Social Worker Program Manager (Chief, Social Work Service)

Description:

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval , award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.

Requirements:

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 : 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:

• 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 a 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 Master 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/.
• Failure to Obtain License or Certification: In all cases, social workers must actively pursue meeting state prerequisites for licensure or certification starting from the date of their appointment. Failure to become licensed or certified within the prescribed amount of time will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment.
• 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 GS-0185 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). Grade Determinations : In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

• Social Work Program Manager, GS-15:
• Experience/Education:
  • The social work program manager at the GS-15 grade level must have at least four years of experience as a VA clinical social worker with at least one-year equivalent to the GS-14 grade level. The social work program manager must evidence possession of progressively higher supervisory and management skills. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills in administration, demonstrating progressively more professional competency skills and judgment. The individual 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 individual 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:
    • Ability to manage and direct unusually large interdisciplinary programs, complex organizational units, apply effective management practices, plan, design, implement, and evaluate a program(s) that encompasses a wide range of facility/healthcare system/VISN/CO activities.
    • Ability to oversee issues related to budget projections and participate with senior leaders from the governing body, management and staff in upholding the facility mission, vision, value and strategic plan to include directly interacting with elected officials on VA related issues/concerns (i.e., members of Congress, Veterans Service Organizations, State and Local entities).
    • Knowledge in establishing policy, procedures and quality monitors while considering multiple priorities, funding sources, and varying resources.
    • Skill in assessing need for basic and complex services across multiple programmatic patient care venues, coordinate and expand the efforts of multiple program elements across a complex system.
    • Knowledge to complete all program evaluations and documents required by the medical center, VISN and VHA Central Office, ensuring compliance with appropriate accrediting bodies such as The Joint Commission (TJC), Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), and Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP).
    • Ability to orient, teach and serve as a consultant to other medical center staff and trainees and assists in their formulation of the clinical social work characteristics and appropriate treatment expectations regarding Veterans, family members and caregivers.
    • Skill in balancing responsibilities in a complex environment and to work with great autonomy, set priorities and delegate tasks, meet multiple deadlines; analyze complex organizational problems and develop and implement effective solutions for those problems.
    • Ability to promote and effectively manage a workforce which embraces the values and needs of all individuals through long-term commitment, strategic and business planning, education, experience which broadens the mindset and by fully managing human resources.
• 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.
  • At the GS-15 grade level, size, scope, significance and impact is greater than the GS-14 grade level.
  • The broad responsibility includes management of a very large, significantly complex service within the organization.
  • The social work program manager delivers a wide range of specialized professional services that significantly impact the health care provided to Veterans, their families, and caregivers.
  • Provides direct oversight to services with multiple complex programs, located at multiple sites and sections across the health care delivery system.
  • The social work program manager is typically located in a complexity level one Health Care System and is assigned as a service line director, associate chief of staff, or service chief within the facility.
  • The service includes staff members of different grades, multiple disciplines, and various treatment sites at multiple locations close to and distant from the primary medical facility.
  • The manager has full responsibility for managing and supervising all aspects of program operations, including clinical practice of an unusually large number of employees across multiple areas/sites, education, quality assurance for outcomes, human resources management and supervision of the extraordinarily large service.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/ .

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-15. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is the GS-15.

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