Clarification from the agency

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

Videos

The Social Work (HUD VASH) provides comprehensive Social Work services to Veterans and their families. Responsibilities include the management, coordination and provision of Social Work services to Veterans and their families in inpatient, outpatient, and community settings. In the provision of care in patients from the adult (under 65 years of age) to the geriatric (65 years of age and older), the incumbent recognizes the age related needs and demonstrates knowledge and care appropriate to that age group.

Major duties include, but are not limited to:

• Conducts psychosocial assessments to determine needs of Veterans and family members.
• Participants in the treatment planning process with other disciplines.
• Participates in discharge planning with other disciplines and will be responsible for ensuring that discharge plans are executed in a manner that is timely and appropriate.
• Provides individual, family and group counseling as appropriate.
• Provides consultation/education to Veterans and families on community resources, advance directives and VA benefits.
• Acts as a mentor to other team/staff members offering consultation to colleagues on the interdisciplinary team rendering professional opinions based on experience and expertise and role modeling effective social work practice skills.
• Acts as a liaison between VA and community resources, to include marketing and public relation duties as needed.
• Provides case management to Veterans and families, as needed, throughout the continuum of care.
• Provides a full range of Social Work services and utilize various treatment modalities within commonly accepted standards of clinical Social Work practice which includes: case work, individual, family and group counseling, discharge planning, diagnosis, psychotherapy, treatment planning, crisis intervention, psycho-education, case management and other services as appropriate.
• Addresses Advance Directives in accordance with the standards of their work area.
• Provides wellness/prevention psycho-education and facilitate Veteran and family support groups as appropriate.
• The incumbent will as appropriate, supervise and/or mentor the practice of less experienced Social Worker.
• Coordinates treatment and communicate with the care lines to facilitate continuity of care for Veterans.
• Participates in committee assignments, as deemed necessary by the Supervisor or Program Coordinator.
• Maintains data and statistical compilations to comply with Joint Commission, VA and medical center policy and procedures.
• Assists patients and their family with coping and dealing with the loss and grief experiences in disability, terminal illness, and death.
• The incumbent will document Social Work interventions and activities in Veterans' clinical records utilizing CPRS and ensure appropriate hand off when transferring of patient care.
• Maintains familiarity and responsibility for all performance measures relating to the HUD-VASH Program.

DRIVING REQUIREMENTS The work is primarily community-based. The incumbent must operate a Government vehicle to visit Veterans in the community and periodically transport Veterans in the Government vehicle and must pass all VHA requirements to operate a Government vehicle prior to transporting Veterans.

VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Work Schedule: Full-Time, Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact VHAVISN04HREDRP@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: Not Authorized
Functional Statement #: PD460-05781-F

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.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• An active Driver's License is required.
• 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).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

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. In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English.
• 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. Licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work 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. Current state requirements may be found by going to http://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/.

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: GS-12. In addition to the basic requirements stated above, the following qualification criteria must be met for each grade. The candidate's qualifications must clearly demonstrate the level of competence required for the grade.

• 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.
• 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:

• Homelessness
• Section 8 housing
• Landlords/Tenant issues
• Mental Health
• Substance abuse

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: Moderate physical effort is used in reaching, bending, turning or moving hands, arms, feet and legs to simultaneously operate hand and foot controls, and in normal driving because of the vehicle or equipment involved.

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.