Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open only to current, permanent employees of HSA 4.3, Legacy VISN 17. **Current, permanent employees in posted commuting areas (South Texas HCS, Central Texas HCS, or El Paso HCS) will have first priority for selection. *NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position.

Videos

VA Careers - Licensed Clinical Social Worker: https://youtube.com/embed/U_xC25QsN0w

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Duties may include, but are not limited to:

• Works closely with the MTF treatment team as an independent practitioner and will use advanced practice skills and expertise to provide ongoing consultation regarding complex discharge planning issues.
• Assist with navigating and providing education on VA health care benefits, resources, and facilities through an intimate knowledge of VHA programs and services nationwide and the ability to match Veterans' needs with appropriate resources.
• Develops relationships and collaborates with the MTF social workers, nurses, case managers, managed care staff, and discharge planners to identify Service members and Veterans ready for discharge to a VA health care facility.
• Obtains clear referral information and authorization for VHA to treat those still on active duty, which will include the MTF Medical Records; VA Referral Form (entitled Military Treatment Facility Referral Form to VA Liaison); Admission Sheet; Clinical and Consult Orders; or other authorization for VHA to provide services and bill TRICARE or other appropriate entity through a VA-DOD Sharing Agreement.
• Clearly identify the Service member's/Veteran's health care and psychosocial needs and include requests for VHA health care services to ensure Clinical and Consult Orders or authorizations, specifying which VHA services are authorized and are completed prior to the transfer of any Service member(s)/Veteran(s) to a VA health care facility.
• Uses advanced clinical skills to assess the Service member/Veteran and family's psychosocial situation, their ability to comprehend and comply with VA's treatment plan determined by the MTF staff, and any special needs of the Service member/Veteran and family that may impact reaching optimal psychosocial functioning.
• Coordinates with the home VA health care facility Enrollment Coordinator and Military to VA (M2VA) Team, to initially register active duty Service members or enroll Veterans at their facility utilizing the referral information.
• Identifies and collaborates with the M2VA Program Manager and Lead Coordinator, if applicable, at the receiving VA health care facility to initiate and process referrals and linkages for transfers of care.
• Documents all Liaison activity in the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) using as well as documenting in the Federal Case Management Tool (FCMT) or its equivalent.
• Facilitates continuity of care by communicating and collaborating with the Service member and family regarding the plans for transition while determining any unique needs of the Service member/Veteran and/or family receiving VA health care to further facilitate the transition of care.
• Prepares reports, briefs, and presentations for VA, DOD and Congressional Staff as well as Community Organizations regarding the seamless transition process and specific mechanics of the VA/DOD Liaison Program.
• Manages the day-to-day operations of the VA Liaison initiative and provides accountability to program effectiveness and modifications of service patterns to enhance customer service.
• Interprets guidelines from: VHA general administrative and clinical management policies
  • VHA Directives, Handbooks, and nationwide patient care initiatives
  • VA and VBA policies and procedures.
  • Public Law and Federal Regulations.
  • The Joint Commission (TJC) and Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) standards.
  • Other program-specific guidelines.
• Collaborates with VA, VHA, VBA, DOD, Veterans Service Organizations, and other Federal agencies as well as with professional organizations, accrediting bodies, and the public
• Participates in interdisciplinary team meetings, appropriate facility meetings, and Social Work meetings as assigned and shares knowledge and experiences gained from his/her own clinical practice and education relevant to the field of social work.

Work Schedule: Mon - Fri, 7:30am-4:00pm or 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)
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.
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 telework may be authorized at supervisory discretion.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000

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.

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 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/.
• 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).

Grade Determinations: Senior Social Worker, GS-12
(1) 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.

(2) 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.

(3) 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.

(4) Assignments. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Senior social workers are licensed or certified to independently practice social work at an advanced level. Senior social workers typically practice in a major program area such as but not limited to: Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center or Polytrauma Network Site; a Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Center, or a national VHA referral center, such as a national Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or a national Transplant Center, or other program areas of equivalent scope and complexity. The senior social worker may be assigned administrative responsibility for clinical program development and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns. Assignments include clinical settings where they have limited access to onsite supervision such as CBOCs or satellite outpatient clinics. The senior social worker collaborates with the other members of the treatment team in the provision of comprehensive health care services to Veterans, ensures equity of access, service, and benefits to this population, ensures the care provided is of the highest quality. The senior social worker provides leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs for assigned social work staff. They serve on committees, work groups, and task forces at the facility, VISN and national level, or in the community as deemed appropriate by the supervisor, Social Work Executive or Chief of Social Work Services. This assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management. This assignment must represent substantial additional responsibility over and above that required at the full performance grade level and cannot be used as the full performance level of this occupation.

Preferred Experience:

• EBP Certification
• Prior experience in similar role or with population served
• Clinical supervision certification
• Quality or utilization management experience
• Former VA Trainee

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: The work is sedentary. Some work may require movement between offices, hospitals, warehouses, and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work. Work may also require walking/standing, in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site. Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds.

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.