Senior Social Worker

Summary

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.

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Duties

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VA Careers - Social Work :

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

The incumbent in this senior social work position provides outreach services to Homeless veterans. The Social Worker is responsible for outreach services to homeless veterans in communities and rural areas distant from the Jack C Montgomery VA Medical Center. Assignments involve providing continuing social work services at a field location alone or with subordinate social work staff members without a supervisor available for consultation. Such assignments typically require extensive coordination of services with a wide range of residents of various communities such as local lawyers, physicians, and public officials, and with local social agencies. Clients tend to have frequent and severe crises and lack a family or community support network. Clients also may be poor at self-monitoring and frequently fail to comply with medical or legal instructions. They may have significant deficits in coping skills and require continuing professional support.

List the major duties and responsibilities of the position:

1. Plan, develop and maintains a network of relationships with community resources and other advocates for the homeless.
2. Utilizes knowledge of community resources, makes referrals to the community and other government agencies as appropriate, and coordinates services.
3. Provides clinical services , guidance, emotional support and other assistance to clients. Involves clients in individual or group counseling.
4. Interviews potential clients, interprets VHA guidelines and eligibility requirements and completes a psychosocial history and assessment. Initiates eligibility determination, and forwards to VA eligibility staff members. Establish an initial assessment at the time of the first visit. Develop an appropriate treatment plan.
5. Contributes to policy formulation and participates in establishing procedures within the assigned service area. Assists with Community Homelessness Assessment, Local Education and Networking Groups surveys
6. Responds to Homeless National Call Center referrals Organizes and participates fully in various community projects
7. Assist with inspections of Health Care for Homeless Veteran contracted facilities as needed.
8. Advocates for Veterans experiencing homelessness with community partners.
9. Utilizes a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities in treatment or with specialized Veteran populations, including individual, group, and/or family counseling or psychotherapy, and advanced level psychosocial and/or case management.
10. Employs casework methods and techniques to maintain a therapeutic relationship with the client to work towards the best way of dealing with his/her problems.
11. Assumes responsibility for independent professional functioning and regularly works with a variety of complex cases within the assigned areas including selection of cases and determination of priorities based on assessment of the patient, family and program needs, requesting consultation in unusually difficult situations and problematical decisions.
12. Accountable for keeping the Homeless/CWT Program Manager and Chief of Social Work Service informed of administrative matters, professional activities, progress of work, significant occurrences, developments and plans, and identifying problem areas that should be brought to the attention of the Program Manager.
13. May be assigned supervisory responsibility for one or more student trainees.
14. Assist with writing policies and procedures.

Work Schedule : 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM, Monday to Friday

EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact View email address on click.appcast.io, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases

Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)

Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.

Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66 .

Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA

Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)

Telework : Yes - Situational (Ad hoc) as determined by agency policy.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement # : 623-55980-A

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements ( Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

United States 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).

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 to verify that the social work degree meets the 4 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

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

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.

Grandfathering Provision: The following is the standard grandfathering policy for all title 38 hybrid qualification standards. Please carefully review the qualification standard to determine the specific education and/or licensure/certification/registration requirements that apply to this occupation.

1. All persons employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including positive education and licensure or certification that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all of the basic requirements in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply:
2. Such employees in an occupation that requires a licensure or certification, may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level, or changed to lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the journey level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.
3. Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.
4. Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration that meet all of the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation.
5. If an employee who was retained in an occupation listed in 38 U.S.C. § 7401(3) under this provision leaves that occupation, the employee loses protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation.

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:

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:

1. 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.
2. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.

Preferred Experience: Experience working with Veterans and people experiencing homelessness.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit

The position is above the full performance level.

Physical Requirements: The physical demands of this position involve active listening, reading, observing and evaluating verbal and nonverbal behavior, walking, climbing stairs, speaking, writing reports, writing policies and procedures, writing clinical notes, using office equipment such as computers, telephones, fax machines, photocopy machines, and driving throughout the service region. Incumbent may be asked to transport patients in GSA vehicles and must meet facility driving standards in accordance with established policy. Strenuous physical activity is not required.

Education

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here:

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.