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Summary The Senior Social Worker Care Coordinator conducts clinical activities as a member of a Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program team, including general and specialty clinics such as Women's Clinic, Trauma Recovery, and Post 9/11 Military to Veterans (M2VA) Transitions. As care coordinator, the Social Worker is responsible for the coordination and continuity of care for Veterans receiving services throughout Outpatient Mental Health. Responsibilities VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz\_ua\_UU The programs are part of the Durham Veterans Affairs Health Care System (DVAHCS), and the Social Worker may be assigned to any clinic/team across DVAHCS, including virtual assignments. The Social Worker may be the first point of contact for Veterans same-day access needs, including seeing walk-ins and speaking with Veterans by phone to coordinate care, assess for risk, urgency of needs, appropriate treatment settings, diagnosis, and facility engagement in care. The Senior Social Worker independently provides clinical psychosocial and case management services at an advanced practice level to eligible Veterans and their family members to meet biological, psychological, social, and environmental needs. Their health care and psychosocial problems and needs are complex, requiring a high degree of clinical oversight and creative problem solving. The Social Worker is required to interact not only with the patient but also family, caregivers, significant others, community agencies, and other staff. Functions or scope of assigned duties include but are not limited to: The Social Worker will provide a full range of services within commonly accepted standards of practice and prioritize care coordination activities as the primary job function, [e.g., biopsychosocial and needs assessments, walk-in/crisis services, chart reviews, discharge planning, facilitating follow-up and outreach, etc.] and other services as appropriate. The Social Worker will provide Care Coordination (including care management and/or case management) to Veterans and families, as needed throughout the continuum of care. This includes communication within and across care lines to facilitate continuity of care for Veterans. The Social Worker will be an active participant in the treatment planning process with other disciplines. Additionally, the Social Worker will participate in discharge planning with other disciplines and will be responsible for ensuring that the discharge plans are executed in a manner that is timely and appropriate to promote care continuity. The Senior Social Work BHIP Care Coordinator conducts risk evaluation and treatment, including oversight of interdisciplinary documentation of treatment plans, for Veterans within BHIP, including those who are in the REACH Vet program and those with a High Risk for Suicide Patient Record Flag. To ensure that Veterans have access to timely, quality mental health care, the incumbent will actively monitor clinic availability and panel size of BHIP team members to be able to coordinate the flow of patient care amongst BHIP teams and BHIP team members. This includes knowledge of availability of specialty mental health services, as well as working actively with program support staff to ensure that team assignments in the Patient Care Management Module (PCMM) are accurate and up to date. The Senior Social Work BHIP Care Coordinator provides subject matter consultation to colleagues and trainees on the psychosocial treatment of patients treated in the specialty area, rendering professional opinions based on experience and expertise and role modeling effective practice skills. In addition, there may be opportunities to expand clinical knowledge in the profession, demonstrating innovation in the creation of new models of psychosocial assessment or intervention to identify and address specialized clinical needs. The Social Worker may assist in drafting policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines pertaining to the specialty population or specialty treatment program as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday 8:00a.m.-4:30p.m. 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) Telework: May be available at the discretion of the Service Chief or equivalent Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #:000000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959. Must be proficient in written and spoken English. You may be required to serve a probationary period. Subject to background/security investigation. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Must pass pre-employment physical examination. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). Qualifications 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. 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. Current state requirements may be found by going to http://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/. 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:????Senior Social Worker, GS-12 Experience/Education: 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. 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: 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. Preferred Experience: Experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgement in the provision of mental health treatment. Be an expert in mental health practice. Experience with integrated case management and care coordination Be able to provide advanced practice level clinical psychosocial and case management services to Veterans with complex health care and psychosocial needs and provide a high degree of clinical oversight and creative problem solving with the Veteran, their families, caregivers, significant others, community agencies and other staff. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005, PART II, APPENDIX G39 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12 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 Social Worker 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 the Social Worker or others. Education IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. Additional Information Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status. VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.