Clarification from the agency

INTERNAL VA-Wide: 1st Area of Consideration - current permanent employees of the Greater Los Angeles VAMC/CBOCs 2nd Area of Consideration - current permanent VA Nationwide employees

NOTE: If you are not a current, permanent VA employee, you should apply under VIN: 10687312 at https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/555384900 which is scheduled to open on Monday, January 13, 2020.

Duties may consist of, but are not limited to:

• Provides consultation and education to Veterans and their family regarding community resources, VA benefits and specialty programs;
• Provides psychosocial assessment and treatment of Veterans and/or family/significant others;
• Makes referrals to community agencies and participates in the coordination with VA Staff/Programs as well as community agencies to ensure resolution/problem solving;
• Participates in discharge planning of Veterans at high-risk for re-admission;
• Monitors high-risk discharges to avoid re-admission due to psychosocial or environmental issues;
• Provides on/off-site crises intervention and outreach;
• Provides assistance in the procurement and retention of benefits, housing and other specialized services and links the Veteran in learning/linking to the appropriate resources they require.

Work Schedule: Full-Time, Monday-Friday from 8:00AM-4:30PM
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
Work Location: Oxnard

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, 01/17/2020.
Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship. Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Education. 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/Accrediation to verify that the social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a masters of social work. (UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED: If you do not submit your transcript, your application may not be reviewed.)
• Licensure. 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. (COPY OF LICENSURE REQUIRED: If you do not submit your copy of licensure, your application may not be reviewed.)
• English Language Proficiency. Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Policy.

Grandfathering Provision (Basic Requirement Only). All persons employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard (September 10, 2019) are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including positive education and licensure or certification that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation.

Preferred Experience: Experience in outpatient medical setting highly preferred, but not required.

Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements of employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

Creditable Experience: 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 workweek. Fellowships or Post-Graduate Training. 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.

Experience, Education and Licensure (GS-12 Senior Social Worker): Senior Social Workers have experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment. 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 next lower level (GS-11). Senior Social Workers are experts in their specialized area of practice. Senior Social Workers may have certification or other post-masters training from a nationally recognized professional origination or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship or equivalent supervised professional experience in a specialty. 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 grandfather 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 of licensure.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the professional KSAs described below:

1. Skill in a rage 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 39.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12

Physical Requirements: The physical demands of this position involve primarily walking, talking, driving, use of the telephone, etc. Strenuous physical activity is not required although you may be expected to withstand pressure and stress as part of your day to day activities.

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.

NOTE: The Professional Standards Board (a peer-review group) will review the selected candidate's 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 recommend grade and HR will determine step in accordance with policy.

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.