Clarification from the agency

US CITIZENS Current permanent federal employees should apply at #10945566

The Senior Social Worker provides social work coverage to multiple programs at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. On the weekends, incumbent provides social work services to the VA Palo Alto Division, covering all inpatient medical units (acute medicine, acute surgery, Intermediate Intensive Care Unit and Intensive Care Unit) and the Emergency Department, and provides consultation on clinical issues for the Defender's Lodge and Fisher Houses. Incumbent is the sole social worker on the premises and works independently without the support of an on-site supervisor or interdisciplinary team members. The other three (3) weekdays, the incumbent provides social work services to patients followed by the specialty clinics of Dialysis and/or Oncology and provides support to social workers in acute care medical units, as needed.
Incumbent also serves as coordinator for ensuring social work coverage for weekend and holiday shifts 365 days/year, including providing training to ensure competence for the broad scope of social work duties. Incumbent manages the daily operation of the program, directs patient care services in the program area, develops policies and procedures for program operation and prepares reports and statistics for facility, VISN, and national use. The incumbent manages and controls the use of data related to these programs regarding day-to-day functioning and program evaluation.

Incumbent possesses expertise in providing coverage in the following areas:
Medicine/Surgery
Emergency Department
Intermediate ICU
Dialysis
Oncology

Work Schedule: Full time; Sunday-Monday-Tuesday-Friday-Saturday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm
Functional Statement Title: Senior Social Worker (Weekend Social Worker/ Specialty Clinics)
On Call: No
Rotating Shifts: No
Fair Labor Standards Acts (FLSA): Exempt
Bargaining Unit: Yes
Relocation Expenses: Not authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to a background/security investigation
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/23/2020.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS:
Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-Citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens.

English Language Proficiency: Social Workers must be proficient in spoken and written English.

Grade Determinations:
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. (COPIES OF TRANSCRIPTS MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH APPLICATION PACKET)

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/. 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.

Certification: Must provide verification of training or certification sufficient to provide clinical supervision to unlicensed social workers (copy of certification required; in CA, 15 hours is required).

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE:
The candidate must have at least two years 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 GS-11 grade level and have completed training in order to provide clinical supervision to unlicensed social workers (copy of certification required). Senior social workers have experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment and are experts in their specialized area of practice. Senior social workers may have certification or other post-masters 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.

(EVIDENCE OF THIS EXPERIENCE MUST BE DOCUMENTED IN YOUR RESUME).

In addition to meeting the basic requirements, the candidate must demonstrate the professional knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) below.

1. 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.

2. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.
References:

VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39 Social Worker, available in local VA Human Resource Offices.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12.

Physical Requirements: The physical demands of this position involve primarily walking, talking, use of the telephone, etc. Strenuous physical activity is not required although the incumbent is expected to withstand pressure and stress as part of their day-to-day activities: light lifting under 15 pound, light carrying under 15 pounds, use of fingers, walking and standing up to 8 hours, and operation of motor vehicle. Environmental Factors: Constant noise, working around moving objects or vehicles, working closely with others, and working alone.

How you will be evaluated

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, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.


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.