Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open only to current employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position.

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Duties include but are not limited to:

• Provides clinical supervision, manages performance, ensures staff competencies and training of staff assigned to the clinical liaison program.
• Manages conflicts within the program and between the Clinical Liaison program and other Medical Center Services.
• Conducts Clinical Liaison group and team meetings.
• Monitors and manages professional development for staff assigned to the Clinical Liaison program.
• Ensures compliance with Veterans Affairs policies, Mental Health standard operating procedures, Joint Commissions standards, and all applicable regulatory requirements.
• Manages Clinical Liaison staffing schedules.
• Tracks and manages all metrics for the Clinical Liaison program and metrics aligning with the Mental Health Service.
• Manages all accreditation and quality assurance activities for the Clinical Liaison program. In addition, the incumbent represents the Clinical Liaison to the Mental Health Service for all accreditation and quality assurance activities.
• Coordinates and monitors referrals and consults for the Clinical Liaison.
• Provides expert social work advice and education to Clinical Liaison staff and other medical center staff, advocating for Veterans' mental health care needs.
• Provides oversight of the triage, assignment, tracking, and completion of all consults. Ensures timely response to consults, clinical appropriateness of disposition, and adherence to national timeliness standards.
• Administers and supervises operation of the service on call phone, serving as a primary point of contact for real-time mental health consultation, risk identification, discharge coordination, and treatment planning with hospitalist and ED teams.
• Ensures continuous 24/7 operational readiness of the MH CL service through development of staff schedules, oversight of leave requests, and verification of fee basis or contract personnel documentation.
• Conducts complex clinical assessments in high acuity settings, including comprehensive suicide risk evaluations, diagnostic clarification, crisis stabilization, and creation of individualized safety plans.
• Coordinates direct placement of Veterans into residential or intensive outpatient substance use programs. Maintains expert knowledge of VA and community addiction treatment options, eligibility criteria, and referral pathways.
• Provides clinical justification, documentation, and coordination necessary to achieve seamless transitions of care.
• Provides clinical consultation to physicians, nursing, social work, and case management staff on psychosocial complexity, behavioral risk, and system navigation.
• Manages data tracking, management, and performance improvement initiatives for two national SAIL suicide related measures (SPED and Risk ID). Monitors team compliance with national benchmarks, identifies areas of underperformance, implements corrective action plans, and presents findings for quality improvement.
• Ensures staff maintain accurate, timely, and complete documentation in accordance with VHA policy and facility regulations. The incumbent monitors open encounters, mandatory training status, service compliance with policy updates, and disseminates clinical reminders.
• Performs clinical duties, which include providing care in accordance with the full range of licensure and credentialing for the incumbent, including but not limited to crisis management, Suicide Ideation and Homicidal Ideation risk assessments, safety planning, individual/group/couples counseling, and psychological assessment. Clinical duties also include consultation with staff on Veteran specific needs, review and disposition of consults, responding to PATS complaints, and service recovery with Veterans.
• Assists with ensuring compliance with Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action initiatives and upholds strict adherence to VA safety policies regarding work-related injuries, environmental health, emergency preparedness, and fire safety.
• Other Duties as assigned

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00 am. to 4:30 pm.
Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact VISN17EDRP2@VA.GOV the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more
Telework: AdHoc
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 56295F
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.
• 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.
  • • Exception: VHA may waive the licensure or certification requirement for persons who are otherwise qualified, pending completion of state prerequisites for licensure/certification examinations. This exception only applies at the GS-9 grade level. For the GS-11 grade level and above, the candidate must be licensed or certified.
  • 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.
    • All persons employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard (9/10/2019) 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.
• English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f)

GS 13 Grade Determinations:
Supervisory Social Worker Quals GS-0185-13

Licensure Requirement: You must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level, and must be able to provide supervision for licensure.

1. Advanced practice level Social Workers : 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/.

Experience Requirement: You must possess one year of experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level. Specialized experience includes, but are not limited to: Having significant personnel management responsibilities for a small to moderate sized professional and non-professional staff, including support staff and professional staff at the GS-12 grade level (or equivalent) and below; responsible for the professional and administrative management of an area in a social work service, in a care/product line, or multiple facilities; providing direct clinical services with or without program coordination responsibilities. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills in a specialty area or in administration demonstrating progressively more professional competency and judgment.

In addition to the experience above, you must demonstrate the following Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Ability to independently organize work, set priorities, and meet multiple deadlines.
• Skill in a range of supervisory duties which includes clinical supervision, consultation, negotiation with other departments and quality improvement.
• Ability to ensure provision of clinical social work services by supervised social workers.
• Ability to delegate authority, manage priorities, coordinate work, and follow up on pending issues to complete duties in an accurate and timely fashion.
• Ability to analyze organizational and operational problems, develop and implement solutions that result in efficient operations, and use data effectively to manage workload, quality, performance, and productivity within the service.
• Ability to provide staff training and development.

Preferred Experience:

1. Mental Health Practice
2. Mental Health Evaluation and Assessment
3. Crisis Intervention
4. Supervising Staff
5. Evaluating Veterans Mental Health Status Throughout Medical Center.
6. Managing a Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program

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-13.

Physical Requirements: Must be able to obtain and maintain a valid Texas and Federal drivers license to operate a government vehicle. 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.