The incumbent is a Senior Social Worker that works with a team of other Senior Social Workers and Nurses assigned to the Caregiver Support Program to ensure implementation of the program is consistent across the NF/SG VHS working within the Social Work Service located in either Jacksonville, FL or St. Augustine, FL.
Applicants must meet the requirements by the closing date of this announcement 05/05/2025. 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. 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-185 series at the 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/. 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 employment termination. 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 Experience and Education: The candidate must have at least two (2) years of experience post advanced practice clinical licensure and should be in a specialized area of social work practice of which, one (1) 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. Advanced Practice Licensure must be submitted with your application. While we no longer require essay-style responses to our Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities, (KSA's), you must be able to demonstrate that you possess the (below) competencies which are necessary to perform the work of the position. Please ensure your resume/CV/application contains sufficient information to support the level of experience/education/training. Otherwise, we will not be able to award you credit for the experience/education/training you claim. The GS-12 KSA's for this position are: 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. Preferred Experience: Prefer a minimum of 3 years post licensure working in medical/mental health case management and working with family caregivers. 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: Able to meet the physical demands of the position, to include sitting, standing, frequent walking, reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Must have good manual dexterity and be able to view computer monitor for extensive reading, overall completion of work, preparing reports, analyzing data, entering documentation in electronic health record and more. Must be able to express or exchange ideas by means of spoken and written word. Must be able to view and read information on computer screens. Incumbent must have a valid driver's license and pass Occupational Health screening as position will require driving a government vehicle. Travel is expected at least 50% or less of the work week.
***ATTENTION**** The St. Augustine position may require going to the closest facility to include Palatka VA or most appropriate VA medical center/clinic and within the community to carry out primary responsibilities and/or complete administrative tasks required for the position. The duties of the Caregiver Support Program Senior Social Worker within the North FL/South GA Veterans Health System, Social Work Service includes: The Senior Social Worker's primary responsibilities are to provide clinical evidence based case management services and interventions; application processing management; caregiver, Veteran and staff education on caregiver issues; community outreach; resource development; continuous quality improvement activities; and evaluation/consultation. Develops, implements, evaluates and maintains the Caregiver Support Program specific to his/her area of assignment and ensures compliance and collaboration with local facility, VISN and VA Central Office Caregiver Support Program initiatives. Serves as a subject matter expert, understanding related State and Federal law; State and Federal documentation requirements, understanding clinical implementation requirements and is able to execute implementation of the VA caregiver support program within NF/SGVHS. Responsible for monitoring and facilitating the implementation of assigned specialty program and tracking program growth and attending Local, VISN and National specialty program calls and trainings to stay current on program implementation, trends and use knowledge gained to evaluation NF/SGVHS program efficiency and effectiveness. Completes screening and assessment of the Veteran/caregiver in collaboration with the interdisciplinary treatment team. Demonstrates an understanding of the range of treatment interventions and skills required to implement a variety of treatment intervention. Facilitates regularly scheduled evidence based groups for assigned specialty population, as appropriate and demonstrates an understanding of group development, recruitment, dynamics, process, facilitation and follow-up. Develops, implements, evaluates and maintains a variety of ways to meet clinical contact requirements through face to face, telephone, Clinical Video Technology (CVT) or other newer technologies to all caregivers and Veterans within the Comprehensive Family Caregiver Program specific to his/her area of assignment. Participates in direct caregiver and Veteran contacts to meeting clinical contact requirements and to identify and assess caregiver stress/burden and the development and application of directed clinical treatment interventions. Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf Social Work: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Social-Worker-Career-Flyer.pdf Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Not available. 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: Not available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: Senior Social Worker Caregiver Support Program, FS #55416F.