This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/476229000. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
As a VA professional, your opportunities are endless. Not only is it the largest, most technologically advanced integrated health care system in the Nation, but we also provide many other services to Veterans through the Benefits Administration and National Cemeteries. VA professionals feel good about their careers and their ability to balance work and home life. VA offers generous paid time off and a variety of predictable and flexible scheduling opportunities. For more information on the Department of Veterans Affairs, go to http://www.vacareers.va.gov/
VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.
08/18/2017 to 09/01/2017
$66,510 - $86,460 per year
GS 11
1 vacancy in the following location:
Not required
No
Permanent
Full-time - Full Time
No
VHA-613-17-BS1996223-BU EXT
476229000
You will serve as the Social Worker for the Psychosocial Rehabilitation Recovery Program (PRRC). The primary purpose of the position is to provide mental health therapy and clinical case management services to the population of veterans dealing with significant mental health issues. The health care and psychosocial problems and needs of these veterans are complex and require a high degree of clinical oversight and creative problem solving. Your duties include but are not limited to:
Work Schedule: 8:00 am to 4:30 pm
Functional Statement Title: Social Worker - Psychosocial Rehabilitation Recovery Program (PRRC)
Physical Requirements: A pre-employment physical examination is required. Selected candidates must meet the following: Use of fingers; Walking (4 hours); Near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4; Other (specify): Clear Speech; Standing (4 hours); Both legs required (Prosthesis permitted); Hearing (aid permitted).
U.S. Citizenship - Non-citizens may 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 (MSW) 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.
License Persons hired or reassigned to social worker positions in the GS-185 series in VHA must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level.
English Language Proficiency Social Workers must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j.
Preferred Experience:
The Social Worker position requires completion of 1 year post-MSW degree experience in the field of health care social work.
Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
Creditable Experience:
Knowledge of Current Professional Social Work Practices To be creditable, the experience must have required the use of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics associated with current professional social work practice. The experience or education must be post-MSW degree. Experience and education satisfying this requirement must be active professional practice, which is paid/non-paid employment as a professional social worker, as defined by the appropriate state licensing board.
Experience is only creditable if it is obtained following graduation with a master's degree in social work and if it includes work as a professional social worker directly related to the position to be filled. Qualifying experience must also be at a level comparable to social work experience at the next lower level.
Part-time experience as a professional social worker is creditable according to its relationship to the full-time work week. For example, a social worker employed 20 hours a week, or on a 1/2-time basis, would receive 1 full-time work week of credit for each 2 weeks of service.
Fellowship and post-graduate training programs are typically in a specialized area of clinical practice, i.e., group or family practice. Training as a fellow or post-graduate may be substituted for creditable experience on a year-for-year basis.
Grade Determinations:
In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.
GS-11 Social Worker:
Social Workers at the full performance level require completion of a minimum of 1 year of post-MSW degree experience in the field of health care social work and licensure or certification in a state at the independent practice level. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following professional KSAs.
1. Knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services.
2. Ability to independently assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of patients and their family members and to formulate and implement a treatment plan, identifying the patient's problems, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills and assistance needed, in collaboration with the patient, family and interdisciplinary treatment team.
3. Ability to independently conduct psychosocial assessments and provide psychosocial treatment to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic, cultural, ethnic, educational and other diversified backgrounds. This requires knowledge of human development and behavior (physical and psychological) and the differential influences of the environment, society and culture.
4. Knowledge and experience in the use 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.
5. Knowledge of psychosocial treatment and ability to independently implement treatment modalities in working with individuals, families and groups who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, medical and social problems to achieve treatment goals. This requires independent judgment and skill in utilizing supportive, problem solving or crisis intervention techniques.
6. Ability to independently provide counseling and/or psychotherapy services to individuals, groups
and families. Social workers must practice within the bounds of their license or certification. For example, some states may require social workers providing psychotherapy to have a clinical level of licensure.
7. Ability to provide consultation services to other staff about the psychosocial needs of patients and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and compliance with treatment. Ability to provide orientation and coaching to new social workers and social work graduate students. Ability to serve as a field instructor for social work graduate students who are completing VHA field placements.
8. Ability to independently evaluate his/her own practice through participation in professional peer review case conferences, research studies, or other organized means.
9. Knowledge and skill in the use of computer software applications for drafting documents, data management, and tracking, especially those programs in use by VHA.
References: VA Handbook 5005 Appendix G-39. This can be found in the local Human Resources Office.
Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education.
BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: Appointment to this position is contingent upon satisfactory completion of a Background Investigation. Candidates selected may be fingerprinted prior to appointment.
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT: A drug test may be required for any applicant tentatively selected from outside the VA Medical Center. All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. After appointment, you will be subject to random testing for illegal drug use. Applicants for this position must pass a pre-employment medical examination.
Salary: To be determined by Professional Standard Board of your peers and based on your education, experience, and professional accomplishments.
This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.
This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.
This position will be filled on a full-time permanent basis.
You may be required to complete a one year probationary period.
It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.
Your application, résumé and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.
NOTE: The Professional Standards Board (a peer-review group) will review the selected candidates education and experience and recommend the grade and salary at which the candidate will be placed. For internal selectees eligible for promotion, the board will determine grade and HR will determine step in accordance with policy.
All applicants are required to submit the following supporting document type(s):
·Other (VA Form 2850c, Copy of Independent Practice License)
·Resume
·Transcript
Applicants may also submit the following supporting document type(s),which may not be required for all applicants:
Copy of Valid Advanced Practice License (required for ALL applicants).
Please use this checklist to make sure you have included other documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), documentation to support Veterans Preference claims, etc. You MUST provide documentation listed in the checklist to substantiate your eligibility (see the who may apply section). You will not be contacted for additional information.
Veterans' Preference: When applying for Federal Jobs, eligible Veterans should claim preference for 5pt (TP), or 10pt (CP/CPS, XPP, XP), or for Sole Survivor Preference (SSP), on the Occupational Questionnaire in the section(s) provided. A legible copy of your DD214(s) indicating character of service, disability certification, SF-15 (if claiming 10 pt. preference) or if you are currently serving on active duty and expected to be released or discharged within 120 days; documentation related to your active duty service which reflects the dates of service, character of service (honorable, general, etc.), or dates of impending separation. Documentation is required for eligibility verification.
Faxing Applications or Supporting Documents: You are encouraged to apply online. Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application. If you are unable to apply online or unable to upload your supporting documents to your online application, follow the directions located at the following site: Fax Options. The Vacancy ID of the job opportunity announcement is 1996223.
NOTE: If you applied online and your application is complete, do not fax the paper application (1203-FX) as this will overwrite your prior online responses and may result in you being found ineligible.
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
All applicants are encouraged to apply online.
To apply for this position, you must complete the View Occupational Questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below.
The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on Friday, September 01, 2017 to receive consideration.
1. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
2. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package.
NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.
To verify your application is complete,log into your USAJOBS account, https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then select the more information link for this position. The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.
After we receive application packages (including all required documents) and the vacancy announcement closes, we will review applications to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. During our review, if your résumé and application package do not support your questionnaire answers, we will adjust your rating accordingly. After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued and applicants will be notified of their status by email (if provided); otherwise, applicants will receive a notification letter via the U.S. Postal Service. Referred applicants will be notified as such and may be contacted directly by the hiring office for an interview. All referred applicants receive a final notification once a selection decision has been made.
You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USAJOBS account and clicking on Application Status. For a more detailed update of your status, click on more information. Information regarding applicant notification points can be found in the USAJobs Resource Center.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/476229000. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
Learn more about
Vacancy Identification Number (VIN): 1996223
OUR MISSION: To fulfill President Lincoln's promise "To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan" by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's Veterans. How would you like to become a part of a team providing compassionate care to Veterans?
If you are NOT a PERMANENT current Federal Employee, you should apply under the announcement VHA-613-17-BS1996223-BU EXT (THIS ANNOUNCEMENT)
Current PERMANENT VA and/or Federal employees should apply under VHA-613-17-BS1996279-BU INT.