Senior Social Worker

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

The Successful Applicant

To qualify for this position applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement 11/11/2022. 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 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 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 on the OHRM website. English Language Proficiency. Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English accordance with VA Handbook 5005 Part II chapter 3 section A paragraph 3j this part. Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment the following criteria must be met. Grade Requirements: An SF50 showing your timeingrade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF50 has an effective date within the past year it may not clearly demonstrate you possess oneyear timeingrade as required by the announcement. In this instance you must provide an additional SF50 that clearly demonstrates oneyear timeingrade Award 50s do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying timeingrade. Examples of appropriate SF50s include: Within grade increases at the highest grade held or Promotions with an effective date more than one year old or SF50s at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old. GS12 Experience and Licensure. Applicant 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 GS11 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 postmasters 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. Examples of specialized experience include but are not limited to: Demonstrated experience applying knowledge of health care principles in the analysis and evaluation of problems in the health care industry and recommending solutions demonstrated experience applying communication skills in presenting information and recommendations demonstrated experience managing components of projects within a health care delivery system demonstrated experience applying business principles such as financial human resources organizational governance strategic planning information management risk management and quality improvement in a health care setting. 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. Additionally you will be rated on the following Knowledge Skills and Abilities: Please make sure that each is addressed in your application package. 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. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 3540 hours of work per week. Parttime experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Reference: VA Regulations specifically VA Handbook 5005 Part II Appendix G39 Social Worker Qualification Standard. Physical Requirements: This position is primarily sedentary with some bending walking and stooping required. The position requires the employee to work in a variety of settings including patient homes and community settings. This may require the employee to walk on uneven surfaces. The position requires the ability to read printed material and distinguish colors such as reading computer screens the ability to accurately perceive depth so as to move around work space safety and to appropriately make contact with patients and staff and the ability to meet visual requirements to operate a motor vehicle. Considerable walking and stair climbing may be required. A valid Drivers License and driving ability is necessary. Driving is a requirement to provide services as needed to the Community Based Outpatient Clinics. This is usually once or twice a month but may be required more as needed. The work may also require assisting disabled Veterans. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS12 to 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.