Senior Social Worker-Homeless Program at Beaufort

JOB SUMMARY:

Southern charm, hospitality and history imbue Charleston, one of the most well-preserved cities in the United States.

 

Vacancy Identification Number (VIN): 950010 

To fulfill President Lincolns promise – "To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan" – by serving and honoring the men and women who are Americas Veterans. 

 

Located in the historic part of the city of Charleston, the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center serves more than 57,000 veterans in 22 counties along the South Carolina and Georgia coastline in our main Medical Center or one of six community-based outpatient clinics.  The main Medical Center provides acute medical, surgical, and psychiatric inpatient care, as well as outpatient primary and mental health care to low country veterans. The Medical Center currently operates 96 beds and a 20 Community Living Center beds.  Charleston VAMC supports the Vet Centers in North Charleston, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia.  Charleston is a DOD/VA Joint Venture Site and has a robust Academic Affiliation with the Medical University of South Carolina.  The Ralph H. Johnson VAMC also has over 100 Researchers with some 300 research protocols.

 

As a VA professional, your opportunities are endless. With many openings in the multiple functions of VA, you will have a wide range of opportunities at your fingertips. Not only is it the largest, most technologically advanced integrated health care system in the nation, but we also provide many other services to Veterans through the Benefits Administration and National Cemeteries.

 

NOTE: The Professional Standards Board (a peer-review group) will review the selected candidates education and experience and recommend the step at which the candidate will be placed.  The salary is based on the grade and step approved for the selected candidate.  

 

VA encourages persons withdisabilities to apply.  The healthrelated positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by theSchedule A excepted appointment authority.

 

 

 

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KEY REQUIREMENTS

• U. S. Citizenship
• Must pass pre-employment examination
• English Language Proficiency required
• Background and-or Security Investigation required

DUTIES:Back to top

The Senior Social Worker practices social work in the Mental Health Service Line at our Community Based Outreach Clinic (CBOC) in Beaufort, South Carolina.

 

The Senior Social Worker will independently perform case finding functions and outreach, identifying and screening complex patients for psychosocial needs. Independently conducts psychosocial assessments; develops treatment plans in collaboration with the Veteran/family and with the interdisciplinary treatment team; identifies high-risk patients and provides appropriate and comprehensive services;  knowledge and experience in use of medical and mental health diagnosis, disabilities and treatment procedures; this includes acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses/injuries, common medications and their effects/side effects and medical terminology. Provides consultation services to other staff regarding the psychosocial needs of Veterans and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and adherence to treatment plan.

 

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00 am - 4:30 pm. 

Relocation expenses:  Relocation expenses are not authorized for this position. 

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED:Back to top

BASIC REQUIREMENTS:  

• Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g.  

• Education. Have a masters degree in social work (MSW) 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.

• 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 masters degree level. Licensure for this position is at the Advanced Practice level. Advanced Practice Level is defined as the ability to provide independent and expert clinical psychosocial and case management services in a specialized area of practice. 

 

Experience,Education and Licensure.   Senior Social Workers have experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment.   At least two years should be in an area of specialized social work practice.   Senior Social Workers must be licensed or certified by a state at the advanced practice level which included an ASWB 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 issue in California, which administers its own clinical examination for advanced 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 (see paragraph 3a(c)).   In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the professional KSAs in subparagraph (b) below.

 

1 .   Advanced knowledge of and mastery of theories and modalities used in the specialized treatment of complex physical or mental illness.   Ability toincorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatmentof veteran patients, including making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnoseswithin approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.   Ability to determine priority for servicesand provide specialized treatment services.

 

  2.   Advanced and expert 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 familycounseling or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial and/or case management interventions used in the treatment of veterans with polytraumatic injuries, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, visual impairment,post-traumatic stress disorder, etc.

 

  3.   Advanced knowledge and expert skill 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.   Ability to coordinate the delivery of specialized psychosocial services and programs.   Ability to design system changes based on empirical findings.

 

  4.   Ability to provide subject matter consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients treated in the specialty area, rendering professional opinions basedon experience and expertise and role modeling effective social work practices skills.   Ability to teach and mentor staff and students in the specialty area of practice and to provide supervision license or for specialty certifications.

 

  5.   Ability 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.   Ability to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines pertaining to the specialty population or specialty treatment program.

 

 

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

 

References : VA HANDBOOK 5005/23, PART II, Appendix F7, SOCIAL WORKER QUALIFICATION STANDARD, dated February 2009, and OPM Group Coverage Qualification Standard for Professional and Scientific Positions at http://www.opm.gov/qalifications/standards/IORs/GS0100/0185.htm  

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:   Light lifting, under 15 pounds; Light carrying, under 15 pounds; Walking 0.5 hours; Standing 0.5 hours; kneeling 0.5 hours; repeated bending 0.5 hours; near vision correctable at 13" to 16"; far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and 20/40 in the other.

APPLICANTS PLEASE NOTE:  Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications (particularly positions with a positive education requirement.)  Therefore, applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.  Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website: http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html All education claimed by applicants will be verified by the appointing agency accordingly.  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.

 

New appointees will be required to serve a probationary/trial period of one year.

 

Veterans Preference:

When applying for Federal Jobs, eligible Veterans should claim preference on their application or résumé. Applicants claiming preference based on service-connected disability, or based on being the spouse or mother of a disabled or deceased Veteran, must complete an SF 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference. Veterans who are still in the service may be granted tentative preference on the basis of information contained in their applications, but they must produce a DD Form 214 or other proof prior to appointment to document entitlement to preference.  For more information on Veterans Preference, please visit http://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/veterans.aspx.

HOW YOU WILL BE EVALUATED:

Applicants responsibility:  It is the applicants responsiblity to submit documentation to support his/her application for this position.  Applicant is responsible for ensuring that all experience, education, formal training, award recognition, etc. are documented in the application package.  Experience may include voluntary or other non-paid experience in the appropriate field.  If you feel that your training record contains information pertinent to your qualifications, then you must submit a printed copy of your training record with your application package.  Your training record will become a part of the specific vacancy file and will not be filed in Official Personnel Folder.

 

This announcement is not intended to cover all aspects of the duties, responsibilities or qualifications of this position.  Request for copies, return of forms or transfer of consideration to another announcement will not be honored.

 

Employees must meet qualification standards and other regulatory requirements by the closing date of the announcement.

 

Interviews: Management may interview candidates for this position and may elect to use the Performance Based Interviewing (PBI) process.  If PBI is used, questions will be job-related, reasonably consistent and fair to all candidates.  You can isit http://www.va.gov/pbi to learn more about PBI, frequently asked questions and aids to prepare for an interview.  Additionally, printed reference material is available at each Human Resources Office.

 

INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS will receive a rating of IFM (ineligible due to missing forms).  Requests for reconsideration of ratings will not be considered for applicants who fail to submit a complete application package.  We cannot be held responsible for incompatible software, fax transmissions, delays in mail service, etc.

 

Country: USA, State: South Carolina, City: Beaufort, Company: Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration.