Clarification from the agency

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

Videos

VA Careers - Mental Health Professionals: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOMintJXa3Y

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific eligibility requirements per VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) & eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply. Contact VHA.ELRSProgramSupport@va.gov for questions/assistance.

Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Provides a full range of psychological services to Veterans enrolled in the PRRC, including diagnostic assessment, clinical interviewing, psychological evaluation, risk assessment, recovery-oriented treatment planning, and evidence-based intervention.
• Conducts psychosocial and recovery-focused assessments to identify Veterans' strengths, needs, preferences, barriers, and goals related to mental health recovery, community integration, independent living, social functioning, education, employment, wellness, and quality of life.
• Develops and updates individualized recovery plans in collaboration with Veterans, family members or supports when appropriate, and the interdisciplinary treatment team.
• Provides individual and group psychotherapy, psychoeducation, skills training, and psychosocial rehabilitation interventions consistent with VA policy, professional standards, and the needs of Veterans with serious mental illness.
• Facilitates PRRC groups and classes that may address coping skills, symptom management, emotional regulation, illness management and recovery, relapse prevention, interpersonal effectiveness, social skills, community integration, health and wellness, motivation, and recovery maintenance.
• Uses evidence-based and recovery-oriented approaches such as cognitive behavioral strategies, motivational interviewing, trauma-informed care, acceptance- and mindfulness-based strategies, behavioral activation, problem-solving approaches, and other clinically appropriate interventions.
• Provides clinical services through face-to-face care, VA-approved telehealth modalities, and other authorized care delivery formats as appropriate for the Veteran's needs and program operations.
• Participates as an active member of the interdisciplinary PRRC team, including team meetings, treatment planning conferences, case consultation, huddles, discharge planning, and coordination of transitions in care.
• Coordinates care with psychiatry, psychology, social work, nursing, peer support, vocational rehabilitation, substance use treatment, primary care, inpatient mental health, residential programs, homeless programs, specialty mental health clinics, and community resources as clinically indicated.
• Provides consultation to PRRC team members and other Mental Health providers regarding psychological formulation, recovery-oriented care, behavioral interventions, risk management, and treatment engagement strategies.
• Conducts suicide risk assessments, safety planning, crisis intervention, and appropriate clinical follow-up in accordance with VA policy and professional standards.
• Completes timely, accurate, and clinically appropriate documentation in the electronic health record, including assessments, treatment plans, progress notes, risk assessments, consult responses, and discharge or transition documentation.
• Supports measurement-based care, program evaluation, quality improvement, and performance improvement activities by tracking relevant clinical outcomes and using data to inform care.
• Participates in PRRC and Mental Health initiatives related to access, continuity of care, recovery-oriented practice, patient safety, evidence-based treatment, and Veteran experience.
• Maintains professional competence through continuing education, licensure, ethical practice, and adherence to VA, VHA, facility, and other applicable social work professional standards.
• Performs other duties as assigned that are consistent with the role of a Senior Social Worker within the PRRC and Mental Health Healthcare Group.

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.
• 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.

• 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.

Qualifications

BASIC REQUIREMENTS:

Citizenship.
Citizen of the United States.

Education.
The individual 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 4 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. 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.

GRADE DETERMINATIONS:
GS-12 Senior Social Worker

• Experience. The candidate must have at least two years of experience 9 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:
  • 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.

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.

For each relevant work experience, make sure you include:

• Employer name
• Job title
• Start and end dates (include the month and year).
• The number of hours you worked per week.
• Brief descriptions that show you can perform the tasks at the required level listed in the job announcement.
• Series and grade for federal jobs only.