"Alerted.org

Summary This Mental Health Integration (MHI) Social Worker is assigned and co-located to provide collaborative and integrated mental health care in the Pain Clinic. The MHI SW works collaboratively to promote prevention, brief assessment, early identification, and treatment of mild to moderate mental health and behavioral health concerns. Responsibilities Major Duties: A. Clinical Practice Providing intake, assessment, case management, advocacy, treatment, and coordination of care with appropriate VA and community service providers and agencies as needed and directed by the Veteran. Serving a patient population with highly complex pain, including cancer-related pain, and other health, mental health, and substance use comorbidities. Utilizing a Population-Based Care and Public Health approach and maximizes the reach of services to as many Veterans as possible. B. Practice Management Collaborating with Specialty Medical Team members and others as appropriate (e.g., Primary Care Mental Health Integration, General Mental Health, Primary Care) to support high quality, effective, and coordinated service delivery at patient and programmatic levels. Maintaining open access daily slots and encourages warm handoffs on the same day within the Specialty Medical Clinic. Referring Veterans with more severe or complex needs to the appropriate general or specialty mental health program. Providing a full range of psychological interventions consistent with training and expertise with special emphasis on brief and evidenced-based interventions found to be effective in Specialty Medical Setting. Providing time-limited, brief, evidence-based, individual or group interventions for a broad range of mental health and health behavior concerns within the Specialty Medical Setting, making exceptions as needed depending on Veteran need and disease-course. Utilizing intermittent visits and flexible patient contact strategies to support brief but longitudinal care as part of the Specialty Medical Team. Utilizing the Whole Health approach in clinical practice, including connecting with the Veteran's Mission/Aspiration/Purpose to inform, plan and deliver clinical services. C. Documentation Writing clear, concise notes that are optimized for collaboration within the Specialty Medical Team. Documenting important elements for team collaboration (e.g., MBC, curbside consultation/team care discussion, liaison with specialty care providers) as appropriate. Completing documentation, the same day or within 48 hours of care encounter, per medical center policy. D. Consultation and Interdisciplinary Team-Based Skills Providing education to Specialty Medical Team on mental health and behavioral health issues, as well as tips to promote effective patient communication, motivational enhancement, and behavior change. Accepting and encouraging warm handoffs on the same day. Routinely providing feedback (verbal and/or written) to team members on the same day as referral. E. Academic Teaching & Training May supervise Social Work trainees in accordance with training program policies and accrediting agency requirements. May provide staff and student didactic training and consultation as requested in content areas of scholarly and/or clinical expertise. May supervise or train allied health providers in accordance with facility and regulatory standards regarding such training. F. Research/Program Evaluation Actively participating in program evaluation required by the funding initiative for the position, and/or may participate in research activities as approved by supervisor. VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz\_ua\_UU VA Careers - Licensed Clinical Social Worker: https://youtube.com/embed/U\_xC25QsN0w Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Work Schedule: 8:00am - 4:30pm, Monday - Friday Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not 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 (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: Not Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized 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. 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. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Qualifications Basic Requirements: Citizenship. 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 tohttp://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. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). Differentiating Independent Practice from Advanced Practice Level. Experience must be evaluated to differentiate between independent practice and advanced practice levels. A social worker practicing at the independent level has a generalized knowledge of practice, (which is required for all social workers at the full performance level and above.), whereas the social worker practicing at the advanced level has specialized knowledge of practice typically related to a particular diagnosis or patient population. The advanced practice social worker can be further differentiated from the independent practice social worker by their ability to expand clinical knowledge in the profession, provide consultation and guidance to colleagues, role model effective social work practice skills, teach or provide orientation to less experienced social workers, develop innovations in practice interventions, and provide clinical supervision for social work licensure or certification. A social worker with advanced practice skills and personal qualifications that meet the standard for the senior social worker will have passed an advanced generalist or clinical Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) examination and be assigned to a position that requires use of the advanced practice skills in order to be considered for the senior social worker grade. 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 (1) 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. (2) 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. (3) 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: Familiarity working with Veterans in the Pain Clinic, an intensive outpatient program serving Veterans diagnosed with a mental illness and pain syndromes. Familiarity and skill in evidence-based practices is important for this role, while working in a Veteran Centric environment. At least two years should be in an area of specialized social work practice in mental health and substance abuse treatment. The incumbent has a post 2 years independent clinical license or certification by a state at the advanced practice level, which includes an ASWB advanced generalist or clinical examination, unless they are grandfathered by the state in which they are licensed to practice at the advance practice level. The Senior Social Worker 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. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: The physical demands of this position involve active listening, reading, observing and evaluating verbal and nonverbal behavior, walking, speaking, bending, carrying light items such as paper, books, small parts, writing reports, writing clinical notes, using office equipment such as computers, telephones, fax machines, photocopy machines, and possibly driving an automobile. The work is performed in an urgent care clinical setting that exposes the incumbent to the communicable disease common to the diseases that are present within the Emergency Department. Strenuous physical activity is not required. 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 "Whole Health is an approach to health care that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their life to the fullest. The VA is committed to Whole Health and values Veteran and Employee health and well-being. As a VA employee, you will practice Whole Health in an environment that supports personalized and proactive care." 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. 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.