Senior Social Worker

We're Looking for a skilled Senior Social Worker in the Veterans Health Administration based in Cincinnati, Ohio. 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. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f). 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 by going to http://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/ Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements listed above for employment the following criteria must be met for consideration at the GS12 grade level: Experience/Education. 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.GS11 Knowledge Skills and Abilities: Knowledge of community resources how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services and ability to coordinate services. Skill in independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socioeconomic cultural ethnic educational and other diversified backgrounds. 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. 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. 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. 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.GS12 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: Leadership skills Written and oral presentation skills Evaluating programmatic achievement of objectives and planned targets assessing actual performance and developing improvement plans Technical skills related to the utilization of complex databases. Proficient in Microsoft software to include but not limited to: TEAMS Excel Outlook Word PowerPoint References: VA Handbook 5005/120 PART II APPENDIX G39 References: VA Handbook 5005 Part II Appendix G39 Qualification Standards for Social Workers. The full performance level of this job series is GS11 this vacancy is being filled above the full performance level at the GS12 grade. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019 Employee Occupational Health Services.

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.