Senior Social Worker

We're Looking for a skilled Senior Social Worker in the Veterans Health Administration based in Dallas, Texas. Read through the job description to see if it matches your current experience.

The Successful Applicant

Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Noncitizens 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. 167 7403(f). Education. Have a masters 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 masters 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 GS0185 series in VHA must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the masters degree level. Current state requirements may be found by going to http://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/. Preferred Experience: Case Management Psychosocial assessment and treatment plant development Mental health and substance use assessments Working with Clients living with Substance Abuse Disorder Supportive and psychotherapeutic therapies Evidence Psychotherapy Grade Determinations: Senior Social Worker GS12 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 GS11 grade level which are demonstrated by(a) Knowledge of community resources how to make appropriate referrals tocommunity and other governmental agencies for services and ability to coordinateservices.(b) Skill in independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatmentinterventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socioeconomic culturalethnic educational and other diversified backgrounds.(c) Knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses disabilities and treatmentprocedures (i.e. acute chronic and traumatic illnesses/injuries commonmedications and their effects/side effects and medical terminology) to formulate atreatment plan.(d) Skill in independently implementing different treatment modalities in working withindividuals families and groups who are experiencing a variety of psychiatricmedical and social problems to achieve treatment goals.(e) Ability to provide consultation services to new social workers social work graduatestudents and other staff about the psychosocial needs of patients and the impactof psychosocial problems on health care and compliance with treatment. 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 postmasters 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 the candidate 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:Case ManagementAssessment with InterventionWorking with Clients living with Substance Abuse DisorderSupportive and PsychotherapyEvidenceBased PsychotherapyExperience in an Opioid Replacement Therapy Program References: VA Handbook 5005/120 Appendix G39 dated September 10 2019. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS12. Physical Requirements: Light Lifting (20 11 lbs. occasionally 10 lbs. or less frequently) Light Carrying (20 11 lbs. occasionally 10 lbs. or less frequently) Straight Pulling (up to 1 hour) Pushing (1 2 hours) Reaching above shoulder frequent keyboarding (47 hours per day) Sitting (47 hours per day) Walking (up to 3 hours) Standing (up to 3 hours) Repeated bending (up to 1 hour) Ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously Correctable near sited and far sited Vision Hearing (aid permitted).

What’s on Offer

The role offers excellent opportunities for top performers to further develop their competencies as a social worker and improving the lives of people.