Senior Social Worker

Summary

This position is located within the Community Engagement and Reintegration Service (CERS) in the Grant Per Diem Program (GPD) and is located at the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Medical Center.

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:

• 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: 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 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
• Exception
• For the GS-11 grade level and above - the candidate must be licensed or certified
• At the time of appointment - the supervisor - chief social work or social work executive will provide the unlicensed/uncertified social worker with the written requirements for licensure or certification - including the time by which the license or certification must be obtained and the consequences for not becoming licensed or certified by the deadline.] 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
• (3) 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
• 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)
• English Language Proficiency
• Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f)
• 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 (1) 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
• (2) 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 (3) Demonstrated Knowledge - Skills - and Abilities
• In addition to the experience above - candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: (a) 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
• (b) Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice
• (c) 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
• (d) 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
• (e) 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
• (4) Assignments
• 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
• Senior social workers are licensed or certified to independently practice social work at an advanced level
• Senior social workers typically practice in a major program area such as but not limited to: Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center or Polytrauma Network Site
• a Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Center - or a national VHA referral center - such as a national Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or a national Transplant Center - or other program areas of equivalent scope and complexity
• The senior social worker may be assigned administrative responsibility for clinical program development and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns
• Assignments include clinical settings where they have limited access to onsite supervision such as CBOCs or satellite outpatient clinics
• The senior social worker collaborates with the other members of the treatment team in the provision of comprehensive health care services to Veterans - ensures equity of access - service - and benefits to this population - ensures the care provided is of the highest quality
• The senior social worker provides leadership - direction - orientation - coaching - in-service training - staff development - and continuing education programs for assigned social work staff
• They serve on committees - work groups - and task forces at the facility - VISN and national level - or in the community as deemed appropriate by the supervisor - Social Work Executive or Chief of Social Work Services
• This assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management
• This assignment must represent substantial additional responsibility over and above that required at the full performance grade level and cannot be used as the full performance level of this occupation
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit
• The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12.

Duties

• The incumbent is assigned to provide all appropriate social work services in the Community Engagement and Reintegration Service (CERS) as a Senior Social Worker for the Grant Per Diem Program (GPD)
• The incumbent also performs duties independently in community based settings to include working with Veterans and family members from various socioeconomic - cultural - ethnic - educational - and other diversified backgrounds
• The incumbent is expected to demonstrate an advanced practice skill and knowledge of community resources - skill in independent conduction psychosocial assessments and treatment intervention - formulate a treatment plan - implementing different treatment modalities - identify strengths - concerns - coping skills and psychosocial acuity and provide consultation services to support new social workers
• The GPD Program offers communities a way to assist homeless Veterans with housing and services while assisting Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facilities in providing housing or services for Veterans
• Community-based programs funded under the GPD Program are funded through a national competition in response to a Notice of Fund Availability (NOFA) published in the Federal Register according to rules and regulations and any other funding priorities as announced in NOFA
• VA has no authority to instruct or manage programs - it provides guidance and oversight to ensure operations are in compliance with VA inspection standards and that the program offering the services is the same as was described in the original proposal - or as modified through program scope changes
• Traveling throughout the Greater Los Angeles community visiting veterans and families are a part of this position
• VA Careers - Social Work: Work Schedule: Full-time - Monday-Friday 8:00 am-4:00 pm Telework: Possible ad-hoc after the first 90 days Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: 00000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: 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.