) 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: Not available
• Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: Social Worker (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) #82383F