Supervisory Social Worker

Description:

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.

Requirements:

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 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/.
• Loss of Licensure or Certification. Once licensed or certified, social workers must maintain a full, valid, and unrestricted independent license or certification to remain qualified for employment. Loss of licensure or certification will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment.
• 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-0185-13

1. Experience/Education. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-12 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.
2. 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.
3. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs.
   1. Ability to independently organize work, set priorities, and meet multiple deadlines.
   2. Skill in a range of supervisory duties which includes clinical supervision, consultation, negotiation with other departments and quality improvement.
   3. Ability to ensure provision of clinical social work services by supervised social workers.
   4. Ability to delegate authority, manage priorities, coordinate work, and follow up on pending issues to complete duties in an accurate and timely fashion.
   5. Ability to analyze organizational and operational problems, develop and implement solutions that result in efficient operations, and use data effectively to manage workload, quality, performance, and productivity within the service.
   6. Ability to provide staff training and development.

Preferred Experience: Advanced practice experience in acute inpatient mental health. Demonstrated supervisory experience, including oversight of Social Work staff and high-acuity operations; advanced competency in crisis intervention and suicide risk management; experience coordinating Peer Review for Quality Management and professional practice monitoring; and experience managing or coordinating a Health Professions Trainee (MSW) program, including trainee onboarding, supervision/field instruction support, evaluation, and program improvement; Experience with writing Standard Operating Procedures and Policies.

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-13.

Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary but requires distance driving. It may require some occasional lifting (10-35lbs). Requires reaching above shoulder, twisting neck with ability to see from side to side with range of motion at least 45 degrees, and ability to coordinate all four extremities. Position requires frequent keyboarding (4-7 hours per day), sitting (4-7 hours per day), walking up to 6 hours per day, or standing up to 8 hours a day. Infrequent climbing/ descending of stairs and some bending. Ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously.