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 - Candidates must 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 - Social workers at the GS-12 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.
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 Level: Senior Social Workers must posses 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, and are able to demonstrate the following knowledge, skills and abilities:
(a) 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.
(b) Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
(c) 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. (d) 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.
(e) 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
The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12.
Physical Requirements: All candidates 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. Candidates must meet the physical requirements outlined in Section II and Section VI of the OPM Operating Manual, Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions and must possess emotional and mental stability.
Preferred Knowledge (continued):
F. Ability to provide expert subject matter consultation to staff supervised, colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients treated in the specialty area, rendering professional opinions based on experience and expertise and role modeling effective social work practice skills. Ability to teach and mentor staff and students in the specialty area of practice and to provide supervision for licensure or for specialty certifications.
G. Advanced knowledge and demonstrated ability to expand clinical knowledge in the profession, demonstrating innovation in the creation of new models of psychosocial assessment and intervention, evidenced through the ability to present histories, assessments, behavioral observations, mental health assessment results, and discuss diagnostic issues in training sessions, treatment team meetings, and in other case conferences.
H. Expert ability to administer a structured interviews and assessments with a wide variety of patient populations, with a wide variety of mental health and psychosocial issues such as those diagnoses found in the DSM IV, and particularly SMI (including PTSD), Dual Diagnosis, personality disorders and substance abuse, and Women Veterans, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation New Dawn (OEF/ OIF/OND) Veterans, elderly Veterans and /or Veterans with families.
I. Expert ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with clients, staff, and representatives of community agencies. Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, with people from varied backgrounds.
J. Advance knowledge of community resources; how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services; and ability to prioritize and coordinate services.
K. Expert ability to negotiate, procure, and advocate to effectively match Veterans with the right services and incorporate, risk management, state laws, current trends in disease prevention, and epidemiological/population-based resourcing in performance of daily job functions.
L. Advanced knowledge of current/new information in the field of case management and federal, state, local regulations through professional reading, in-services and conferences.
M. Advanced knowledge and demonstrated ability to write policies, procedures and/or practice guidelines pertaining to Veterans with diagnoses found in the DSM-V and co-occurring disorder histories and be expertly skilled in the recording of detailed behavioral observations and the writing of progress notes and reassessment reports.
N. Advanced knowledge of computerized processing operations and procedures and is competent in word processing, data management programs and other relevant computer applications.
O. Expert ability to evaluate his/her own practice as well as that of others through participation in professional peer review, case conferences, research studies, and/or organized means.
P. Advanced knowledge of legal, ethical, and professional standards applicable to Social Work practice.
Q. Advanced knowledge of Social Work practices in health care and mental health settings including resources, and the policies and procedures pertaining to home and community based care, acute care, ambulatory care, long-term care, performance measures, and clinical guidelines.
R. Ability to independently organize work, set priorities, and meet multiple deadlines.
S. Knowledge of supervisory duties which includes clinical supervision, consultation, negotiation with other departments and quality improvement.
T. Ability to ensure provision of clinical social worker services.
U. Ability to provide staff training and development.
V. Skill in interpersonal relationships in dealing with employees, team leaders, and managers. Ability to provide staff training and development. Ability to ensure provisionally