Senior Social Worker (BHIP Care Coordinator) | Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration

Temple, Texas, Summary The Senior Social Worker is a clinician assigned to the Central Texas Veterans Healthcare System Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program (BHIP). The Senior Social Worker functions as a Care Coordinator for Veterans on a BHIP team and is responsible for coordination and continuity of care for Veterans receiving services throughout Mental Health & Behavioral Medicine (MHBM). Qualifications Basic Requirements: The basic requirements for employment as a VHA social worker are prescribed by statute in 38 U.S.C. § 7402(b)(9) – as amended by section 205 of Public Law 106-419 – enacted November 1 – 2000 To qualify for appointment as a social worker in VHA – all applicants must meet the following: a 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 this part) b 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 c 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/ d Grandfathering Provision The following is the standard grandfathering policy for all title 38 hybrid qualification standards Please carefully review the qualification standard to determine the specific education and/or licensure/certification/registration requirements that apply to this occupation e Physical Requirements See VA Directive and Handbook 5019 – Employee Occupational Health Services f 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: In addition to the basic requirements for employment – the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates Senior Social Worker – GS-12 (1) 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 (2) 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 (3) 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 (4) 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: At least one year experience providing Care Coordination and/or Case Management services At least two years experience working within an interdisciplinary team setting At least one year experience working in a clinical setting with Veterans and/or military personnel At least one year experience performing outreach procedures for hard to reach clinical populations 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 work is sedentary Some work may require movement between offices – hospitals – warehouses – and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work Work may also require walking/standing – in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds. Duties Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional The Senior Social Worker Care Coordinator provides services for the BHIP including but not limited to biopsychosocial assessment – walk-in/crisis services – education – provision of self-management resources and other clinical tasks as needed for Veterans receiving services in BHIP Care coordination includes determining and monitoring care coordination needs over time – providing care coordination – and facilitating follow-up and outreach as needed to promote proactive – personalized care and care continuity Care Coordinators serve as an advocate on behalf of the Veterans on BHIP teams to ensure delivery of comprehensive and seamless care across the care continuum Direct Patient Care Functions Provides a full range of services within commonly accepted standards of practice and prioritizes care coordination activities as the primary job function [e.g. – needs assessment – chart reviews – care or case management (as needed) – discharge planning – outreach – etc.] and other services as appropriate – Provides care coordination (including care management or case management) to Veterans and families – as needed – throughout the continuum of care This includes communication within and across care lines to facilitate continuity of care for Veterans – Conducts biopsychosocial assessments to determine care coordination and treatment needs of Veterans – Provides consultation/education to Veterans and families on VA resources (including self-management tools) – community resources – Advance Directives and VA benefits – Actively participates in the treatment planning process with other disciplines – Participates in discharge planning with other disciplines and is responsible for ensuring that discharge plans are executed in a manner that is timely and appropriate to promote care continuity – Acts as a clinical resource/point-of-contact to Veterans and other team/staff members – Assigns self as Mental Health Treatment Coordinator for Veterans assigned to the BHIP team – Complies with national and local performance measures – including timely health care screening and completion of clinical reminders for patients – Complies with national and local performance measures – including timeliness standards for documentation and proper patient check-out procedures (e.g. – entering diagnostic and procedure codes – completing encounters – and signing or co-signing notes) – The incumbent will act as liaison between VA and community resources – to include education and bidirectional communication that promotes seamless care – Provides individual – family and group counseling as appropriate and based on clinic needs – Provides wellness and prevention education and may facilitate patient and/or family educational supportive sessions as appropriate – Documents interventions and activities in electronic health record and ensures appropriate hand-off communication and documentation when transferring patient care – Maintains familiarity and share responsibility with other team members for performance measures relevant to the BHIP team Work Schedule: Monday through Friday – 7:30 am – 4:00 pm OR 8:00 am – 4:30 pm 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) 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 May Be Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position Functional Statement #: 00000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized