Clarification from the agency

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below. Current, permanent facility employees in the James H. Quillen VA Medical Center (VA -621 Mountain Home) Only

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

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

The incumbent provides clinical oversight, administration and daily supervision of the Homeless programs staff who work at Mountain Home. The duties of the incumbent are highly complex and require in depth administrative knowledge, clinical expertise, and complex managerial skills in the independent management and administration of homeless Veteran services. The incumbent represents an increasingly complex level of clinical care, which utilizes a comprehensive range of clinical expertise and therapeutic modalities in the provision of bio-psychosocial rehabilitative and health maintenance services in bringing each patient to an optimal level of functional independence and health.

Duties include but are not limited to:

• Provides a full range of psychosocial assessment services and diagnoses of mental disorders, particularly for complex or unusually difficult clinical situations. The specific veterans population targeted for these services include: Homeless Veterans with a wide range of issues; including substance abuse problems, mental health issues, co-occurring disorders, disenfranchised Veterans who may be ambivalent about using systems. The Homeless programs also serve veterans who have been incarcerated and who may be difficult to engage.
• Provides education to Veterans and family members about mental health conditions and treatment methods.
• Ensures the availability of appropriate, evidence-based psychosocial interventions, including individual, family, and group psychotherapy.
• Provides consultation to health care providers about assessment findings and treatment plans for Veterans, so that care is coordinated, collaborative, and integrated within the medical center.
• Develops, implements, and documents the psychotherapeutic treatment plan for an assigned caseload of Veterans, including prompt completion of clinical reminders.
• Ensures that members of the assigned team conduct: routine suicide risk screens; comprehensive assessment and collaborative safety plan when clinically indicated; follow-up appointments for all veterans upon initiation on the "High Risk for Potential Suicide List" in compliance with VACO directives; follow up with veterans who fail to attend appointments per local procedures; consultation with the SPCs, a member of the Suicide Risk Reduction Committee or a MHS supervisor as needed to ensure the safety and welfare of the veteran; and remain up-to-date on suicide prevention training materials and clinical tools, and utilize as appropriate in clinical practice.
• Organizes and runs team meetings in order to facilitate case disposition, care management, and effective service delivery interventions.
• Initiates and maintains liaisons with other mental health care programs in order to effectively coordinate services.
• Actively participates in Local and Regional Homeless Coalitions in the Mtn. Home area to develop working partnerships with community agencies, treatment facilities and maintain linkage with agencies that provide services to homeless veterans.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:45am-4:30pm
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
Telework: Ad-hoc
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 61243-F
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): 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.
• 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

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.
• English Language Proficiency Requirement - Per VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, Paragraph 3j: No person will be appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C., chapter 73 or 74, to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA who is not proficient in written and spoken English.
• Education - Candidates must 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 - Social workers at the GS-13 level 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.

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:
Experience: In additional to meeting the basic requirements as stated above, you must have the following:

GS-13 Level: Supervisory Social Worker (Program Coordinator) must possess at least 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, and are able to demonstrate the following knowledge, skills and abilities:

(a) Ability to independently organize work, set priorities, and meet multiple deadlines.
(b) Skill in a range of supervisory duties which includes clinical supervision, consultation, negotiation with other departments and quality improvement.(c) Ability to ensure provision of clinical social work services by supervised social workers.
(d) Ability to delegate authority, manage priorities, coordinate work, and follow up on pending issues to complete duties in an accurate and timely fashion.
(e) 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.
(f) Ability to provide staff training and development.

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

References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/120 PART II APPENDIX G39

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13.

Physical Requirements: he work requires extreme patience and controlling of emotions. The work may also require assisting physically disabled veterans. Day-to-day work involves sitting, walking, standing and carrying light objects, such as medical records and substantial computer entry. Work is typically performed in a clinical setting that exposes the incumbent to the communicable diseases common of the client population. The Incumbent may be required to work an irregular tour of duly and/or weekends as needed to accommodate the schedules of patients and families. Frequent keyboarding to operate a computer.

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.