Basic Requirements: The basic requirements for employment as a VHA social worker are prescribed by statute in 38 U.S.C. § 7402(b)(9), as amended by section 205 of Public Law 106-419, enacted November 1, 2000. To qualify for appointment as a social worker in VHA, all applicants must meet the following:
Citizenship: Must be a U.S. citizen. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g this part)
English Language Proficiency: Applicants must be proficient in spoken & written English
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 the social worker position GS-0185 series in the 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/ORHM//T38Hybrids.
Grade Determination Requirements: S
ocial Worker (Program Coordinator), GS-12
Experience and Education: One year of experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressively more professional competency. Candidate may have certification or other post-master's degree training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship, or equivalent supervised professional experience.
Licensure/Certification: Individuals assigned as social worker program coordinator must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level, and 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.
Preferred Experience: Training and facilitation experience. Program coordination or management.
Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit
https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.
The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12.
Physical Requirements: The work entails no special physical demands although some physical effort may be required relative to moving equipment and supplies throughout the department and to various parts of the facility as necessitated by educational programming. Work requires some physical exertion such as long periods of standing and moving education equipment. Manual dexterity is required to work educational equipment systems and controls. Fieldwork will involve travel (up to half of the time), providing training, attending meetings, or gathering information.