Senior Social Worker - VJP Specialist

Summary

The Veterans Justice Program (VJP) Specialist Social Worker provides psychosocial assessments - case management services - continuous quality improvement activities - evaluation/consultation - placement services - and referral to various community agencies for Veterans who are being monitored by the courts - through the veterans treatment courts and are assisting veterans that are within 6 months of release from correctional institutions - facilitating reentry to the VA health care services.

Qualifications

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
• English Language Proficiency
• Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C.
• 7403(f)
• 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/
• 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 (KSAs)
• In addition to the experience above - candidates 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
• Assignments
• For all assignments above the full performance level - the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope - complexity (difficulty) - and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time
• Senior social workers are licensed or certified to independently practice social work at an advanced level
• Senior social workers typically practice in a major program area such as but not limited to: Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center or Polytrauma Network Site
• a Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Center - or a national VHA referral center - such as a national Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or a national Transplant Center - or other program areas of equivalent scope and complexity
• The senior social worker may be assigned administrative responsibility for clinical program development and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns
• Assignments include clinical settings where they have limited access to onsite supervision such as CBOCs or satellite outpatient clinics
• The senior social worker collaborates with the other members of the treatment team in the provision of comprehensive health care services to Veterans - ensures equity of access - service - and benefits to this population - ensures the care provided is of the highest quality
• The senior social worker provides leadership - direction - orientation - coaching - in-service training - staff development - and continuing education programs for assigned social work staff
• They serve on committees - work groups - and task forces at the facility - VISN and national level - or in the community as deemed appropriate by the supervisor - Social Work Executive or Chief of Social Work Services
• This assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management
• This assignment must represent substantial additional responsibility over and above that required at the full performance grade level and cannot be used as the full performance level of this occupation
• Preferred Experience: VA Healthcare System experience - and experience working with the court system
• 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: Light lifting (under 15 lbs.) - moderate carrying (15-44 lbs.) - use of fingers - walking - standing - operation of motor vehicle - near vision correctable at 13"" to 16"" to Jaeger 1 to 4 - far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other - both eyes - hearing (aid may be permitted) - and emotional/mental stability
• Environmental factors include outside and inside - dry atmospheric conditions - working closely with others - and working alone.
  
  

Duties

• Duties include - but are not limited to: Engages regularly with judges - court personnel - correctional administrators - and other justice-system stakeholders to develop - review - and maintain policies and procedures that support justice-involved Veterans
• Conducts proactive outreach within correctional facilities and treatment court programs - identifying and interviewing justice-involved Veterans to complete comprehensive needs assessments
• Treatment-matching assessment provides an initial determination of the needs of the Veteran seen by the VJP Specialist - and develops an initial plan
• Once the Veteran presents at a VA medical center following outreach
• Coordinates referrals - service linkages - and care planning to ensure continuity of care during transitions back to the community - including release from jail or prison
• Serves as a case manager for justice-involved Veterans in treatment courts or recently released from correctional institutions - facilitating access to VA health care - mental health services - benefits - and community-based resources to support stable - independent reintegration
• Performs duties across varying security levels while adhering to VA safety protocols in challenging environments that may involve psychiatric crises - acute medical issues - or high-risk behaviors
• Systems intervention is intended to improve VA - criminal justice - and non-VA community programs' services to Veterans involved in criminal justice
• It includes educating all stakeholders about the population - and developing and negotiating strategies to better serve Veterans involved in the criminal justice system
• This position requires documenting all patient interactions - preparing reports per VAHCS policy - participating in treatment planning - and serving as a social work expert across teams
• Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Work Schedule: 8AM - 4:30PM - Monday - Friday Compressed: Authorized at supervisor discretion 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: Ad-hoc only Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: 00000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized