Clarification from the agency

This position is open to Current Permanent Department of Veteran Affairs employees, Federal employees in the competitive/excepted service, and All US citizens. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position.

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Duties include but are not limited to:

• Provides coverage to include, but not limited to: Inpatient Units, Intensive Care Units, Emergency Department and Outpatient Services on the weekend.
• Ensures continued discharge planning occurs for Veterans whose discharge has been coordinated by the assigned, daily social worker.
• Initiates contact with newly admitted Veteran patients to assess/anticipate discharge needs, begin planning, document and communicate the information to the daily, assigned social worker.
• Provides a variety of services for Veterans including but not limited to psychosocial assessments, pre-discharge and admission planning, short-term solution focused therapy with individuals and families who may be in crisis, education and referral for resources and benefits, suicide risk screening/assessment, clinical reminders, and post-intervention follow-up.
• Evaluates Veterans and family members/significant others situation and arrives at a reasoned conclusion.
• Interprets and explains VA's treatment and benefit programs.
• Performs case finding functions and outreach, identifying and screening patients for psychosocial needs.
• Makes a psychosocial diagnosis and develops an appropriate treatment plan, and provides counseling services.
• Determines eligibility for services, completes needs assessment, develops a comprehensive care plan, identifies resources and referrals, and coordination and monitoring of services.
• Provides information and education to patients and families to help assure that ongoing medical, emotional, and social needs are met.
• Coordinates care with other healthcare professionals, including but not limited to physician, psychiatrist, nurse, chaplain, pharmacist, and other social workers.
• Completes suicide risk screenings and suicide risk assessments and other clinical reminders as appropriate.
• Identifies who is at high-risk and in need of acute mental health care and a further mental health evaluation.
• Assists Veterans in coping with acute illness, chronic illness, combat stress, residuals of traumatic brain injury (TBI), community adjustment, addictions, and other health and mental health problems.
• Reviews all data, subjective and objective, and makes a clinical assessment, identifying needs and strengths.
• identifies high-risk patients and provides crisis intervention services. Incumbent completes suicide risk screens C-SSRS, CSRE, and Safety Plans, completing and documenting assessments within the timelines and guidelines outlined in local policy and guidelines (i.e., VANTHCS Suicide Prevention Standard of Work) as required.
• Works in coordination with interdisciplinary team members and Veteran/family, including setting achievable treatment goals for psychosocial clinical treatment.
• Participates on an interdisciplinary team and recommends a course of treatment. Documents Social Work plan in patients' record.
• Adjusts the psychosocial treatment plans and interventions based on changing needs and responses to interventions. Initiates and effects changes in methods and interventions to promote efficient practice and improve patient outcomes.
• Provides individual and group counseling services, including short term solution focused psychotherapy and family services, based on licensure and scope of practice.
• Demonstrates an understanding of the range of treatment and skills needed for all adult patients related to their physical limitations, psychological needs, and age-associated illnesses and conditions.
• Provides a full range of psychoeducation and psychosocial treatment interventions, including, but not limited to Veteran and caregiver support for emotional needs, information and referral for financial and other resource needs provided by VA and community agencies, and appropriate and timely involvement of palliative and hospice care
• Provides Case Management to Veterans requiring substantial communication skills, organizational skills, problem solving and time management.
• Utilizes various counseling approaches to include, but not limited to conflict resolution, anger management and effective/healthy coping skills.
• Ensures that services provided are compliant with all regulations, policies, and procedures relevant to the population served and monitors medical center performance related to population served
• Other duties as assigned

Work Schedule: Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday or Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday 7:00am to 5:30 pm
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 55677-F
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive.Contact VHAEDRPProgramSupport@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more
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 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

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 - You must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f)
• Education:You must possess 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. Note: A doctoral degree in Social Work may NOT be substituted for the master's degree in Social Work.
• License or Certification: You 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 Determinations:

GS-12:

Experience Requirement: You must possess 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. Examples of specialized experience include, but are not limited to: assessing and documenting identified behaviors or symptoms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and/or intimate partner violence; use of clinical social work skills; maintaining patient privacy and confidentiality per policies, handbooks or directives; acting as an advocate with appropriate community service providers and agencies when it serves the best interest of the patient and family members/caregiver; independently assessing the psychosocial functioning and needs of patients and their family members, identifying the patient's strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and psychosocial acuity. Applicable experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment.

Licensure Requirement: You 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 must be able to provide supervision for licensure.

Advanced practice levelsocial workers must be licensed or certified by a state at the advanced practice level which includes 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. All states except California use a series of licensure exams administered by the ASWB. Information can be found at https://www.aswb.org/.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

1. 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.
2. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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:

• Case management/discharge planning experience.
• Experience conducting psychosocial assessments.
• Experience working with an interdisciplinary team.
• Experience making referrals for community resources such a, but not limited to nursing facilities group homes, assisted livings, substance abuse treatment, and hospice services.
• Experience providing crisis intervention, goal directed supportive counseling, and grief/bereavement counseling

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

The full performance level of 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. This position is a High-Risk Position with regular and recurring face to face contact with high-risk individuals due to medical conditions. The incumbent will frequently be placed in a position of stress. Priorities and work situations change frequently, often during the course of a single workday.

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.