Senior Social Worker (Pcmhi)

Summary

The Primary Care Mental Health Integration (PCMHI) Social Worker is assigned to the Northern California Health Care System Mental Health program and functions as part of an interdisciplinary team. The incumbent provides brief assessment and intervention support to the Patient Alignment Care Team (PACT), with an emphasis on integration of mental health services within primary care. The incumbent coordinates service delivery with Primary Care staff and other Mental Health Providers as appropriate.

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Overview

• Accepting applications

• Open & closing dates

04/17/2024 to 09/30/2024

• Salary

$119,850 - $155,800 per year

• Pay scale & grade

GS 12

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Location

1 vacancy in the following location:

• Auburn, CA

• Remote job

No

• Telework eligible

Yes-as determined by the agency policy.

• Travel Required

Not required

• Relocation expenses reimbursed

No

• Appointment type

Permanent -

• Work schedule

Full-time -

• Service

Excepted

• Promotion potential

None

• Job family (Series)

0185 Social Work

• Supervisory status

No

• Security clearance

Other

• Drug test

No

• Position sensitivity and risk

Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk

• Trust determination process

Credentialing

Suitability/Fitness

• Announcement number

CBSW-12388309-24-ARH

• Control number

787078200

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This job is open to

• Federal employees

• Competitive service

Current or former competitive service federal employees.

• Federal employees

• Excepted service

Current excepted service federal employees.

• Internal to an agency

Current federal employees of this agency.

• The public

U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.

Clarification from the agency

U.S. Citizens including current and permanent employees of the Department of Veteran Affairs and other Federal Agencies.

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Duties

Please see below for rewards of being an employee of the Department of Veteran Affairs:

Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf

vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Social-Worker-Career-Flyer.pdf

Major duties for the position include, but are not limited to:

• Provides a full range of assessment and evaluation services appropriate to the primary care setting, especially in the areas of emotional and behavioral problems.

• Provides a range of advanced interventions consistent with training and expertise, with special emphasis on brief and evidenced-based interventions found to be effective in primary care settings.

• Facilitates patient and family education appropriate to the primary care setting and the specific presenting mental or behavioral health issues.

• Provides consultation services for primary care providers to maximize the effectiveness of their interventions in reducing health-risk behaviors and enhancing health-promoting behaviors, with a significant emphasis on a prevention-oriented model of care.

• Supports primary care provider (PCP) decision-making, building on PCP interventions and improving PCP patient working relationships.

• Provides clinical care management when appropriate directly to an assigned cohort of patients.

• Consults with medical center staff on a wide variety of patient care issues.

• Develops person-centered, culturally sensitive treatment plans to address mental health needs of patients.

• Provides consultation and training to Primary Care Service Line staff in the identification and management of common mental and behavioral health disorders that present in a primary care setting.

• Completes all clinical charting and documentation required by the Medical Center or healthcare system, as appropriate.

• Other duties as signed.

This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and may be posted up to September 30, 2024. The initial cut-off date for referral of eligible applications will be May 1, 2024, with subsequent cut-off dates on the 1st and 15th of each month. Eligible applications received after that date will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as-needed basis until positions are filled.

Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Subject to change to meet the needs of the Agency

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 existing pay, 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: Telework, if approved, would be on a regularly scheduled basis, but this is not a virtual or remote position.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 000000

Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

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Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.

• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.

• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.

• You may be required to serve a probationary period.

• Subject to background/security investigation.

• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.

• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).

• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.

Qualifications

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.

• 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.

• English Language Proficiency: Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j, this part.

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:

GS-12 Senior Social Worker

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:

• 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.

References: VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39, Social Worker Qualification Standard, GS-0185, Veterans Health Administration, dated September 10, 2019.

The full performance level of this vacancy is 12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is a GS-12.

Physical Requirements: Hearing required (aid permitted).

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

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• Benefits

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new window

Learn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.