Clarification from the agency

First Area of Consideration: Current permanent employees of the Finger Lakes Healthcare System. Second Area of consideration: All U.S. Citizens. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

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The Bath Domiciliary Residential Rehabilitation and Treatment Program (DRRTP), is a Mental Health Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program organizationally aligned within Mental Health Care Line. It is a 220 bed service which provides residential rehabilitative care to veteran patients who have a wide range of problems, illnesses, or rehabilitative care needs which can be medical, psychiatric, vocational, educational or social. The DRRTP offers two primary services; substance abuse services and vocational rehabilitation.

The Chief (Supervisory Social Worker) manages the administrative and clinical aspects of the DRRTP. The incumbent has responsibility for coordinating interdisciplinary staffing, work assignments, treatment services provided, and admission criteria of the program. The incumbent also supervises employees assigned to the program. The incumbent manages and controls the use of data related to the program regarding day-to-day functioning and program evaluation. In conjunction with the BVAC Care Line Manager, the incumbent plans, organizes and directs administrative, operational, patient and personnel activities for the service.

Duties include, but are not limited to:

Implementing, integrating, and coordinating a full range of therapeutic and rehabilitative programs
to provide effective and efficient services.

• Selecting and assigning staff in accordance with the needs of the veterans and respective programs.
• Defining programmatic and clinical competencies, in conjunction with respective clinical discipline leaders, for all staff and:
  • Establishing procedures for assessing those competencies, and
  • Ensuring the remediation of any failure by staff to fully attain all minimum competencies.
• Clearly defining program missions so that they are consistent with the overall DRRTP mission.
• Ensuring that DRRTP emphasizes veteran mutual respect and support, as exemplified by the Therapeutic Community model.
• Ensuring that DRRTP is responsive to local need, circumstances, and resources.
• Providing quality care in a safe environment.
• Ensuring that the broadest possible definition of Domiciliary Residential Rehabilitation and Treatment is applied and that Veterans who are eligible and appropriate for Domiciliary Residential Rehabilitation and Treatment care are not excluded.
• Ensuring that all programs provide comprehensive, integrated, and coordinated clinical care utilizing an interdisciplinary team model.
• Establishing procedures for the ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of all program activities.
• The incumbent is responsible for the overall management of the DRRTP.
• Identifies program resource requirement, ensure appropriate acquisition and allocation of essential resources and accounts for the effective utilization of all available resources in support of program activities.
• Supervises a group of employees performing work at various GS levels (e.g. psychologist, nurses, nurse practitioners, social workers, addictions therapists, health technicians, program support assistants, peer technicians, licensed practical nurses etc.) and provides administrative, technical and clinical supervision necessary for accomplishing the work of the DRRTP including efforts at other sites within the Bath VA Healthcare System.

The Incumbent must be licensed or certified in a state at the advanced practice level.

Work Schedule: 7:30am-4:00pm Monday-Friday
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact vhaedrpprogramsupport@va.gov, 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 Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 21267-O

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.
• 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.
• 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/.

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: Supervisory Social Worker, GS-13

• Experience/Education. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills in a specialty area or in administration demonstrating progressively more professional competency and judgment. Candidate may have certification or other post-master's degree training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship, or equivalent supervised professional experience.
• Licensure/Certification. Individuals assigned as supervisory social workers must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level, and must be able to provide supervision for licensure.
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
  • Ability to independently organize work, set priorities, and meet multiple deadlines.
  • Skill in a range of supervisory duties which includes clinical supervision, consultation, negotiation with other departments and quality improvement.
  • Ability to ensure provision of clinical social work services by supervised social workers.
  • Ability to delegate authority, manage priorities, coordinate work, and follow up on pending issues to complete duties in an accurate and timely fashion.
  • Ability to analyze organizational and operational problems, develop and implement solutions that result in efficient operations, and use data effectively to manage workload, quality, performance, and productivity within the service.
  • Ability to provide staff training and development.
• Assignment. For all assignments above the full performance level (GS-11), 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. Supervisory social workers at the GS-13 grade level typically supervise professional and non-professional staff. They are responsible for the professional and administrative management of an area in a social work service, in a care/product line, or across multiple sites, (e.g., multi-division facilities and CBOCs). Incumbent may also provide direct clinical services.

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-13.

Physical Requirements: Work is sedentary but also demands standing, walking, bending, twisting, and carrying light items.

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.