Skip to main content
U.S. flag

Social Worker

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
Mental Health Service SDVAMC
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located at the Kearny Mesa CBOC.

Overview

Help
Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
07/10/2025 to 07/21/2025
Salary
$94,745 to - $123,162 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 11
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
San Diego, CA
1 vacancy
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Not required
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Excepted
Promotion potential
None
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
CBSX-12761581-25-REC
Control number
840457800

Videos

Duties

Help

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

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Duties for this position may include but are not limited to:

  • Patient outreach and engagement in treatment.
  • Initial assessment of the Veteran.
  • Routine use of a patient registry.
  • Participation in weekly caseload consultation with the consulting PCMHI Provider with Prescribing Privileges.
  • Providing education and brief interventions using evidence-based techniques such as behavioral activation, motivational interviewing, and other focused treatment strategies.
  • Monitoring of Veteran progress using validated patient reported outcome measures.
  • Ongoing review of progress and recommendations for changes in treatment, including medication adjustments, utilizing evidence-based algorithms in consultation with the PCMHI Provider with Prescribing Privileges.
  • Relapse prevention planning throughout care, including transition from active treatment to maintenance as goals are achieved.
  • Timely and thorough documentation of all patient interactions.
  • Provision of same-day access to PCMHI CoCM services.
  • Ongoing collaboration with and coordination of the Veteran's care with the treating PCP and other healthcare professionals.
  • Continuously collaborate with the entire PCMHI team to ensure high quality, effective, Veteran-centered services at the patient and programmatic levels.
  • Collaborate with PCMHI leadership/team members to develop/enhance educational materials and use marketing strategies to promote PCMHI CoCM service.
  • Effectively communicate with patients, families, caregivers, VA leadership, and members of the interdisciplinary team.
  • Referral(s) to service providers and specialty treatment clinics.
  • Other duties include crisis intervention, education and prevention, case management and care coordination, supportive counseling, and administrative responsibilities to their assigned clinic.
  • May conduct individual and/or group psychotherapy (under clinical supervision) within associated mental health clinics/teams.
  • Works collaboratively with a multidisciplinary team of staff to provide psychosocial and psychotherapeutic support to outpatients.
Work Schedule: Monday through Friday; 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized.
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Help

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.
  • You may be required to serve a trial period.
  • 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 dentification 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).

Qualifications

BASIC REQUIREMENTS: The basic requirements for employment as a VHA social worker are prescribed by statute in 38 U.S.C. § 7402(b)(9), as amended by section 205 of Public Law 106-419, enacted November 1, 2000. To qualify for appointment as a social worker in VHA, all applicants must meet the following:

  • 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/.
  • Physical Requirements: The physical demands of this position involve light lifting, light carrying, walking, standing, use of both eyes, ability to distinguish basic colors and shades, hearing aid (permitted). The environmental factors of this position involve being able to work outside and/or inside, to work with others, and to work alone.
  • English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
GRADE DETERMINATION: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.
  • Experience/Education. To be appointed to the GS-11 grade level, a candidate must complete of a minimum of one year (1) of post-MSW experience equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the field of health care or other social work-related settings, (VA or non- VA experience) AND licensure or certification in a state at the independent practice level. In addition to meeting basic requirements, a doctoral degree in social work from a school of social work may be substituted for the required one (1) year of professional social work experience in a clinical setting.
  • 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:
    • Knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services.
    • Skill in independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic, cultural, ethnic, educational, and other diversified backgrounds.
    • Knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities and treatment procedures (i.e. acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses/injuries, common medications and their effects/side effects, and medical terminology) to formulate a treatment plan.
    • Skill in independently implementing different treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, medical, and social problems to achieve treatment goals.
    • Ability to provide consultation services to new social workers, social work graduate students, and other staff about the psychosocial needs of patients and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and compliance with treatment.
  • Preferred Experience:
    • Experience, training, and/or certification in multiple evidence-based practices for treatment of mental health issues (depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD, anxiety disorders, psychosis, etc.)
    • Comfortable with working effectively and efficiently in a fast-paced, high volume clinic.
    • Experienced in dealing with acute mental health patients, clinical supervision experience, and knowledge of education/research best practices.
    • Diligent, independent clinician who works well with multidisciplinary team members within a demanding mental health clinic.
*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.

References: VA Handbook 5005/120 Part II Appendix G39, Dated September 10, 2019.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

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.

Your session is about to expire!

Your USAJOBS session will expire due to inactivity in 8 minutes. Any unsaved data will be lost if you allow the session to expire. Click the button below to continue your session.