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.

Qualifications

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
• English Language Proficiency
• Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f)
• 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 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
• Grade Determinations: GS-12 Senior Social Worker 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
• Education and Experience
• 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
• Demonstrated Knowledge - Skills - and Abilities
• In addition to the experience above - the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: 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
• Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice
• 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
• 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
• 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
• Reference: VA Handbook 5005/23 - PART II - APPENDIX G39 - Social Worker Qualification Standard - dated September 10 - 2019
• For more information on this qualification standard - please visit
• Physical Requirements: The work does not inherently include physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with a workplace accommodation.

Duties

• The Vet Center Senior Counselor provides direct counseling services - outreach - referral - and follow-up care coordination to eligible individuals - couples - and family members
• The Senior Counselor plays a key role in the coordination of client care and staff professional development - providing expert clinical consultation to other clinicians on complex psychosocial conditions - relational and readjustment stress utilizing evidence-based family systems theory/therapy
• Responsible for the following domains of service for providing direct readjustment counseling to eligible clients and for developing staff performance through training and clinical supervision
• Direct Service Provision: Independently implement professional clinical practice applications in the provision of readjustment counseling to individuals - couples - families - and groups
• Risk Assessment and Crisis Intervention: Provides consultation and associated support for staff developing crisis intervention strategies - which includes assessment - safety planning - and complex treatment planning using independent clinical judgment using family systems theory/therapy
• Care Coordination: Communicates routinely with inter-professional team members and leadership to communicate about program and patient issues for in-depth problem solving - while consistently modeling ethical and professional behaviors and standards to include multicultural awareness
• Serves on committees - work groups - and task forces at the facility - Medical Center and Zone - District - or national level - or in the community as deemed appropriate by the Vet Center Director
• Outreach: Acts as clinical consultant to the Vet Center outreach workers to improve their sensitivity to clinical indicators and basic interviewing questions to expedite the transition of prospective clients contacted on outreach to actual Vet Center readjustment counseling clients
• Actively Coordinates with Vet Center Outreach Specialists to ensure seamless referral of individuals engaged in the community at outreach events
• Documentation/Administrative Responsibilities/Consultation: Actively participate in one-to-one clinical and administrative oversight during administrative and clinical staff meetings as directed by the Vet Center Director
• Documents clinical interactions and services delivered as required by policy
• Screening and Assessment: Works directly with eligible individuals to establish a therapeutic relationship sufficient for completing all required readjustment counseling intake procedures to include an assessment of risk for self-harm and psychosocial stressors
• Counseling Planning/Goal Setting: Based on the outcome of the intake - will develop and periodically update an individualized readjustment counseling service plan that reflects a course of therapeutic and psychosocial interventions - inclusive of outcome measurements
• Clinical Supervision - Consultation - Training - Review and Evaluation: Provides clinical consultation services to other staff members with clinical service responsibilities under the supervision of the Vet Center Director
• The scope of clinical consultation services will include all aspects of direct readjustment counseling service such as advising on the clinical assessment - service planning - and case coordination with community providers when the individual's needs are beyond the scope of services available at a Vet Center
• Will provide clinical consultation and supervision to meet the requirements for independent licensure with special attention to providing to unlicensed staff/trainees systematic clinical supervision towards licensure
• Will provide clinical oversight (chart auditing - etc) as outlined by policy
• Team cohesion and coordination: Actively participate in staff meetings designed to promote team building and staff development
• Other Duties: May perform other duties as assigned as appropriate for the grade and assignment and which are within the scope of practice Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 04:30 pm
• Some nights and weekends required
• Telework: Ad-hoc only Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: 822630 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive
• Contact View email address on careers.biausa.org - the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance
• Learn more Permanent Change of Station (PCS):Not Authorized

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the largest integrated health care system in the United States, providing care at 1,321 health care facilities, including 172 VA Medical Centers and 1,138 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity (VHA outpatient clinics) to over 9 million Veterans enrolled in the VA health care program. VHA Medical Centers provide a wide range of services including traditional hospital-based services such as surgery, critical care, mental health, orthopedics, pharmacy, radiology and physical therapy. In addition, most of our medical centers offer additional medical and surgical specialty services including audiology & speech pathology, dermatology, dental, geriatrics, neurology, oncology, podiatry, prosthetics, urology, and vision care. Some medical centers also offer advanced services such as organ transplants and plastic surgery.