Social Worker

Description:

The incumbent serves as an RCS Vet Center Readjustment Counselor, providing counseling services, outreach, referral, and follow up care coordination to eligible individuals, couples, and family members. In this capacity, the incumbent functions as a member of a small multi-disciplinary team of 4 or more staff members. This entails the incumbent contributing proactively to internal coordination of care and collaborative planning and problem solving among all staff.

Requirements:

BASIC REQUIREMENTS: The basic requirements for employment as a VHA social worker are prescribed by statute in 38 U.S.C. § 7402(b)(9), as amended by section 205 of Public Law 106-419, enacted November 1, 2000. To qualify for appointment as a social worker in VHA, all applicants must meet the following::

• Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g.
• 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/ .
• 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: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

Social Worker, GS-09 ( Entry Level ):

• Experience, Education and Licensure: None beyond the basic requirements.

~AND~

• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs::
  • (a) Ability to work with Veterans and family members from various socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic, educational, and other diversified backgrounds utilizing counseling skills.
  • (b) Ability to assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and their family members, and to formulate and implement a treatment plan, identifying the Veterans problems, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and assistance needed.
  • (c) Ability to implement treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups to achieve treatment goals. This requires judgment and skill in utilizing supportive, problem solving, or crisis intervention techniques.
  • (d) Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships and communicate with clients, staff, and representatives of community agencies.
  • (e) Fundamental knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities, and treatment procedures. This includes acute, chronic, and traumatic illnesses / injuries; common medications and their effects / side effects; and medical
    terminology.

Social Worker, GS-11 ( Full Performance Level ):

• Experience and Licensure: Appointment to the GS-11 grade level requires completion of a minimum of one year of post-MSW experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the field of health care or other social work-related settings, (VA or non-VA experience) and licensure or certification in a state at the independent practice level.

~OR~

• Education: In addition to meeting basic requirements, a Doctoral degree in Social Work from a school of Social Work may be substituted for the required one year of professional Social Work experience in a clinical setting.

~AND~

• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs::
  • (a) Knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services.
  • fb) Skill in independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic, cultural, ethnic, educational and other diversified backgrounds.
  • (c) Knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities and treatment procedures (i.e. acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses / injuries, common medications and their effects / side effects, and medical terminology) to formulate a treatment plan.
  • (d) Skill in independently implementing different treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, medical, and social problems to achieve treatment goals.
  • (e) Ability to provide consultation services to new social workers, social work graduate students, and other staff about the psychosocial needs of patients and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and compliance with treatment.

Physical Requirements: The work does not inherently include physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with a workplace accommodation.

References: VA Qualifications Standards - Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO)

The full Performance level of the GS-0185 Social Worker job series is GS-11. The actual grade at which a candidate may be selected for this vacancy is either the GS-09 or the GS-11 grade level.