Clarification from the agency

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below. This job is open to current permanent VHA employees of the White River Junction VA Healthcare System only. Veterans preference does not apply.

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This Senior Lead Social Worker position is in Geriatrics and Extended Care services (Home Based Primary Care) at the White River Junction VA Healthcare System.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases
Telework: Ad-hoc only
Functional Statement #: 405-F1388
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Clinical Functions (Advanced Practice Level)
- Provides independent, advanced clinical social work services to a panel of HBPC Veterans with complex, chronic, and specialized medical, psychosocial, and functional needs.
- Performs comprehensive psychosocial assessments and develops evidence-based, individualized psychosocial treatment plans with minimal supervision.
- Delivers advanced clinical interventions including individual and family therapy, caregiver support, long-term care and advance care planning, crisis intervention, stress-management strategies, grief and bereavement support, and psychoeducation.
- Exercises advanced clinical judgment to identify psychosocial risk, evaluate safety concerns, and coordinate interventions with interdisciplinary team members.
- Maintains full responsibility for documenting all assessments, interventions, and care coordination activities in accordance with VHA, VA Social Work Service, and HBPC policies and timelines.

Program Coordination, Development, and Quality Improvement
- Independently identifies system gaps and contributes to the development, modification, and expansion of HBPC services to better meet the needs of Veterans and caregivers.
- Participates in program evaluation, performance improvement initiatives, and workload monitoring consistent with VHA directives for HBPC.
- Provides recommendations to program leadership regarding policy development, workflow efficiencies, and best practices in home-based care delivery.

Consultation, Education, and Professional Practice Leadership
- Serves as a clinical subject-matter expert for the HBPC team on psychosocial care, caregiver needs, community resources, and VA benefits.
- Provides advanced consultation to interdisciplinary team members to support effective treatment planning and care coordination across settings.
- Demonstrates leadership in clinical practice through the development of new interventions, enhancement of care processes, or implementation of evidence-based practices within HBPC.

Supervision, Mentorship, and Training
- Provides clinical supervision for licensure-level social work staff and/or trainees as assigned, in accordance with state board and VA Social Work Service policies.
- Offers mentorship and advanced practice guidance to less experienced social workers, modeling professional behavior, ethical decision-making, and effective clinical practice.
- Participates in the orientation and professional development of new HBPC staff and students.

Resource Development and Community Collaboration
- Maintains in-depth knowledge of VA and community resources; independently assesses resource needs and facilitates access for Veterans, caregivers, and families.
- Serves as a liaison between VA and community agencies, promoting collaborative relationships, improving service coordination, and enhancing continuity of care.
- Educates the HBPC team on eligibility criteria, benefit programs, and community-based service options relevant to the HBPC population.

Team-Based Care and Professional Competencies
- Functions as an integral member of an interdisciplinary HBPC team, demonstrating advanced communication skills, leadership in care planning, and strong clinical reasoning.
- Independently manages a complex caseload, prioritizing tasks effectively and utilizing sound judgment in fast-paced, unpredictable home-based care environments.
- Upholds the highest standards of ethical practice, cultural competence, Veteran-centered care, and professional accountability expected at the GS-12 level.

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 identification 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.
• Selectee must have a valid unrestricted driving license.
• Selectee must have a safe driving record.

Notifications:

• This position is in the Excepted Service.
• Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees.
• Current or formal Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held.
• Narrative responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) may be required from the selectee in order to proceed with the appointment.
• EDRP is not approved for this position.

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.
• 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 tohttp://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/.
• English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f).

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).

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). The following is the standard grandfathering policy for all title 38 hybrid qualification standards. Please carefully review the qualification standard to determine the specific education and/or licensure/certification/registration requirements that apply to this occupation.1. All persons employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including positive education and licensure or certification that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all of the basic requirements in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply:

• Such employees in an occupation that requires a licensure or certification, may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level, or changed to lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the journey level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.
• Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.
• Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration that meet all of the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation.
• If an employee who was retained in an occupation listed in 38 U.S.C. § 7401(3) under this provision leaves that occupation, the employee loses protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation.

NOTE: If social workers covered under the grandfathering provision of the 1991 Federal law regarding licensure or certification of VHA social workers leave the GS-0185 social work series, they lose the grandfathering protection. If they choose to return at a later date to the GS-0185 series, they must be licensed or certified to qualify for employment as a social worker.

Grade Determinations:

GS-12 Senior Social Worker:

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, the candidate 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.

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

Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services.

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

How you will be evaluated

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

Area of Consideration -

1. Current permanent VHA employees of the White River Junction facility.

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.