Clarification from the agency

This job is open to current permanent Department of Veteran Affairs employees, current permanent Federal employees of other agencies and all US Citizens.

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The duties of the HUD VASH Senior Social Worker with in the North FL/South GA Veterans Health System, Mental Health Service Line includes:

• The incumbent independently provides clinical psychosocial and case management services at an advanced practice level to eligible veterans and their family members in the VA Supporting Housing (VASH) Program to meet biological, psychological, social and environmental needs.
• The incumbent also provides support for the Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV)/Community Care Programs including outreach activities.
• Travel to patient homes and outreach sites is required via government vehicle.
• The incumbent is responsible for program oversight, monitoring and administration, serving as the primary contact with local Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) and providing case management-based services (directly or through referral) necessary to ensure that veteran care is coordinated with the VA medical center, community health or mental health providers, and agencies that serve homeless populations.
• The incumbent works closely with the VA medical center's homeless programs, residential and community care programs, and domiciliary programs to ensure that coordination between these entities is facilitated and veterans direct care, referral, and follow up is contiguous and based on a continuum of services.
• The incumbent independently provides clinical psychosocial and case management services at an advanced practice level for eligible veterans and their family members in the program.
• The incumbent provides support to the local Medical Center through the assignment of special projects and/or committees.
• The incumbent provides support and mentoring to social work interns and newly hired social workers.
• The incumbent provides support to the HCHV/ Community Care program and Mental Health Service Line by service on task forces and special assignments.

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


Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
Compressed/Flexible:Not available.
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: Not available.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: Senior Social Worker HUD-VASH, FS #52053F and 52052F.

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.
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.
• 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 (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).

Qualifications

Applicants must meet the requirements by the closing date of this announcement 05/01/2025.

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States. 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 accreditation standards for a masters of social work.
• Licensure: Persons hired or reassigned to social worker positions in the GS-185 series at the 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/. 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 employment termination.

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 and Education: The candidate must have at least two (2) years of experience post advanced practice clinical licensure and should be in a specialized area of social work practice of which, one (1) 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. Advanced Practice Licensure must be submitted with your application.

While we no longer require essay-style responses to our Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities, (KSA's), you must be able to demonstrate that you possess the (below) competencies which are necessary to perform the work of the position. Please ensure your resume/CV/application contains sufficient information to support the level of experience/education/training. Otherwise, we will not be able to award you credit for the experience/education/training you claim. The GS-12 KSA's for this subject position are:

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.

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: Experience in Mental Health Social Work, community based work, and working with persons who are experiencing homelessness.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39, Senior Social Worker Qualification Standard, dated 9/10/19 https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12.

Physical Requirements: The work requires extreme patience and controlling of emotions. The work may require using appropriate techniques to physical restrain patients who present a danger to self or others. The work may also require assisting physically disabled Veterans. Day to day work involves sitting, walking, standing and carrying light objects. The work is typically performed in a clinical setting that exposes the incumbent to the communicable diseases common to the homeless populations. Much of the work is performed in a setting away from the office, where the environment cannot be controlled. Incumbent must have a valid driver's license and pass Occupational Health screening as position will require driving a government vehicle. Travel is expected at least 75% or less of work week.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

Area of Consideration - Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order:
1. Current permanent VA employees of the facility.
2. All other VA employees.
3. Current permanent Federal employees of other agencies.
4. All other applicants.

Note: Veterans' Preference does not apply to this occupation, effective 10/1/24.