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: Must possess a Master's degree in social work from a school of social work fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE)
• Licensure: 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 written and spoken English to be appointed
• Grade Determinations: Senior Social Worker GS-0185-12 Experience/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: Applicants must meet the requirements for providing supervision in the state where they are licensed at the advanced practice level and should list these qualifications within the assessment narrative and their resume
• Documentation is required if part of your state's requirements for providing supervision for licensure is beyond your licensure only (example: certification of continuing education credits)
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: In addition to the experience above, candidates 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
• References: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://department.va.gov/employees/va-qualifications-standards/ Physical Requirements: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position
• Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination.