Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open to US Public Citizens Current, permanent Cheyenne VA Health Care System, Department of Veterans Affairs employees, other Federal Agencies and Health Professional Trainees please apply under announcement CBSU-12948722-26-JEH 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 GS-12 Caregiver Support Program (CSP) Senior Social Worker (Clinical Assessor) is assigned to the CSP with responsibility to act as a subject matter expert (SME) within the CSP team. The incumbent will provide specialized consultation on the administrative and clinical considerations of the CSP as referenced in VHA Directive 1152 (1).

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

• Collaborates and provides leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs as assigned. Serve on committees, work groups, and task forces at the facility, VISN, and national level or in the community.
• Asses Veterans' needs for personal care services, Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), supervision, protection or instruction, to complete Veteran functional assessments and re-assessments. Provide clinical services, completing notes and gathering/monitoring data related to the day-to-day operations.
• Conduct initial home assessments to assess for functional and mobility needs and safety as well as to assess need for personal care services using standardized assessments.
• Develops and facilitates caregiver interventions, distributes educational materials, participates in direct caregiver and Veteran contacts to assess caregiver stress/burden and the development/application of directed clinical treatment interventions. Facilitate the treatment of caregiver stress, psychiatric illness, emotional distress, and social needs. Conducts regular and as needed home visits/wellness contacts to Veterans and Caregivers, responds to calls from the National Caregiver Support Hotline, other phone calls and general inquiries regarding the CSP, and assists with general tasks associated with the program.
• Advises and collaborates with interdisciplinary teams on caregiver issues. Provides ongoing consultation and support to colleagues regarding CSP services and issues facing Veterans, families and their caregivers.
• Demonstrates skill in communication and can develop positive, effective relationships with all CSP stakeholders. Provides referrals and to other VA services, community-based social services and other non-VA entitlement programs. Serves as a consultant for navigating the complex processes caregivers, Veterans, and their families encounter.
• Supports the provision and implementation of clinical supervision and training to provisionally licensed social workers, social work interns, fellows and students in close coordination with direct supervisors, discipline executive, and training directors. Assess and intervene in any medical or psychiatric crises presented by the Veteran and participate in developing crisis management and safety plans to minimize the event of future crises.
• Regular travel within and outside of the Cheyenne VA HCS catchment area is required. The incumbent must possess and maintain a current, valid state driver's license.
• Acting as a back-up team member in the absence of other staff within CSP or arranging for team member coverage when appropriate.
• Act as a consultant to other team/staff members, providing excellent customer service, advocacy, and education on relevant topics to internal and external customers.
• Participate in quality improvement projects and practices in compliance with JCAHO, CMS, State, VHA and CHYVAMC policies and procedures.
• Will remain current and in good standing in their licensure, privileging or scope of practice, and educational requirements. The incumbent will follow National Social Work Ethics and Rules of Behavior
• Perform other related duties, as assigned by the supervisor.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases.
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: Situational ad-hoc basis
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 442-51293-0
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

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 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: 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. 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:
(a) 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.
(b) Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
(c) 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.
(d) 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.
(e) 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: Medical Social Work experience.

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

This vacancy is being announced above the full performance level at the GS-12 level.

Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019

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.