Senior Social Worker

We're Looking for a skilled Senior Social Worker in the Veterans Health Administration based in West Haven, Connecticut. Read through the job description to see if it matches your current experience.

The Successful Applicant

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: Noncitizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Education. Have a masters 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 masters degree in social work. Verification of the degree can be made by going tohttp://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 GS0185 series in VHA must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the masters degree level. Current state requirements may be found by going tohttp://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019 Employee Occupational Health Services. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. 167 7403(f). 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:Senior Social Worker GS12(1) Experience/Education. The candidate must have at least two years of experiencepost advanced practice clinical licensure and should be in a specialized area of socialwork practice of which one year must be equivalent to the GS11 grade level. Seniorsocial workers have experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practiceskills and judgment. Senior social workers are experts in their specialized area ofpractice. Senior social workers may have certification or other postmasters trainingfrom a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes adefined curriculum/course of study and internship or equivalent supervisedprofessional experience in a specialty.(2) Licensure/Certification. Senior social workers must be licensed or certified by a stateat the advanced practice level which included an advanced generalist or clinicalexamination unless they are grandfathered by the state in which they are licensed topractice at the advanced practice level (except for licenses issued in California whichadministers its own clinical examination for advanced practice) and they must be ableto provide supervision for licensure.(3) Demonstrated Knowledge Skills and Abilities. In addition to the experienceabove candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:(a) Skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities used inspecialty treatment programs or with special patient populations. This includesindividual group and/or family counseling or psychotherapy and advanced levelpsychosocial and/or case management.(b) Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis andtreatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.(c) Knowledge in developing and implementing methods for measuring effectivenessof social work practice and services in the specialty area utilizing outcomeevaluations to improve treatment services and to design system changes.(d) Ability to provide specialized consultation to colleagues and students on thepsychosocial treatment of patients in the service delivery area as well as rolemodeling effective social work practice skills.(e) Ability to expand clinical knowledge in the social work profession and to writepolicies procedures and/or practice guidelines pertaining to the service deliveryarea. References: VA Handbook 5005/120 Part II Appendix G39 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS12.

What’s on Offer

The role offers excellent opportunities for top performers to further develop their competencies as a social worker and improving the lives of people.