Senior Social Worker - Behavioral Health Access Team - EDRP

Veterans Health Administration • El Paso, TX

3d • Onsite

About The Position

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. The Behavioral Health Access Team (BHAT) Senior Social Worker is a senior practitioner that works as part of a multidisciplinary team comprised of Psychiatric providers, Psychologists, Nurses, Medical Support Assistants, and other Social Workers of varying practice levels, that provide immediate access, on demand, same day Mental Health Services to Veterans enrolled in the El Paso VA Health Clinic. The BHAT Senior Social Worker orients, trains, and oversees new Social Work staff, as well as other interdisciplinary and allied staff in BHAT systems, processes, and workflows. Serves as a mentor and coach to other Social Workers, assumes responsibility and shows initiative for their learning and professional development, evaluates BHAT social work practice through participation in professional peer reviews. Utilizes deescalation strategies, conducting suicide risk assessments, developing and implementing crisis management plans, establishing safety plans, coordinating admission to inpatient psychiatric programs, and coordinating after-care treatment. Completes same day triage assessments, crisis assessments, suicide risk assessments, and biopsychosocial assessments of Veterans in collaboration with the interdisciplinary treatment team, the Veteran, and Veteran's family members/caregivers. Collaborates with the veteran in treatment plan development, based on their biopsychosocial assessment, setting achievable treatment goals with the Veteran, and identifying outcome-based measures for each goal. Collaborates with other service providers throughout the ongoing assessment of veteran needs. Educates the veteran and, if requested, family members/caregivers about available services, and assists them in establishing appropriate referrals based on veteran needs and preferences. Identifies, understands, and brokers available resources within the VA and community to meet veterans presenting needs. Provides education to veterans and involved family/caregivers related to evidence-based psychotherapy treatments, group therapy treatment, and/or additional VA and community resources. Review the progress notes from other multidisciplinary providers to accurately determine the strengths and limitations of each veteran. Assists the BHAT Program Manager in drafting policies, procedures, functional statements, planning and conducting Department meetings, attends all required Behavioral Health staff meetings, and performs other duties as required. Enters all Veteran/family contacts in the electronic record using appropriate formats and templates.

Requirements

• Must be a U.S. Citizen.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• Acceptable forms of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements.
• Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.
• Will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period.
• 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.
• Must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level.
• 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).
• For GS-12: At least two years of experience (9 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.
• 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: 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.

Nice To Haves

• Knowledge of working with Veteran and/or Military population.
• Experience with crisis intervention and risk management.
• Experience with evidence-based psychotherapies.
• Clinical proficiency in managing discharge planning.
• Experience with admitting patients for mental health treatment.

Responsibilities

• Orients, trains, and oversees new Social Work staff, as well as other interdisciplinary and allied staff in BHAT systems, processes, and workflows.
• Serves as a mentor and coach to other Social Workers, assumes responsibility and shows initiative for their learning and professional development, evaluates BHAT social work practice through participation in professional peer reviews.
• Utilizes deescalation strategies, conducting suicide risk assessments, developing and implementing crisis management plans, establishing safety plans, coordinating admission to inpatient psychiatric programs, and coordinating after-care treatment.
• Completes same day triage assessments, crisis assessments, suicide risk assessments, and biopsychosocial assessments of Veterans in collaboration with the interdisciplinary treatment team, the Veteran, and Veteran's family members/caregivers.
• Collaborates with the veteran in treatment plan development, based on their biopsychosocial assessment, setting achievable treatment goals with the Veteran, and identifying outcome-based measures for each goal.
• Collaborates with other service providers throughout the ongoing assessment of veteran needs.
• Educates the veteran and, if requested, family members/caregivers about available services, and assists them in establishing appropriate referrals based on veteran needs and preferences.
• Identifies, understands, and brokers available resources within the VA and community to meet veterans presenting needs.
• Provides education to veterans and involved family/caregivers related to evidence-based psychotherapy treatments, group therapy treatment, and/or additional VA and community resources.
• Review the progress notes from other multidisciplinary providers to accurately determine the strengths and limitations of each veteran.
• Assists the BHAT Program Manager in drafting policies, procedures, functional statements, planning and conducting Department meetings, attends all required Behavioral Health staff meetings, and performs other duties as required.
• Enters all Veteran/family contacts in the electronic record using appropriate formats and templates.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and regular salary increases.
• 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).
• 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.
• 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.
• Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA.
• Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement).
• Ad-Hoc telework available.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior