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: 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 the CSWE website to verify that the Social Work degree meets the accreditation standards for a Master's 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.
- English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f).
Grade Determinations:
Supervisory Social Worker, GS-12
- The candidate must have at least one year experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level.
- 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.
- 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.
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.
Assignment. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. At the GS-12 grade level, supervisory social workers typically have significant personnel management responsibilities for a small to moderate sized professional and non-professional staff, including support staff and professional staff at the GS-12 grade level and below. The supervisory social worker is responsible for the professional and administrative management of an area in a social work service, in a care/product line, or multiple facilities. They provide direct clinical services with or without program coordination responsibilities.
Preferred Experience: Experience with VALB inpatient psychiatry units, mental health assessment and treatment planning, supervisory experience.
References: VA Handbook 5005/12, Part II, Appendix G39
Physical Requirements: Must be in overall good health, able to sit at a desk working at a computer, engage in light to moderate physical activity including sitting, walking, bending, and carrying supplies. Applicants must be able to perform primarily light and sedentary duties with occasionally moderate physical demands, exercise patience, and control emotions, with reasonable accommodation, if necessary, without endangering the health and safety of the applicant or others.
The position requires walking throughout the Medical Center and clinics, community agencies/court rooms, standing for extended periods of time, and involves sitting at a computer and in counsel and consultation with Veterans and interdisciplinary teams. This position also requires close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading; and repetitive motions of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers.