Clarification from the agency

This job announcement number is OPEN TO EMPLOYEES: Current and Permanent of the Department of Veterans Affairs and other Federal Agencies. | IF YOU ARE NOT a Federal Employee, APPLY TO THE PUBLIC job announcement no. CBSU-13003192-26-LS (click in box below). | Due to a critical staffing shortage, 38 U.S.C. 7412 waives the requirement to apply Veterans' preference for this job announcement. | NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply. Refer to Required Documents below.

Videos

VA offers a Comprehensive TOTAL REWARD$ package.

This position is located at VA Montana Health Care System's Great Falls VA Clinic. This Senior Social Worker PACT functions as the subject matter expert for case management and care coordination with a panel of veterans to ensure that health care meets the needs, as defined by the Veteran.

Duties include but are not limited to:

• The PACT Senior Social Worker will function as lead PACT Social Worker for other PACT Social Workers on-site, and for other clinical and administrative staff to address workload, team assignments, and documentation for PACT Social Workers onsite.
• Conducts psychosocial screens and/or assessments of the Veteran in collaboration with the interdisciplinary treatment team, the Veteran, family members, and significant others.
• Participates in the creation of the Veteran's treatment plan, with special attention to the psychosocial elements of the treatment plan and identifies needed psychosocial interventions.
• Reviews psychosocial treatment goals as well as evaluations of the effectiveness of services provided through reviewing outcome measures, and makes appropriate modifications as identified by these evaluations to ensure the provision of high-quality care and interventions.
• Completes Violence Risk Assessments for VAMTHCS employees via referral of the Program Management of Disruptive Behavior, as well as Safe at Home Assessments for veterans, through the Intimate Partner Violence Program.
• Ensures and links Veterans and caregivers to supportive and ancillary services, which include, but are not limited to, temporary lodging, travel, and special mode transportation.
• Collaborates with other providers in on-going reassessment of the Veteran 's health care needs and treatment planning.
• Coordinates with interdisciplinary team members, the Veteran, and caregivers to proactively address discharge needs, to include, but not limited to home care services, supplies, equipment, medications, and related patient care needs and services.
• Provides specialized health and psychosocial education services to the Veteran, family, and/or caregivers. Education services include, but are not limited to, disease education, diagnosis and treatment options, acute symptom management, chronic disease management, medication, health promotion and self-care interventions, VA and community resources,
  benefits and entitlements, and Advance Health Care Planning (Advanced Directives, Living Wills, Power of Attorney for Health Care, and related documents).
• Provides leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs for assigned social work staff.
• Serve on committees, work groups, and task forces at the facility, VISN and national level, or in the community as deemed appropriate by the PACT Supervisor, Social Work Executive or Chief of Social Work Services.
• Assists in developing policies and procedures for program operation and may help prepare reports and statistics for facility, VISN, and national use.
• Develops and implements information systems to track service activities, including visits, clinical data, treatment interventions and outcomes, referrals, patient demographics, equipment utilization, and patient satisfaction; and develops, implements, and evaluates clinical guidelines and protocols to establish appropriate utilization of services.
• Conduct training for staff and trainees as needed with SW scope of practice; will provide education, information, and liaison with resources for Veterans in the community; and will provide technical assistance and educational sessions to community organizations as needed.

Work Schedule: Full-time | Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact VHA.ELRSProgramSupport@va.gov) the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases
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: Ad-hoc, as determined by the agency policy.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 436-53860-0
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• 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.

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.
Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens).

English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English.

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.

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 DETERMINATON | GS-12.
Experience/Education.
The candidate must have at least two (2) 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:

• 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.
• Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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: Two (2) years post social work clinical licensure demonstrating 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 and/or advanced level psychosocial and/or case management, discharge planning and care coordination. Social worker demonstrates ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. Social worker has 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.

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

The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12.

Physical Requirements: VA Montana Healthcare System Primary Care utilizes the Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) model wherein the incumbent works alongside all primary care team members in an open teamwork area designed to enhance direct access. Clinical appointments are conducted in private exam/consult rooms, while documentation and other administrative duties are completed from within the teamwork milieu. The incumbent may be exposed to infected patients and contaminated materials and may be required to wear protective clothing in isolation situations or operative/invasive procedures. The incumbent may occasionally be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium, dementia, or psychiatric disorders. The incumbent must be a mature, flexible, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations, able to shift priorities based on patient needs.

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.