Social Work Executive

The Social Work Executive has responsibility for overseeing the practice of more than 130 social workers in Finger Lakes Health Care System in the Bath and Canandaigua VA Medical Centers outpatient clinics in Rochester, Elmira, Wellsville NY and rural health clinics in Wellsboro PA. \

Qualifications:

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

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. 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.
• 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/.

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).

Grade Determinations: Social Work Executive GS 13

• Experience/Education. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level. social work executive positions are only established at facilities that do not have a chief social work service. In facilities with care/product lines, the social work executive is the highest level professional position at the facility with responsibility for the professional practice of all facility social workers and provision of social work services. The social work executive must evidence possession of supervisory and management skills. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills in administration, demonstrating progressively more professional competency skills and judgment. Candidates may have certification or other post-master's degree training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship, or equivalent supervised professional experience.
• Licensure/Certification. The social work executive must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level, and must be able to provide supervision for licensure.
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

(a) Ability to provide technical social work guidance in order to complete job assignments.
(b) Skill in applying legal, ethical, and professional standards to social work practice.
(c) Knowledge of social work practice, policy, and accreditation standards across the continuum of health care.
(d) Skill in providing consultation to facility leadership, care/product line managers, and other staff on social work qualification standards, practice, competency, productivity, and continuing education requirements.
(e) Skill in developing, implementing, and maintaining clinical social work practice standards.
(f) Skill in administrative oversight to ensure compliance with social work licensure requirements.

Assignment. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. In the absence of a facility social work chief, the social work executive is typically responsible for clinical oversight of a professional social work practice in a small to moderate program at a VHA facility. The social work executive is responsible for overseeing the provision of social work services and the professional practice of all facility social workers to include participation in the selection and credentialing of social workers. Additionally, these are generally collateral assignments, determined by the needs of the local facility, the VISN, and/or VHA Central Office.

References: VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G-39. Social Work Qualification Standard GS-185, Veterans Health Administration