Clarification from the agency

Open to current permanent Department of Veterans Affairs employees, current permanent federal employees of other agencies and all US Citizens. This occupation is listed on the OIG Determination of Veterans Health Administration's Occupational Staffing Shortages Fiscal Year (FY26). Therefore, this vacancy announcement is exempt from Veterans Preference. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

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Duties and functions of the Senior Social Worker (HUD-VASH) include but are not limited to the following:

• Responsible for providing case management for a caseload of veterans in the HUD-VASH program. The incumbent is responsible for reviewing agreements between Section 8, landlords, Public Housing Authorities (PHAs), and the VA in establishing appropriate referral sites for HUD-VASH placements.
• Performs home visits in the community to ensure that veterans reside in safe environments in compliance with local housing codes.
• Conducts community-based visits, made with safety in mind, and follow the Home Visit Safety policy.
• Verifies the veteran's status, eligibility for VA medical care, and eligibility of program participation.
• Responsible for ensuring that homeless veterans are considered as primary participants for program acceptance.
• Independently completes all required documents for the HUD-VASH Program including those which are included in the data collection for NEPEC and within HOMES. Participates in ongoing performance improvement for the HUD-VASH Program including activities related to program specific performance measures.
• Primarily responsible for independently providing HUD-VASH case management to veterans with complex needs who meet criteria for higher acuity levels. Case management is defined as the provision of services by VA clinical staff to homeless veterans and includes all activities to provide appropriate treatment and maintain veterans in HUD approved stable housing. The incumbent will continuously assess veterans' needs and review case management phase with team and supervisor.
• The incumbent is viewed by interdisciplinary team members as a senior clinician with advanced practice skills and expertise. The Senior Social Worker provides guidance, case consultation, and support to other team members. The Senior Social Worker teaches and mentors staff and students in the specialty area of practice, and aids in management of the most complex, high-risk cases. The incumbent independently initiates resolution of veteran care-related issues.
• Independently directs and coordinates clinical and psychosocial services and is accountable for the overall effectiveness of the services provided. The incumbent modifies the services to best meet the treatment needs of veterans, to promote efficient practice, and coordinate with other services offered assuring such services are complementary and comprehensive.
• Coordinates care including serving as an advocate on behalf of the veterans to ensure comprehensive service delivery, and linking and referring veterans to VA providers, VA Regional Offices, and/or community agencies.
• Identifies housing options in the community while coordinating with landlords and property managers to negotiate the needs of the Veterans in the program. The incumbent works towards identifying resources for veterans with special needs that make routine housing plans more difficult.
• Documents independently in the medical record, including psychosocial assessments, diagnostics, treatment planning, progress notes, follow up and referral and documents in the HOMES system. Documentation also may include suicide risk assessments, clinical reminders, Goals of Care, Measurement Based Care, and Advanced Directives.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 7:30am - 4:00pm, 8:00am - 4:30pm, 8:30am - 5:00pm.
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
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)
Functional Statement #: 82316F

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.
• 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 tohttp://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/
• Grandfathering Provision. 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

Senior Social Worker, GS-12

• Experience and 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:
  1. 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.
  2. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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. Experience in performing assessments, treatment planning, care coordination, crisis intervention, and advocacy. Experience working with client populations experiencing homelessness. Able to work independently providing psychosocial support to client populations with highly complex health, substance use, and/or mental health problems. Experience in locating and obtaining community resources, building and maintaining working relationships with external customers, and assisting clients with linkage to appropriate referrals.

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

Physical Requirements. Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation, see Duties section for essential job duties of the position. Position requires walking throughout the clinic and/or Medical Center, standing for extended periods of time, and involves sitting at a computer and in counsel and consultation with Veterans and interdisciplinary teams. Work is performed in a wide range of settings, including office/clinic setting with minimal risks that require normal safety precautions; the area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated. The position requires the ability to handle multiple tasks in sometimes stressful situations while engaging in counsel and consultation with Veterans and interdisciplinary teams.

How you will be evaluated

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

Area of consideration: Eligible applications will be reviewed in the following order:

1. Current permanent VA employees of the facility
2. All other VA employees
3. All other federal employees
4. All other applicants

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.