Senior Social Worker

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Chico (CA); On-site; USD 95,000 - 115,000; Full time

Job summary

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Chico, CA is seeking a Senior Social Worker (GS-12) to provide advanced clinical social work, intake assessments, and treatment planning within VA health care.

Candidates must have a master's in social work, state licensure, U.S. citizenship, and English proficiency; grandfathering provisions may apply. This role emphasizes expert practice and program development in a specialized area of social work.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in social work from CSWE-accredited school.
• Must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's level.

Responsibilities

• Provide advanced psychosocial interventions, individual/group/family counseling and case management.
• Incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment.
• Develop and implement methods to measure effectiveness of social work practice.
• Provide specialized consultation to colleagues and students on psychosocial treatment.
• Possibly supervise licensure or oversee clinical practices within the service.

Skills

Psychotherapy

Case management

Clinical supervision

Differential diagnosis

Education

Master's degree in Social Work

State social work licensure

Job description

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific eligibility requirements per VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) & eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply. 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.
• 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: Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j, this part.

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

GS-12 Senior Social Worker

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

Senior social workers 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.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• 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.
• Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Reference

VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39, Social Worker Qualification Standard, GS-0185, Veterans Health Administration, dated September 10, 2019

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12

Physical Requirements

Hearing required (aids permitted).