Clarification from the agency

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

Videos

Processing for the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) according to national program guidelines. This includes, but is not limited to, completing VFAIs and HCAs for Veterans and Caregivers applying or currently enrolled in the program, coordinating with other disciplines to obtain needed assessments, coordinating with the VISN Centralized Eligibility and Appeal Team (CEAT) who reviews applications to ensure they have needed information, and working with Veteran and Caregiver once decision from CEAT is received to complete application process or refer to other services.

Participates in direct caregiver and Veteran contacts to identify and assess caregiver stress/burden and the development and application of directed clinical treatment interventions.

Assisting all VISN 2 Caregiver Support Programs with arranging for respite for Veterans enrolled in PCAFC.

Completes Veteran functional assessments, known as the VFAI, as well as Home Care Assessments (HCA) for the PCAFC.

Advises and collaborates with interdisciplinary teams throughout the medical center on caregiver issues. Creates educational tools, develops programs and implements training focused on specific caregiver needs/issues.

Develops and facilitates caregiver support groups (face-to-face, VVC, or telephone line) and educational programs. Distributes educational materials provided by VA, local, state and national caregiver organizations.

Conducts caregiver and family clinical interventions to facilitate the identification of caregiver stress, psychiatric illness, emotional distress and social needs as treatment issues.

Provides referral to VA medical and mental health treatment and to other VA services including VA benefits, as well as community-based social services and other non-VA entitlement programs.

Stays abreast of current federal and state legislation directed at assisting caregivers to continue to provide caregiving in an environment that is safe for both them and the Veteran.

Collaborate with the Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT), mental health and geriatric care clinicians to provide Veteran and staff education on caregiver issues. Coordination will include hands-on support group work involvement, and training of patient aligned care team clinical social work staff in the development and facilitation of such groups.

Develop a library of caregiver support information material for distribution through the various inpatient/outpatient and specialty clinic settings. Educational material must be specific to the age group serviced in the clinic, i.e. Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson disease in the general and geriatric settings and PTSD and TBI information in the general, post-9/11 M2VA, and Polytrauma Center settings.

Participates in caregiver support activities in the local community and state to promote and recognize the role of the caregiver. Develops and fosters relationships with community partners to assist with system navigation, maintain collaboration and coordinate services. Provides outreach presentations to community social service agencies, military units, Veteran Service Organizations, and other groups on VA caregiver benefits, programs and services. Provides consultation, guidance and expertise to community organizations regarding Veteran caregiver specific issues and needs. Maintains knowledge of local VA Medical Center programs, community services and VA Central Office Caregiver Support Program initiatives. Maintains knowledge of current federal and state legislation related to caregiver initiatives.

Collaborates with other clinical staff and program managers will establish a caregiver support protocol (resources, education and training) sensitive to the issues of the caregivers who are providing care to our Veterans.

Assists in the coordination of events and programs for the annual National Family Caregiver Month every November that includes announcement and advertising of activities, mobilization of participants, educational sessions, caregiver recognition events and caregiver support programs.

Participates in committee assignments, discipline specific meetings and initiatives, as deemed necessary by the service manager.

May participate in a rotation of on-call social workers, including modification of tour of duty to accommodate patient care needs on weekends.

May provide supervision to a Social Work intern or be generally involved in the MSW training program. May provide orientation and/or consultation to less experienced social workers.

Performs other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:30am - 4:00pm
Compressed/Flexible: Not available
Telework: This is not a telework position
Virtual: This is not a virtual or remote position.
Functional Statement #: 12615F
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

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 trial 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 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 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-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/.
• 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).

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/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. Examples of specialized experience include, but are not limited to: assessing and documenting identified behaviors or symptoms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and/or intimate partner violence; use of clinical social work skills; maintaining patient privacy and confidentiality per policies, handbooks or directives; acting as an advocate with appropriate community service providers and agencies when it serves the best interest of the patient and family members/caregiver; independently assessing the psychosocial functioning and needs of patients and their family members, identifying the patient's strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and psychosocial acuity. Applicable experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment. Senior social workers are experts in their specialized area of practice. Applicable experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment. Senior social workers are experts in their specialized area of practice.

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:

• 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.

Preferred Experience: Work with substance use disorder diagnoses. Knowledge and abilities in the evidence based treatment of addictive disorders.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

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

Physical Requirements: Position requires a stable personality, working directly in an outpatient setting. The work is sedentary. Typically, the employee may sit comfortably to perform portions of the work. However, there is periodic walking; standing; bending; carrying of light items such as medical records. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.

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.