The Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences (MHBS) Service Line at the Northern Arizona VA Healthcare System (NAVAHCS), is recruiting to fill a Senior Social Worker within the PTSD Clinical Team (PCT). The PCT is a specialized treatment program which focuses on providing evidence based treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other trauma related concerns, including Prolonged Exposure (PE), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).
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. Loss of Licensure or Certification: Once licensed or certified, social workers must maintain a full, valid, and unrestricted independent license or certification to remain qualified for employment. Loss of licensure or certification will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment. 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, 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. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. Physical Requirements: Involve active listening, reading, observing and evaluating verbal and nonverbal behavior, walking, speaking, writing reports, writing policies and procedures, writing clinical notes, using office equipment such as computers, telephones, fax machines, photocopy machines and driving travel throughout the catchment.
Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Social Work: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Social-Worker-Career-Flyer.pdf Major duties include, but are not limited to: Make critical decisions regarding treatment on an urgent basis, with both complicated and high-risk veterans. Address veterans who are actively homicidal and/or suicidal. Provide expert mental health assessment and psychotherapy services for veterans, ensuring compliance with VHA, NAVAHCS, and VA Mental Health initiatives. Participate in direct veteran family, and caregiver assessment an treatment to identify and assess risk, safety, supports, and development and application of evidence-based clinical treatment interventions. Direct treatment including providing crisis assessment, treatment and dispositioning of high-risk veterans and their families including via tele mental health and video-to-home. Documents services provided in a comprehensive and timely manner consistent with standards. Consults and serves as liaison to provide referrals to community agencies and resources with Navajo Nation. Participate in outreach activities for Native American Veterans (e.g. Veteran Stand Downs; Vet Centers; community hospitals; resource fairs, etc.) at times serving as liaison for various services. At times, requires travel to Chinle, AZ for the provision of services to Veterans within Navajo nation. Other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): May be authorized to highly qualified candidates 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) Virtual: This is not a virtual or remote position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Bargaining Unit: Yes