We're Looking for a skilled Senior Social Worker Emergency Department in the Veterans Health Administration based in East Orange, New Jersey. Read through the job description to see if it matches your current experience.

The Successful Applicant

Basic Requirements: Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. (Noncitizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3 section A paragraph 3g this part). 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/. Loss of Licensure or Certification. Once licensed or certified social workers must maintain a full valid and unrestricted independent license or certification to remain qualified for employment. Loss of licensure or certification will result in removal from the GS0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment. May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria). Creditable Experience. The candidate must have 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 postMasters of Social Work (MSW) degree. Experience and education satisfying this requirement must be active professional practice which is paid/nonpaid employment as a professional social worker as defined by the appropriate state licensing board. Quality of Experience. Experience is only creditable if it is obtained following graduation with a masters 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. PartTime Experience. Parttime experience is creditable according to its relationship to the fulltime work week. For example one week of fulltime credit is equivalent to two weeks of parttime work. Fellowships or PostGraduate Training. Fellowship and postgraduate training programs are typically in a specialized area of clinical practice i.e. group or family practice. Training as a fellow or postgraduate may be substituted for creditable experience on a yearforyear basis. Practicum in a VA Setting. A VHA practicum experience may not be substituted for experience as the practicum (field placement) is completed prior to graduation with a masters degree in social work. 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 GS12(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 GS11 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 postmasters 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.(2) 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.(3) 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. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/120 PART II APPENDIX G39 September 10 2019 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is a GS12. Physical Requirements: Work is sedentary but also demands standing walking bending twisting and carrying light items.

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.