Senior Social Worker

This position is located within the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), VA Mid-Atlantic Health Care Network (VISN 6), Hampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center (HVAMC), under the Social Work Service Line (SWSL). The Senior Social Worker practices within the Hematology/ Oncology Clinic providing inpatient and outpatient services. The Hematology/Oncology Social Worker serves a patient population with highly complex health and mental health problems. Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. 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. 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. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 § 7403(f). Grade Determinations: Senior Social Worker GS-0185-12 Experience: 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 have experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment and 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. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: 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. Assignments. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Senior social workers are licensed or certified to independently practice social work at an advanced level. Senior social workers typically practice in a major program area such as but not limited to: Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center or Polytrauma Network Site; a Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Center, or a national VHA referral center, such as a national Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or a national Transplant Center, or other program areas of equivalent scope and complexity. The senior social worker may be assigned administrative responsibility for clinical program development and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns. Assignments include clinical settings where they have limited access to onsite supervision such as CBOCs or satellite outpatient clinics. The senior social worker collaborates with the other members of the treatment team in the provision of comprehensive health care services to Veterans, ensures equity of access, service, and benefits to this population, ensures the care provided is of the highest quality. The senior social worker provides leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs for assigned social work staff. They serve on committees, work groups, and task forces at the facility, VISN and national level, or in the community as deemed appropriate by the supervisor, Social Work Executive or Chief of Social Work Services. This assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management. This assignment must represent substantial additional responsibility over and above that required at the full performance grade level and cannot be used as the full performance level of this occupation. References: VA Handbook 5005/23, Part II, Appendix G39, Social Worker qualification standards The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12 Physical Requirements: The physical demands of the work are generally minor. The work is primarily sedentary in nature and usually occurs within climate controlled clinical and administrative settings. Use of fingers may be required to operate computers. There may be occasional light lifting/carrying (15 pounds or less) requirements to relocate boxed materials from one area to another, equipment and room set-up, and ambulation related to physical inspections of the facilities. ["Duties Include: Assesses patients' understanding of his/her diagnosis and proposed treatments. Helps Veterans cope with the end of life or cancer diagnosis and the many emotions that arise. Provides education/instruction regarding self-relaxation and other coping strategies. Assesses treatment options when factoring in work, family, and the Veteran's other obligations. Participates as member of the Hampton VAMC Cancer Committee Assists with interagency collaboration when Veteran's care involves multiple entities. Provides education related to the patient's VA, and disability benefits. Provides referrals and linkage to community agencies with specialized benefits. Counsel individuals, couples, and families or referrals to specialized mental health providers. Provides resources and facilitates access to appropriate support groups and educational programs. Facilitates communication between the treatment team, Veteran, and Family, including advocacy. Facilitates family discussions about illness, healthcare, and life changes. Initiates and facilitates End of life planning/preference of care with the use of Advance Directives for Healthcare Coordinates discharge planning, inpatient and outpatient placements into residential care facilities, subacute skilled nursing facilities, and adult day healthcare programs. Addresses the impact of cancer on life issues (intimacy, body image, living as a survivor with the uncertainty of remission, etc) Provides education or referrals for required transportation to/from cancer care treatments at the VA or community programs, including needs of rural veterans. Determines appropriate assistive devices and home care to improve/secure ambulation and continued home safety. - Initiates referral to and coordination of hospice care services including facilitation with fee basis. - Advocates for home health or hospice care when requested by the Veteran. Has expertise in end of life issues and works in collaboration with the Palliative Care Consult team to ensure a full continuum of services are provided. Offers consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients treated in the specialty area of Hematology/ Oncology rendering professional opinions based on experience and expertise and role modeling effective social work practice skills. Demonstrates the ability to teach and mentor staff and students in the special area of practice and to provide supervision for licensure or specialty certifications. Participates and conducts meetings with Community partners / case managers in the community and at the VAMC. Provide education to medical providers, mental health providers and staff in general regarding the role of the social worker in the Hematology/ Oncology Clinic. Work Schedule: Monday- Friday 8:00am- 4:30pm 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 $ 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. Financial Disclosure Report: Not required"]