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The following are the requirements for appointment as a Social Worker in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). These requirements apply to all Social Workers in the General Schedule (GS)-185 series.
The basic requirements for employment as a VHA social worker are prescribed by statute in 38 U.S.C. § 7402(b)(9), as amended by section 205 of Public Law 106-419, enacted November 1, 2000.

To qualify for appointment as a social worker in VHA, all applicants must meet the following:

Select “Yes” or “No” to the following question(s).

1. Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g this part).

I am a US Citzen

A. Yes

B. No

2. 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.

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I meet this requirement

A. Yes

B. No

3. 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/.

I meet this requirement

A. Yes

B. No

4.
Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services.

Applicants will be required to successfully complete a pre-employment physical, including the possibility of a drug screen.

Are you willing to take a pre-employment physical, including the possibility of a drug screen?

A. Yes

B. No

5. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

Are you proficient in basic written and spoken English?

A. Yes

B. No

6. In addition to meeting the basic requirement, you must also have at least two years in an area of specialized social work practice. The experience must be post-MSW degree. Experience 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.

The experience must also demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressively more professional competency.

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.

Do you have two years of post-MSW degree experience in the field of health care social work (VA or non-VA experience) as described in the above paragraph?

A. Yes

B. No

GRADE DETERMINATIONS. In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

Senior Social Worker, GS-12(1) Experience/Education.

The candidate 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 GS-11 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 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.

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.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

(a) 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. (b) Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
(c) 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.
(d) 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.
(e) 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.

Select “Yes” or “No” to the following question(s).

7. I meet the KSA requirements listed above

A. Yes

B. No

VERIFICATION STATEMENT: Your rating is subject to verification based on the résumé, and other relevant documents you submit, and through verification of references as appropriate. If you make an intentional false statement, or commit deception or fraud in this application and its supporting materials, or in any document or interview associated with the examination process, you may be fined or imprisoned (18 U.S.C. 1001); your eligibilities may be cancelled; you may be denied an appointment; or you may be removed and debarred from Federal service (5 C.F.R. part 731).

Select “Yes” or “No” to the following question(s).

8. I certify that my answers are accurate and complete.

A. Yes

B. No

Please review the Required Documents under the How to Apply Section of the Vacancy Announcement. Failure to provide the documentation listed under required documents will result in being rated ineligible and your application package will be deactivated. FEBRUARY 29, 2012 VA HANDBOOK 5005/50, PART II, APPENDIX G39, II-G39-1

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