Senior Social Worker

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; El Dorado (AR); On-site; USD 75,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

EDRP eligibility

Job summary

US Department of Veterans Affairs seeks a Senior Social Worker (GS-12) in a VA clinical setting. Applicants must hold a CSWE‑accredited MSW, be licensed at the advanced practice level, be a U.S. citizen, and demonstrate English proficiency.

Eligible applicants may pursue the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP) per policy. Preferred experience includes mental health care and evidence‑based therapy. The role requires KSAs in counseling, differential diagnosis, outcome evaluation, consultation,

Qualifications

• Counseling and psychosocial interventions across individual, group, and family modalities.
• Ability to apply differential diagnosis within clinical privileges.
• Ability to measure effectiveness using outcome evaluations.
• Ability to provide specialized consultation to colleagues and students.
• Ability to write policies, procedures, and practice guidelines.

Responsibilities

Skills

Counseling

Differential diagnosis

Outcome evaluation

Consultation

Policy development

Education

Master's degree in social work (CSWE‑accredited)

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.

Basic Requirements

• 1. United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• 2. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
• 3. Education. VHA Social Worker must 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.
• 4. 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/.
• 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

In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

Senior Social Worker, GS-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.

Licensure/Ceritification: 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: In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs):

1. 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.
2. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.

Note: KSAs must be clearly reflected in your resume under description of duties to be found qualified for this position/grade level.

Preferred Experience

• Previous mental health and evidenced based therapy experience

Reference

For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

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

Physical Demands

Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for this occupation, see duty section for essential duties of this position. May require standing, lifting, carrying, sitting, stooping, bending, pulling, and pushing. May be required to wear personal protective equipment and undergo annual TB screening or testing as conditions of employment.

Work Environment

Work is performed in an office clinic setting with minimal risks that requires normal safety precautions; the area is adequately lighted heated and ventilated. However, the work environment requires someone with the ability to handle several tasks at once and sometimes stressful situations.