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SOCIAL WORKER OR HUMAN SERVICES PROFESSIONAL IV - OAHU

Location: he immediate vacancies are with the Department of Health and located in Ewa, Waipahu to Aiea, Halawa to Kalihi, Manoa to Kahala, Waimanalo to Kailua, Kaneohe to Kualoa and the Waianae Coast.

Social Workers and Human Services Professionals seek to improve the overall quality of life of people within the context of their environment through the remediation and prevention of their problems, and by improving accessibility, accountability and coordination of service delivery among a variety of professionals and/or agencies tasked with providing appropriate services to clients. These professionals come from a variety of interdisciplinary bases, establish working relationships of mutual respect and trust with the clientele served, and utilize a variety of helping interventions to enable these clients to function as effectively as possible.

These positions are found in a variety of settings and work with diverse types of people. They may be found in hospitals and other health service agencies, social service agencies, schools, correctional facilities, and programs concerned with substance abuse, aging, and family violence.  Although work settings and clientele may differ, all Social Workers and Human Service Professionals use similar professional concepts, principles and techniques regardless of the program in which they work.

The Social Worker or Human Services Professional positions are distinguished by the complexity of assigned cases and level of authority assumed by the worker. The following summarizes the types of positions found at this level:

Type A: The fully trained, experienced social worker or human services professional who independently performs the full range of professional human services work for a caseload consisting of predominantly highly complex cases. These are cases where clients frequently exhibit extreme hostility (which may include violent behavior to others or themselves) or resistance to services, possibly because they have been repeatedly referred to or compelled to accept agency services; have multiple and/or severe psychological, mental, physical, and environmental problems or have become the focus of notoriety and/or intense public scrutiny; and there is difficulty in determining or obtaining appropriate services, and in having clients accept services and comply with treatment plans.

Type B: The fully trained and experienced Social Worker or Human Services Professional who serves as a program specialist under the direction of a higher level specialist or other professional, and is assigned a program which is fairly narrow in scope and/or generally part of a larger program area. Work may encompass various tasks such as interpreting, clarifying and developing guidelines within the overall scope of the larger program; drafting policies and implementation plans; developing training guides and providing training; and monitoring and reporting on implementation.

Type C: The fully trained, experienced Social Worker or Human Services Professional who spends a significant portion of the work time in direct performance of work typical of the Social Worker or Human Services Professional III and concurrently supervises a small group of less experienced Social Workers or Human Services Professionals and/or others providing professional human services, without having significant program management responsibilities.
 

Minimum Qualification Requirements

To qualify, you must meet all the requirements for Social Worker or Human Services Professional as outlined below. Your application will be evaluated based on the following requirements and you will be notified of your qualification for either the Social Worker OR Human Services Professional recruitment(s), as appropriate.

BASIC EDUCATION:
Social Worker:  In accordance with Act 238, SLH 2005, applicants must possess a bachelor's or master's degree in social work from a program of study accredited by the Council on Social Work Education, or a doctoral degree in social work from a college or university accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, or a comparable regional accreditation body.

Human Services Professional:  A bachelor's degree from an accredited four-year college or university which included a minimum of 12 semester credit hours in courses such as counseling, criminal justice, human services, psychology, social work, social welfare, sociology or other behavioral sciences.

For The Human Services Professional Only:  Excess work experience as described under the Specialized Experience below, or any other responsible administrative, professional or analytical work experience that provided knowledge, skills and abilities comparable to those acquired in four (4) years of successful study while completing a college or university curriculum leading to a baccalaureate degree, including the coursework specified above, may be substituted on a year-for-year basis. To be acceptable, the experience must have been of such scope, level and quality as to assure the possession of comparable knowledge, skills and abilities.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE:  Applicants must possess progressively responsible professional work experience which involved helping individuals and their families find satisfactory ways of identifying their problems, coping with their conditions, and functioning effectively within their environments in the amounts shown below. Please note that possession of the required number of years of experience will not in itself be accepted as proof of qualification for the position. The applicant's overall experience must have been of such scope and level of responsibility as to conclusively demonstrate that he/she has the ability to perform the duties of the position for which he/she is being considered.

Social Worker:
For applicants who possess a Bachelor of Social Work degree, two years of the aforementioned Specialized Experience.
For applicants who possess a Master of Social Work degree, one year of the aforementioned Specialized Experience.
For applicants who possess a Ph.D. degree in Social Work, no Specialized Experience required.

Human Services Professional:  Two and one-half years of the aforementioned Specialized Experience.

Substitutions Allowed: Relevant substitutions as described in the Minimum Qualification Requirements, will apply.

Note: Applicants who will graduate within three months, and will meet the Minimum Qualification Requirements upon their graduation will be accepted for examination. If you are graduating within three months with a Bachelor of Social Work degree or applicable Master's degree, please submit a copy of your official transcript of coursework completed thus far and a letter from your department head or registrar verifying your current enrollment in school, your expected graduation date and major with your application .

Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Requirement: As required by the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA), Federal law states that "....an agency shall not hire or promote anyone who may have contact with inmates and who:
(1) Has engaged in sexual abuse in a prison, jail, lockup, community confinement facility, juvenile facility or other institution.
(2) Has been convicted of engaging or attempting to engage in sexual activity in the community facilitated by force, overt or implied threats of force, or coercion, or if the victim did not consent or was unable to consent or refuse.
(3) Has been civilly or administratively adjudicated to have engaged in the activity described in #2 above.
(4) Has been the subject of substantiated allegations of sexual abuse or sexual harassment or resigned during a pending investigation of alleged sexual  abuse or sexual harassment.

Driver's License:  Some positions require possession of a valid driver's license at the time of appointment.

The information provided above represents a summary of the complete Minimum Qualification Requirements.

Other Information

The State of Hawai'i complies with federal and state disability laws and makes reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities.  If you require reasonable accommodations in completing an application, any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the selection process, please call 808-587-0936 for assistance.
 

PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS (PSLF) PROGRAM
 The PSLF Program is a federal program that is intended to encourage individuals to work in public service by forgiving the balance of their federal student loans.  To qualify, the individual must have made 120 qualifying payments while employed by a qualifying employer.  For more information, please click:  https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service

ELECTRONIC NOTIFICATION TO APPLICANTS
The Department of Human Resources Development (HRD) will use electronic mail (email) to notify applicants of important information relating to the status and processing of their applications as part of our ongoing efforts to increase operational efficiency, promote the conservation of green resources, and minimize delays and costs.

Please ensure that the email address and contact information you provide is current, secure, and readily accessible to you. We will not be responsible in any way if you do not receive our emails or fail to check your email-box in a timely manner.  In addition, please be aware that you may no longer receive notification about applications submitted if you choose to disable the Job Application Emails feature in your Account Settings.

TESTING INFORMATION The examination for this recruitment will be conducted on an unassembled basis where the examination score is based on an evaluation and rating of your education and experience. It is therefore important that your employment application provide a clear and detailed description of the duties and responsibilities of each position you held.

In-person interviews and/or further testing in Hawaii may be required at the discretion of the hiring agency. If in-person interviews and/or further testing is a requirement, applicants who meet the minimum qualification requirements and are referred to the vacancy must be available to participate in-person and at their own expense in this required phase of the selection process.

Applicants are encouraged to submit their applications as soon as possible. In addition to employment availability and score, the referral of qualified applicants may be based upon other factors including date of receipt of application.

CLICK HERE (Download PDF reader) for further information about Equal Employment Opportunity, the Merit Civil Service System, Citizenship and other requirements, Reasonable Accommodation, Veterans Preference, Examination Requirements, and the State Recruiting Office's Levels of Review.