Senior Social Worker - Trauma Recovery Clinic

The Senior Social Worker is located within the Mental Health Service with primary assignment to the Trauma Recovery Clinic (TRC) at the Dayton VA Medical Center. The TRC is staffed by the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Clinical Team (PCT) which provides comprehensive, evidence-based outpatient services to patients with PTSD and other related mental health needs.

**Qualifications:**
Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States (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. Current state requirements may be found by going to http://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/ 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, 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. 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 social work duties include sedentary and ambulation (walking) throughout the medical center and in the community according to the demands of daily tasks. Light carrying, less than 15 pounds-may be required as part of duties related to storing or moving files. Working around moving objects or vehicles is required as part of daily ambulating within the medical center around patients who use motorized scooters and wheelchairs. Requires working at intervals during the day (i.e., documenting progress notes, completing phone calls, etc.). Reaching above the shoulder- may be required during daily tasks to access files located in overhead cabinets. Walking- required approximately 3-4 hours daily associated with walking from assigned office to outpatient clinics and other medical center departments as needed to complete duties of the position. Standing required approximately 3-4 hours daily associated with walking from assigned office to outpatient clinics and other departments within the medical center as needed to complete duties of the position and filing patient records as needed. It may be required that this individual be able to operate a motor vehicle in this position and to include transporting patients off-site as part of their duties. Work will take place in- and outdoors thus exposing them to the natural elements of the weather. The incumbent may occasionally be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium, dementia, or psychiatric disorders. The incumbent must be a mature, flexible, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations, able to shift priorities based on patient needs. May be exposed to infected patients and/or contaminated materials and will be required to take appropriate safety and protective measures.