Senior Social Worker

The incumbent in this position functions as the Senior Social Worker on the Inpatient Mental Health Unit at the Rocky Mountain Regional VAMC, within VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System (ECHCS), Department of Veterans Affairs. The incumbent provides programmatic, compliance, and clinical services for the inpatient social work team, involving direct patient services and representation of the Inpatient Mental Health Unit within the VA and the community.

The incumbent is an assigned case manager for Veterans admitted to the Inpatient Mental Health Unit (H2-IPU) and performs complex and independent services including evaluation of needs, connection to resources, disposition and discharge planning, recovery-based treatment planning, advanced safety planning for suicide prevention, facilitating unit recovery programming, gathering collateral data from families, and assisting with regulatory compliance aspects of quality assurance for care provided. The incumbent must be skilled in working on and with an interdisciplinary team, for the purpose of patient care and program development. Compliance includes but is not limited to Joint Commission and Office of Behavioral Health for the inpatient unit. The Senior Social Worker provides programmatic coordination and clinical leadership to social workers within a complex inpatient setting. The Senior Social Worker also provides clinical psychosocial treatment and case management services at an advanced practice level to eligible veterans and their family members. Patient's healthcare and psychosocial problems are complex, may include comorbid medical and substance use concerns, and require a high degree of clinical oversight and creative problem-solving. The Senior Social Worker must be able to provide supervision for subordinate staff needing to qualify for licensure. The incumbent assists in planning, establishing, and implementing policies and procedures for staff operations; developing individual or group goals and objectives. The incumbent will be responsible for disseminating policies and procedures to the social work team; to aid adherence to all current directives of VHA, current Joint Commission standards, State licensure standards, and VA-OIG standards set by governing bodies. As a Senior Social Worker, the incumbent assists the Acute Programs Coordinator in planning, establishing, and implementing policies and procedures, as needed. The incumbent tracks and adheres to all current directives of VHA and meets current Joint Commission as well as Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) standards, state licensure standards, and VA-OIG expectations. The incumbent can be asked to assist with any or all the following: 1. Assist with ongoing intensive reviews and appraisals to ensure the accomplishment of objectives and adherence to standards set by governing bodies. 2. Assist with compliance audits. 3. Develop individual, group and program goals and objectives. 4. Manage and control the use of data related to the program regarding day to day functioning for the purpose of process improvement. 5. Plan, organize and directs program operations, clinical practice, and patient activities for the program. 6. Assist in the identification of qualified MSW candidates for vacant positions and ongoing clinical support and consultation to social work staff on the Inpatient Mental Health Unit. 7. Develop policies and procedures for in the Inpatient Mental Health Unit. 8. Collect and report data related to staffing and resource allocation. 9. The incumbent performs other related duties as assigned. The Incumbent will be trained to cover the Psychiatric Emergency Services (PES) clinic in the Rocky Mountain Regional Emergency Department (RMR ED) and may be deployed as needed to that area to complete crisis evaluations and admission assessments if H2-IPU capacity allows doing so safely and there is a critical staffing gap in PES. The Senior Social Worker demonstrates an ability to expand clinical knowledge in the profession, provide consultation and guidance to colleagues, role model effective social work practice skills, teach or provide orientation to less experienced Social Workers, develop innovations in practice interventions, and provide clinical supervision for social work licensure. The Senior Social Worker adheres to the NASW Code of Ethics. The incumbent is responsible to the Acute Programs Coordinator, who in turn is responsible to the Section Chief of Behavioral Medicine, Acute and Residential Mental Health Services (BAR). There is matrix collaboration with the Chief of Social Work Service. She/he practices independently, exercising initiative and independent judgment in day-to-day activities. Supervision/consultation is of an administrative and professional nature; with the BAR Section providing guidelines as to the general policy and direction of the program the incumbent coordinates. In unusual and/or complex administrative and social work practice problems, the incumbent initiates consultation with the Chief, Social Work Service, as well as with other authoritative resources at the Medical Center. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Telework: Available Ad-hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: SW-CLINPT-GS0185-12FS55304-0 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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. Must pass pre-employment physical examination. 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.