The Social Worker is assigned to the Social Worker Service line. Incumbent is responsible for providing outpatient Social work in the Birmingham VA Primary Care , CBOCS , Emergency Department and Specialty Care Clinics. 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). NOTE: Verification of the degree can be made by going to the CSWE website to verify if that social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a master of social work. Licensure. Persons hired or reassigned to social worker positions in the GS-185 series in VHA must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level. English Language Proficiency. Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English GS-11 Social Worker Grade Determinations: Experience, Education and Licensure:. Promotion to the GS-11 full performance level requires completion of a minimum of 1 year of post-MSW degree experience in the field of health care work (VA or non-VA experience) and licensure or certification in a state at the independent practice level. OR A doctoral degree in social work from a school of social work may be substituted for the required 1 year of professional social work experience in a clinical setting. AND In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following Knowledge; Skills; and Abilities: 1. Knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services. 2. Ability to independently assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of patients and their family members and to formulate and implement a treatment plan, identifying the patient's problems, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills and assistance needed, in collaboration with the patient, family and interdisciplinary treatment team. 3. Ability to independently conduct psychosocial assessments and provide psychosocial treatment to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic, cultural, ethnic, educational and other diversified backgrounds. This requires knowledge of human development and behavior (physical and psychological) and the differential influences of the environment, society and culture. 4. Knowledge and experience in the use 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. 5. Knowledge of psychosocial treatment and ability to independently implement treatment modalities in working with individuals, families and groups who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, medical and social problems to achieve treatment goals. This requires independent judgment and skill in utilizing supportive, problem solving or crisis intervention techniques. 6. Ability to independently provide counseling and/or psychotherapy services to individuals, groups and families. Social workers must practice within the bounds of their license or certification. For example, some states may require social workers providing psychotherapy to have a clinical level of licensure. 7. Ability to provide consultation services to other staff about the psychosocial needs of patients and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and compliance with treatment. Ability to provide orientation and coaching to new social workers and social work graduate students. Ability to serve as a field instructor for social work graduate students who are completing VHA field placements. 8. Ability to independently evaluate his/her own practice through participation in professional peer review case conferences, research studies, or other organized means. 9. Knowledge and skill in the use of computer software applications for drafting documents, data management, and tracking, especially those programs in use by VHA. References: VA Handbook 5005/23, Part II, Appendix G39 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11. ["Duties of the Outpatient Social Worker include, but, are not limited to: Independently conducts psychosocial assessments. Develops treatment plans in collaboration with the veteran/family and with the interdisciplinary treatment team. Possesses the skills to offer psychosocial interventions and measures outcomes to interventions. Provide psychosocial treatment to a wide variety of individuals from various socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic, educational, and other diversified backgrounds. Coordinates community-based services, including information and referral for additional services from other VA programs, other government programs and community agency programs. Active participant in the coordination of care with other disciplines. Participate in developing treatment plans with other disciplines and will be responsible for ensuring that the plans are executed in a manner that is timely and appropriate. Provide consultation/education to Veterans and families on community resources, Advance Directives, Goals of Care, and VA benefits incumbent will act as a consultant to other team/staff members. Act as a liaison between VA and community resources. Provide consultation/education to medical providers on social work practice and VA policy and procedure. Social work practice which includes case work, individual, family, and group counseling, discharge planning, case management and other services as appropriate. Coordinate community-based services including information and referral for additional services from other VA programs, other government programs, and community agency programs based upon Veterans needs and eligibility. Provide crisis intervention services, seeking to address the cause as well as presenting complaint, coordinates family conferences and serves as liaison to family members. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday 8:00am to 430pm Compressed/Flexible: Not Available Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Title/Functional Statement #:Social Worker/FS-196 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required"]
Providing Health Care for Veterans: The Veterans Health Administration is America’s largest integrated health care system, providing care at 1,255 health care facilities, including 170 medical centers and 1,074 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity (VHA outpatient clinics), serving 9 million enrolled Veterans each year.
