Summary

The Substance Use Disorder Treatment Program (SUDTP) is a team of health care professionals providing mental health care focused on treating addiction. The PTSD - SUD therapist is the expert in management of PTSD and SUD at SAVAHCS. The role's responsibilities include staffing cases across the facility and providing education on the management of substance use disorders and co-occurring PTSD in addition to providing clinical services within the substance use disorder treatment program.

Qualifications

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
• English Language Proficiency
• In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d) - no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English
• 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
• Note: 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
• Licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work 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
• Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements stated above - the following qualification criteria must be met for each grade
• The candidate's qualifications must clearly demonstrate the level of competence required for the grade
• Experience: 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 and 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
• 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
• Preferred Experience: Experience providing harm-reduction-based psychotherapy using evidence-based practice protocols
• Experience providing psychotherapy for dual-diagnosis adults to include PTSD - depression - and anxiety
• Experience working with the Veteran and/or military population
• Reference: VA Regulations - specifically VA Handbook 5005 - Part II - Appendix G-39 Social Worker Qualification Standard
• This can be found in the local Human Resources Office
• Physical Requirements: Eligible applicants must be physically and mentally able to perform efficiently the essential functions of the position - with or without reasonable accommodation - without hazard to themselves or others
• Depending on the essential duties of a specific position - usable vision - color vision - hearing or speech may be required
• However - in most cases - a specific physical condition or impairment of a specific function may be compensated for by the satisfactory use of a prosthesis or mechanical aid.

Duties

• Duties include - but are not limited to: - The incumbent must possess the knowledge and ability to independently implement treatment modalities - identify level of functioning - degree of impairment in occupational - social - academic - interpersonal and family
• - Perform mental status exams (MSE)
• - Identify psychiatric manifestations of various medical conditions
• - Possess knowledge of the criteria and state laws for legal commitment and involuntary hospitalizations
• - Ability to assess and intervene with patients of suspected abuse
• - The incumbent is able to independently provide substance use and mental health focused psychosocial interventions outlined in the VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Substance Use Disorders and Mental Health
• - The incumbent independently completes thorough biopsychosocial assessments to determine the substance use and mental health diagnoses - psychosocial functioning - and associated needs of the Veteran and/or their family
• The social worker utilizes this assessment to develop and implement a comprehensive treatment plan in Mental Health Suites to address assessed needs including community integration
• The incumbent follows the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) Adult Patient Placement Criteria for the Treatment of Psychoactive Substance Use Disorders to assess and assigning a level of care and setting for treatment
• - The incumbent is able to independently provide trauma informed therapies such as CPT - PE - or EMDR as well substance based therapies such as CBT-SUD
• - Possesses working knowledge and experience in use of medical and mental health diagnoses - disabilities and treatment procedures in working with diverse populations and circumstances
• This includes acute - chronic and traumatic illnesses/injuries - psychiatric - medical and social problems - common medications and their effects/side effects and medical terminology
• - Social work coordination with members of the treatment team is required - to ensure a collaborative effort to meet the treatment goals for a Veteran
• Monitors high-risk patients on their team
• Collaborates with the Suicide prevention team and the Local Recovery Coordinator and will be well versed in suicide prevention SOPs
• Performs advanced level management interventions used in the treatment of veterans with poly-trauma injuries - spinal cord injuries - traumatic brain injuries - visual impairment - post-traumatic stress disorder - addictions - and serious mental illness
• Facilitates completion of advance directives and psychiatric advance directives with Veterans and their families
• - Provides for Documentation per the SAVAHCS policies
• Documents staff interventions and activities in patients' clinical record {CPRS) and ensures appropriate hand off using SBAR when transferring patients care
• Documents all contacts with patients/families in the medical charts per policy
• Completes all clinical reminders per policy
• Completes consults management per policy
• - Completes statistical and other reports in accordance with the SAVAHCS and respective professional discipline service policies
• - Collaborates with community agencies to strive for developing more effective and efficient ways of delivering healthcare services for Veterans
• - Supports the mission - policies - and procedures of the Department of Veterans Affairs - the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) - the Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) - and the Southern VA Health Care System (SAVAHCS)
• - Willing to modify their tour of duty to accommodate patient care needs on evenings and weekends
• - The incumbent must function independently in (four) 4 or more of the following supervisory assigned social work activities: a) Provide clinical supervision to social workers working toward their advanced level licensure (LCSW or equivalent)
• b
• act as a social work clinical supervisor to social work interns
• c
• provide coverage and serve as back-up to SUDTP case managers and/or care coordinators when relevant
• d
• assist in mental health consult review and management
• e
• Provide training and consultation to other staff on evidence-based psychotherapies
• (Additional Social Work duties of this complexity may be added or removed as workload dictates)
• Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:30 a.m
• to 4:00 p.m./8:00 a.m
• to 4:30 p.m
• work schedule - but work schedule may be adjusted to meet the needs of the service
• Compressed/Flexible: May Be Authorized Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized 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: May Be Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position.