The San Diego VA Medical Center is recruiting for a full-time Senior Social Worker in the Mental Health Care Line's IU2 Alcohol & Drug Treatment Program - IMPACT Unit 2 located in La Jolla, CA. This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until June 10, 2022. Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis and qualified candidates will be considered as vacancies become available. 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. 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/. Physical Requirements: The physical demands of this position involve lifting, walking, standing, use of both eyes, ability to distinguish basic colors and shades, hearing aid (permitted). The environmental factors of this position involve being able to work outside and/or inside, to work with others, and to work alone. English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). GRADE DETERMINATION: 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/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 Assignments. 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: Experience, training, and/or certification in multiple evidence-based practices for treatment of mental health issues (depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD, anxiety disorders, psychosis, etc.) Social worker comfortable with working effectively and efficiently in a fast-paced, high volume clinic. Social worker experienced in dealing with acute mental health patients, clinical supervision experience, and knowledge of education/research best practices. Diligent, independent clinician who works well with multidisciplinary team members within a demanding mental health clinic. References: VA Handbook 5005/120 Part II Appendix G39, Dated September 10, 2019. ["Duties for this position may include but are not limited to: Performs specialized treatment of complex physical and mental illness for patients with both alcohol and drug problems. Incorporates complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment of veteran patients, including making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnoses within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. Specific tasks may include(s): conducting detailed evaluations on new patients; providing individual, group, and marital/family therapy; administration of daily program activities; providing patient education; assisting with placement in recovery homes; provision of interdisciplinary team consultation; program development; outreach and care coordination, and teaching social work graduate students. Provides individual, group, and family psychotherapy and advanced level case management interventions used in the treatment of veterans with serious medical and psychiatric disorders. Provides services that access the continuum of care. Provides services on an outpatient basis. Develops and implements methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services in the substance use disorders specialty area, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services. Demonstrates the ability to design changes based on empirical findings. Offers consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients treated in specialty areas, rendering professional opinions based on experience and expertise, and role modeling effective social work practice skills. Demonstrates the ability to teach and mentor staff and students in the special area of practice and to provide supervision for licensure or specialty certifications. VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Work Schedule: Monday through Friday; 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.\nCompressed/Flexible: Not eligible\nTelework: Eligible\nVirtual: This is not a virtual position.\nRelocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized\nEDRP Authorized: Authorized / Contact Miriam.Ubiles@va.gov (EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance)\nFinancial Disclosure Report: Not required"]