Job Description
Summary
This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP) - a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific eligibility requirements per VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval - award amount (up to $200 -000) & eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply
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:
- United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy
- 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
- English Language Proficiency
- Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f)
- 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)
- Preferred Experience: Prefer experience working in integrated mental health settings and/ or primary care teams
- Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment - the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates
- GS-12 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: 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
- (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 11
- This vacancy is announced above the full performance level
- Physical Requirements: VA HANDBOOK 5005/120 PART II APPENDIX G39
Duties
- This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until September 30 - 2025
- The initial cut-off date for referral of eligible applications will be May 1 - 2025 - with subsequent cut-off dates on the 1st of each month
- Eligible applications received after that date will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as-needed basis until positions are filled
- VA Careers - Social Work: Primary Care-Mental Health Integration (PCMHI) The Primary Care Mental Health Integration (PCMHI) Senior Social Worker provides a full range of mental health services to Veterans enrolled in the Primary Care clinics
- Services include diagnostic - psychological - and cognitive screening assessments
- psychotherapy
- psychoeducation and caregiver support
- and prevention-oriented services - with an emphasis on the application of time-limited - evidence-based approaches
- The PCMHI Senior Social Worker utilizes evidence-based and best practice approaches to assist Veterans - caregivers - and staff in managing behavioral factors associated with chronic medical problems and in promoting medical compliance
- The clinician functions as a full member of the Primary Care clinic teams and provides ongoing team consultation services to other Primary Care clinic team members
- PCMHI Senior Social Workers may be involved in program evaluation and/or research activities - and may provide clinical supervision to various disciplines and levels of training
- Major duties of the Senior Social Worker in these clinics include - but are not limited to: Individual/group evidence-based treatments to Veterans
- Participate in a shared decision-making model of care to collaboratively determine which psychotherapy modalities are most appropriate based on the Veteran's individual and intersecting cultural factors - goals - strengths - needs - abilities - and preferences
- Ensure appropriate documentation to include measures of effectiveness and Veteran response using clinical judgment and standardized assessment instruments
- Developing - implementing - and documenting the psychotherapeutic treatment plan for an assigned caseload of patients - including prompt of clinical reminders
- Delivering services both in person and via video technology
- Serves as a consultant to other medical center staff and trainees and assists in their formulation of the psychological characteristics and appropriate treatment expectations regarding their patients
- Provides clinical supervision to health profession trainees
- Actively participating in Mental Health Service Line - facility - and program meetings
- Assisting in the ongoing process improvement initiatives improvement of the Psychology Training Program
- Serves on Medical Center or Healthcare System - VISN - and/or National VA committees or task forces as discussed with supervisor
- Actively participates in local - state - and national professional organizations
- Perform all other duties as assigned
- Work Schedule: Monday - Friday
- 8:00 am until 4:30 pm Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position
- Functional Statement #: 56280F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive
- Contact VISN7EDRPFacilityCoordinators2@va.gov - the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance
- Learn more Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
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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.
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