The incumbent has full responsibility for clinical practice, program management, educations, human resource management and supervision, and organizational stewardship for the mental health social workers within the service. The incumbent is responsible for developing, planning, clarifying, administering and managing Social worker services within the service line. Make independent professional decisions and recommendations. 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. Loss of Licensure or Certification: Once licensed or certified, social workers must maintain a full, valid, and unrestricted independent license or certification to remain qualified for employment. Loss of licensure or certification will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment. English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). 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: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met for this position. Supervisory Social Worker, GS-13 Experience/Education. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills in a specialty area or in administration demonstrating progressively more professional competency and judgment. Candidate may have certification or other post-master's degree training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship, or equivalent supervised professional experience. Licensure/Certification. Individuals assigned as supervisory social workers must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level, and must be able to provide supervision for licensure. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: Ability to independently organize work, set priorities, and meet multiple deadlines. Skill in a range of supervisory duties which includes clinical supervision, consultation, negotiation with other departments and quality improvement. Ability to ensure provision of clinical social work services by supervised social workers. Ability to delegate authority, manage priorities, coordinate work, and follow up on pending issues to complete duties in an accurate and timely fashion. Ability to analyze organizational and operational problems, develop and implement solutions that result in efficient operations, and use data effectively to manage workload, quality, performance, and productivity within the service. Ability to provide staff training and development Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. Physical Requirements: The work environment involves everyday risks or discomforts that require normal safety precautions typical of such places as offices, training rooms, and libraries. The work area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated. The incumbent must also work outdoors in all types of weather. There may be occasional exposure to moderate risks or discomforts in storage areas or hazardous waste sites. The work is primarily sedentary, although some physical effort may be required ,e.g, walking, standing, climbing ladders, stooping, kneeling, and carrying light items such as manuals or briefcases, or driving or traveling by motor vehicle. ["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 Major Duties: The incumbent serves as the Mental Health Social Work Lead(Supervisory) for NAVAHCS representing the professional interests of over 60 Mental Health Social Workers at NAVAHCS. Responsible for vetting and hiring all Mental Health Social Workers at NAVAHCS. Serve as a resource to the Chief of Mental Health Service Line on all matters related to Social Work within the service and collaborates with the facility Chief of Social Work. Recommends to senior Mental Health management the appropriate utilization and distribution of Mental Health Social Work resources within the organization. Provide consultation to Mental Health managers and other staff on Social Work qualification standards, Social Work Practice, Social Work competency and Social Work continuing education. Directs the Mental Health Social Work Peer Review, in collaboration with the facility Chief of Social Work. Provide advice and counsel to Managers and Social Worker related to work and administrative matters. Effects disciplinary measures as appropriate to authority delegated in this area. Reviews the professional credentials of all applicants for Mental Health Social Work positions and assesses their potential fit within the organization. Organizes and directs recruitments, assessments, interviews, and selection of all Social Work Candidates. Assigns mentors to new hires. Coordinates hiring activities with Human Resources or other offices responsible for credentialing, tracks required licensure and certification for all Mental Health Social Workers. Provides consultation to Mental Health Managers on issues pertaining to Social Work ethics, ethical dilemmas in the delivery of care and ethical issues within the larger organization. Has direct input and/or completes performance appraisals on all Mental Health Social Worker who are directly supervised by a non-Social Worker. Provide intensive clinical services in complex cases and carries full professional responsibility for cases presenting with a wide range of psychosocial and environmental problems. Diagnostic assessment of a patient's present mental and social functioning based on developmental and vocational history that can be used by others for treatment planning or disability rating purposes. Makes clinical assessments and develop psychotherapeutic modalities including referral to a Psychiatrists/Psychiatric Prescribers for prescription of appropriate medications or clarification of diagnosis. Treatment for mental illness, maladaptive behaviors, and other problems of an emotional nature including establishing a professional relationship with the patient for the purpose of removing, modifying, or retarding existing problems. Utilization of group dynamics and family interactions to diagnose the dysfunctional aspects of the familial relationship and provide treatment in an effort to improve or resolve the identified problems. Recording of information in the patient's medical record related to the patient's database, psychosocial diagnosis, treatment plan, and progress in therapy. Use of diagnostic knowledge of the patient's needs to make referrals to a variety of VA and non-VA resources in support of the treatment objectives of the patient. Participation in interdisciplinary collaboration with clinic personnel and with community resources. Serve on NAVAHCE, VISN, and National VA committees, as assigned. Perform other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday: 8:00am to 4:30pm Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): May be authorized. Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA. 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) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience. 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: Ad-Hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000"]
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the largest integrated health care system in the United States, providing care at 1,321 health care facilities, including 172 VA Medical Centers and 1,138 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity (VHA outpatient clinics) to over 9 million Veterans enrolled in the VA health care program. VHA Medical Centers provide a wide range of services including traditional hospital-based services such as surgery, critical care, mental health, orthopedics, pharmacy, radiology and physical therapy. In addition, most of our medical centers offer additional medical and surgical specialty services including audiology & speech pathology, dermatology, dental, geriatrics, neurology, oncology, podiatry, prosthetics, urology, and vision care. Some medical centers also offer advanced services such as organ transplants and plastic surgery.