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.
***This is an open continuous announcement until October 31, 2025. Qualified applicants will be considered and referred as vacancies become available. *** 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 http://www.cswe.org/Accreditation 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 http://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/. Grade Determinations: Senior Social Worker, GS-12 Experience/Education The candidate must have at least two years of experience 9 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: (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. Preferred Experience: VA experience. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. Physical Requirements: Must be in overall good health, able to sit at a desk working at a computer, engage in light to moderate physical activity including sitting, walking, bending, and carrying supplies. The psychologist must be able to perform primarily light and sedentary duties with occasionally moderate physical demands, exercise patience, and control emotions, with reasonable accommodation, if necessary, without endangering the health and safety of others. This position also requires close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading; and repetitive motions of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers.
Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf Social Work: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Social-Worker-Career-Flyer.pdf Establishes and maintains effective working relationships and communicates with Veterans, staff, and other parties as appropriate. Provides professional, independent, specialized mental health treatment to Veterans who are diagnosed with substance use disorders and who are experiencing a wide range of complex medical, psychiatric, emotional, behavioral, and psychosocial problems. Utilizes advanced and expert skill, individual, group and family psychotherapy, in a range of specialized evidence-based interventions and treatment modalities used for treatment of substance use disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and other co-morbid mental health conditions. Utilizes training and competencies in recognized evidence-based treatments for SUD, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Substance Use Disorders, Cognitive Behavioral Skills Group for Substance Use Disorders, Motivation Enhancement Therapy, and Contingency Management. Implements Measurement Based Care for measuring effectiveness of clinical practice and services in specialty areas. Uses advanced clinical training, and experience to identify viable treatment options and makes appropriate referrals for care. Develops treatment plans in coordination with MCR Team Members, including goals for treatment. Utilizes community resources to make referrals to the community and other government agencies as appropriate, and coordinates services. Makes referrals to other services in the VA, as well as to other agencies, community resources, and other Governmental agencies. Acts as a community and family liaison. Conducts psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic, cultural, ethnic, educational, and other diversified backgrounds. Assesses the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and family members. Interviews Veterans and their family members/significant others to establish facts about the Veteran's situation, presenting problems and their causes. Reviews all data, subjective and objective, and makes a clinical assessment identifying strengths, needs, abilities, and preferences. Uses clinical training, insight, and experience to interpret data and identify viable treatment options. Assesses and documents identified behaviors or symptoms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and/or intimate partner violence. Concludes the appropriate action, even in instances where actions can have serious impact on the life of the Veteran. Establishes and maintains ongoing education programs for Veterans, community agencies, students, and staff to facilitate understanding of psychology interventions. Utilizes crisis intervention techniques with Veterans in an acute crisis by implementing the Suicide Prevention and Management of Suicidal Behavior policy. Employs senior social worker methods and techniques to maintain a therapeutic relationship that will help the Veteran work toward the best way of achieving their goals. Provides oversight and clinical supervision for social work trainees to progress toward licensure or certification. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday; 8:00am - 4:30pm Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): May Be Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact Jillana.Martinez@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade). 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) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience. 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: Ad-hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 607080 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized