Senior Social Worker - Substance Use Disorder Recovery

Summary

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.

Qualifications

***This is an open continuous announcement until October 31 - 2025. Qualified applicants will be considered and referred as vacancies become available. ***

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 Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f)
• 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 4 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
• Current state requirements may be found by going to http://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/
• Grade Determinations: Senior Social Worker - GS-12 Experience/Education The candidate must have at least two years of experience 9 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 have experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment
• 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
• Licensure/Certification 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
• Demonstrated Knowledge - Skills - and Abilities In addition to the experience above - candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: (a) 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
• (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 to 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
• Preferred Experience: VA experience
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
• Physical Requirements: Must be in overall good health - able to sit at a desk working at a computer - engage in light to moderate physical activity including sitting - walking - bending - and carrying supplies
• The psychologist must be able to perform primarily light and sedentary duties with occasionally moderate physical demands - exercise patience - and control emotions - with reasonable accommodation - if necessary - without endangering the health and safety of others
• This position also requires close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures
• transcribing
• viewing a computer terminal
• extensive reading
• and repetitive motions of the wrists - hands - and/or fingers.

Duties

• Establishes and maintains effective working relationships and communicates with Veterans - staff - and other parties as appropriate
• Provides professional - independent - specialized mental health treatment to Veterans who are diagnosed with substance use disorders and who are experiencing a wide range of complex medical - psychiatric - emotional - behavioral - and psychosocial problems
• Utilizes advanced and expert skill - individual - group and family psychotherapy - in a range of specialized evidence-based interventions and treatment modalities used for treatment of substance use disorders - post-traumatic stress disorder and other co-morbid mental health conditions
• Utilizes training and competencies in recognized evidence-based treatments for SUD - such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Substance Use Disorders - Cognitive Behavioral Skills Group for Substance Use Disorders - Motivation Enhancement Therapy - and Contingency Management
• Implements Measurement Based Care for measuring effectiveness of clinical practice and services in specialty areas
• Uses advanced clinical training - and experience to identify viable treatment options and makes appropriate referrals for care
• Develops treatment plans in coordination with MCR Team Members - including goals for treatment
• Utilizes community resources to make referrals to the community and other government agencies as appropriate - and coordinates services
• Makes referrals to other services in the VA - as well as to other agencies - community resources - and other Governmental agencies
• Acts as a community and family liaison
• Conducts psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic - cultural - ethnic - educational - and other diversified backgrounds
• Assesses the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and family members
• Interviews Veterans and their family members/significant others to establish facts about the Veteran's situation - presenting problems and their causes
• Reviews all data - subjective and objective - and makes a clinical assessment identifying strengths - needs - abilities - and preferences
• Uses clinical training - insight - and experience to interpret data and identify viable treatment options
• Assesses and documents identified behaviors or symptoms of abuse - neglect - exploitation and/or intimate partner violence
• Concludes the appropriate action - even in instances where actions can have serious impact on the life of the Veteran
• Establishes and maintains ongoing education programs for Veterans - community agencies - students - and staff to facilitate understanding of psychology interventions
• Utilizes crisis intervention techniques with Veterans in an acute crisis by implementing the Suicide Prevention and Management of Suicidal Behavior policy
• Employs senior social worker methods and techniques to maintain a therapeutic relationship that will help the Veteran work toward the best way of achieving their goals
• Provides oversight and clinical supervision for social work trainees to progress toward licensure or certification
• Work Schedule: Monday-Friday
• 8:00am - 4:30pm Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): May Be Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive
• Contact Jillana.Martinez@va.gov - the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance
• Learn more 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 (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade)
• 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 #: 607080 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized