Senior Social Worker (Womens Health) – EDRP Approved

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. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). Preferred Experience:GS-12 Experience working with Female Veterans Experience providing crisis intervention Reproductive health counseling experience Knowledge and skill in using software applications for drafting documents, data management, and other computer systems in use by the VHA. Skill in serving on committees, workgroups, and task forces at the facility as deemed appropriate by the supervisor. Ability to work with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) Veterans. Skill in implements services to support women Veterans in building problem solving skills and coping strategies. Knowledge in providing supervision and guidance to Social Work interns, and LMSWs. Knowledge of reproductive and maternal health care and legislation Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade level. Senior Social Worker, GS-12 Experience and Education. The candidate must have 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. Licensure/Certification. Individuals assigned Senior Social Worker 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: (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 Physical Requirements: Selectee is required to operate a government owned or leased vehicle to successfully carry out their assigned duties and must be medically cleared prior to starting.. Assessment must be made for any acute or chronic medical/physical condition or medication use which interferes with the ability operate the appropriate Government owned or -leased vehicle safely and without undue risk to themselves or others. – distant vision 20/40 in one eye with or without correction, – field of vision 70 degrees, – ability to distinguish red, green and amber, – whispered voice at five feet, or average hearing loss of not greater than 40 dbs. at 500, 1000 and 2,000 Hz References: Reference can be found at the VA Qualification Repository, VA Qualifications Standards – Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO) GS-0185, Social Worker Qualification Standard, dated 09/10/2019. The grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12.
This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.