Supervisory Social Worker

Clarification from the agency

This position is open to current permanent employees of the Department of Veteran Affairs, current permanent Federal Employees of other agencies and all U.S Citizens. Eligible applicants will be referred in the following order: 1) Current permanent employees of the Prescott VA 2) All other VA employees 3) Current permanent employees of other agencies 4) All other applicants. Note: Veteran's preference does not apply to VA employees or employees of other agencies.

Major Duties:

• Provides leadership to a multidisciplinary team through monthly meetings and individual face to face contacts.
• Establishes functional work relationships and facilitates communication regarding GEC and Specialty Program issues and changes with various disciplines who have responsibility in each program.
• Reviews requests for authorization of veterans to determine whether they meet eligibility criteria for inclusion in the CADHC program in the capacity as Coordinator for the Contract Adult Day Health Care Program.
• The incumbent is responsible for the development, evaluation, and communication of standards, policies and procedures to health care system social workers who serve as primary referral sources for the program.
• Provides liaison with the participating CADHC providers and may serve as the COR for these vendors if they have a contract.
• Provides program oversight to ensure quality care is provided by contracted agencies.
• Participates in professional and community organizations to further effective working relationships and to promote networking with community resources regarding long term and specialty care.
• Performs work related to the review, monitoring, analysis, planning and assessment of various programs.
• Responsible for key project activities related to the planning, development, and implementation of the project component.
• A substantial portion of the workload directed by this position is carried out at one or more locations that are physically removed from Medical Center under conditions that make day-to-day supervision difficult to administer.
• Identifies inadequacies in community services for Veterans and their families and cooperates/coordinates with community organizations to develop or improved needed resources.
• Creativity and flexibility are essential in securing the cooperation, understanding and acceptance of others. Priorities and work situations change frequently, often during the course of a single workday.
• Keeps the Chief of Social Work, or designee, apprised of community needs and services related to patient care.
• Serves as a mentor to other social workers, particularly those at the entry level, and provide clinical supervision for unlicensed social workers, and supervise and provide training for social work graduate students.
• Have an in-depth knowledge of social work programs and practices, including Veterans Affairs mandates, Joint Commission policies and procedures as well as Long Term Care Institute policies and procedures.
• Demonstrates initiative, resourcefulness and flexibility within the Social Work service line, providing leadership, guidance, oversight and mentoring in the development and delivery of social work services in general, and more specifically, in the area of geriatrics and extended care programs and specialty programs.
• Demonstrates knowledge of clinical oversight and supervision and the ability to provide the necessary supervision, when delegated, and collaboration with other disciplines for the most effective organizational performance.
• Responsible for the overall management, development, ongoing direction, leadership and accountability for the implementation and effectiveness of the social work programs within Geriatrics and Extended Care and specialty programs and fiscal components of the contract community programs.
• Maintains an ongoing evaluation of those program segments, advise, and apply appropriate management and oversight methods for control of quality and quantity of service to improve their effectiveness and efficiency.
• Have experience and skill in program administration, organizational management, general supervision/mentoring and community development experience and quality improvement programming.
• Integrate research and program development as related to community care programs.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 4:30 pm
Telework: Ad-Hoc
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: May be authorized for highly qualified candidates.

Conditions of employment

• 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.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). 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.
• 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.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

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.
• 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 social worker positions in the GS-0185 series in 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/OHRM/T38Hybrid/.
• Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services.
• English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

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:

Supervisory Social Worker, GS-12

Education and Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills in a specialty area or in administration demonstrating progressively more professional competency and judgment. 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 Supervisory Social Workers 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, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

• Ability to independently organize work, set priorities, and meet multiple deadlines.
• Knowledge of supervisory duties which includes clinical supervision, consultation, negotiation with other departments and quality improvement.
• Ability to ensure provision of clinical social work services.
• Ability to provide staff training and development.
• Skill in interpersonal relationships in dealing with employees, team leaders, and managers.

Preferred Experience: At least two years of post licensure clinical experience, often in a specialized social work area such as mental health, homelessness, or medical foster home programs. Demonstrated experience in evidence-based interventions across individual, family, and group counseling, including crisis management,suicide prevention, case management and supportive treatment. Skilled in developing, implementing, and evaluating policies and procedures, conducting quality assurance,managing contracts, and supervising data collection and performance measures.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

Physical Requirements: The work environment involves everyday risks or discomforts that require normal safety precautions typical of such places as offices, training rooms, and libraries. The work area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated. The incumbent must also work outdoors in all types of weather. There may be occasional exposure to moderate risks or discomforts in storage areas or hazardous waste sites. The work is primarily sedentary, although some physical effort may be required, e.g., walking, standing, climbing ladders, stooping, kneeling, and carrying light items such as manuals or briefcases, or driving or traveling by motor vehicle. Job entails the ability to have active listening, reading, observing and evaluating verbal and non verbal behavior; walking, speaking, writing clinical notes, writing and reading policies and procedures, using office equipment such as computers, telephones, fax machines, copy machines and cell phones. Must be able to remain current in Basic Life Support (BLS) certifications and able to engage in Prevention and Management of Disruptive Behavior, or have a valid exemption. Occasional travel is required of the incumbent. Travel will be for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to: national and regional conferences, site visits to other facilities in the VISN (or the VISN offices), face-to-face meetings regarding national and regional projects/assignments, specialized training for certain medical equipment and/or systems, other training opportunities that may improve the incumbents ability to better serve the needs of the VA. A significant number of the services provided within the extended care program are required to occur in the community and requires providing services where the Veterans reside.It is possible that the incumbent could find themselves traveling to assess Veterans and/or their caregivers as much as 50% of a week or as little as 10% of the week depending on the programs' needs at any given time. This can occasionally include overnight stays. This travel takes place within the NAVAHCS catchment area which includes La Paz, Navajo, Maricopa, Coconino, Mohave, Apache and Yavapai counties including the areas of Hopi and Navajo reservations. And potentially may include neighboring areas of Utah, Nevada and California.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• License
• Long-form resume/Curriculum vitae (CV)

The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please ensure you have included all documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), etc.

• Cover Letter
• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Disability Letter (VA)
• License
• Long-form resume/Curriculum vitae (CV)
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Veterans' Preference: When applying for Federal Jobs, eligible Veterans should claim preference for 5pt (TP), 10pt (CP/CPS/XP), or for Sole Survivor Preference (SSP) in the questionnaire. You must provide a legible copy of your DD214(s) which shows dates and character of service (honorable, general, etc.). If you are currently serving on active duty and expect to be released or discharged within 120 days you must submit documentation related to your active duty service which reflects the dates of service, character of service (honorable, general, etc.), and dates of impending separation. Additionally, disabled veterans and others eligible for 10-point preference (such as widows or mothers of eligible Veterans) must also submit an SF-15 "Application for 10 Point Veteran Preference" with required proof as stated on the form. Documentation is required to award preference. For more information on Veterans' Preference, please visit Feds Hire Vets - Veterans - Job Seekers - Veterans' Preference.

Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees.

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