Career Center

The Senior Social Worker provides clinical psychosocial services at an advanced practice level to eligible veterans and their family members. Veteran patients are primarily from the Chillicothe and Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) catchment areas and services are provided at the assigned site (Chillicothe VA or CBOC). Psychosocial problems and needs are complex and require collaboration and the ability to practice independently regardless of location. 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. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). Grandfathering Provision. 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). 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. Ohio requires LISW. 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. Grade Determinations: 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. 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. Persons hired or reassigned to Sr. 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. Ohio requires LISW. No Exception. VHA will not waive the independent licensure requirement for persons who do not hold the equivalent of a Licensed Independent Social Worker (LISW) in Ohio. You are expected to practice at the advanced or senior level to manage your caseload and work independently with little supervision. This is why we can only consider Independent Advanced Practice Social Workers. It is difficult to support dependently licensed social workers because of the need to have a supervisory sign-off. There are no exceptions. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: 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. Preferred Experience: Must adhere to Episodes of Care, a practice management method that is consistent with evidence based practice and measurement based methods. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/120 PART II APPENDIX G39 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: The work is sometimes sedentary. Typically, the employee will sit to perform administrative work. However, other position duties include physical requirements which include but not limited to, long periods of walking; standing; bending; crouching, reaching and lifting of a variety of moderately heavy items, carrying of light items such as papers, books, small parts; or driving an automobile, etc. No special physical demands are required to perform the work. Mental/Emotional Requirements: The incumbent of this position will be expected to understand, remember, and apply oral and/or written instructions or other information; understand, remember, and communicate routine, factual information; understand complex problems and to collaborate and explore alternative solutions; understand opposing points of view on highly complex issues and to negotiate and integrate different viewpoints; organize thoughts and ideas into understandable terminology; organize and prioritize own work schedule on short-term basis (longer than one month); count accurately; add, subtract, multiply, divide and to record, balance, and check results for accuracy; compute, analyze, and interpret numerical data for reporting purposes and understand and follow basic instructions and guidelines. ["VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Design and preparation of diagnostic assessments Participate in interdisciplinary team meetings for Veterans enrolled in Outpatient Mental Health Services Interface with Primary Care and provide consultation services to medical center and CBOC staff on a wide variety of patient care issues, particularly related to identifying mental health concerns and social determinant needs of Veterans from all eras of service Provides ethical individual, group and family mental health services to eligible combat and non-combat Veterans experiencing mental health symptoms Full range of psychodiagnostics services including psychosocial assessment, and using the most appropriate evidence-based psychotherapeutic techniques in providing quality care in the delivery of a full range of psychosocial and multidisciplinary services in the outpatient programs Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:30AM-4:00PM or 8:00AM-4:30PM; the tour may vary depending on deployment and/or assigned facility needs. Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 91395-0 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required"]

Return to Search Results