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Senior Social Worker (HBPC)

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
Veterans Health Administration
This job announcement has closed

Summary

The Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare Network is recruiting for a Senior Social Worker to provide services for Veterans in the Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) Program. This is a major specialty treatment program and a component of the Geriatrics and Extended Care. Will serve Veterans with complex health care needs for whom routine clinic-based care is not effective. Veterans in this program are home-bound, non-institutional and usually have a caregiver.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
07/11/2025 to 07/21/2025
Salary
$113,559 to - $147,633 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 12
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Los Angeles, CA
1 vacancy
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
75% or less - You may be expected to travel for this position.
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-12761482-25-SH
Control number
840575600

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Duties

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

  • Provides clinical social work activities and conducts comprehensive psychosocial assessments. assists with and completes advance directive counseling; grief and bereavement counseling, linkages services, coordination of care, crisis intervention, and case management services.
  • Develops and implements methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services. Demonstrates the ability to make changes based on findings from ongoing treatment, or treatment outcomes.
  • Assesses and treats the complicated psychosocial problems of Veterans, families and significant other.
  • Provides assessment of psychosocial problems that can include adjustment to the current medical condition and/or functional status, untreated or under-treated mental health or substance abuse condition, economic instability, legal problems, and inadequate social supports, housing and transportation.
  • Provides advanced level case management interventions and independently provides a full range of concrete services including, but not limited to, completing various forms and applications to ensure Veterans receive all benefits and services they are entitled to.
  • Administers the procurement and retention of benefits, and where specialized services are required (i.e. legal issues, home care, financial, transportation, food, mental health, patient education) and will assist the Veteran in learning about and linking to the appropriate resources they require.
  • Develops treatment plans in collaboration with the Veteran/family and with the multidisciplinary team in a timely manner.
  • Independently identifies high-risk patients and completes mandated suspected abuse reporting for dependent adults or elders.
Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Telework: Ad Hoc Telework per OPM guidelines can be considered
Travel: This is a field base position requiring travel to conduct home visits in the Los Angeles and Sepulveda areas, utilizing a government issued vehicle.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Authorized

Requirements

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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:

  • Citizenship: Citizen of the United States
  • English Language Proficiency. In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English.
  • Education: Must 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. Note: 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: Candidates must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work 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.
Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements stated above, the following qualification criteria must be met for each grade. The candidate's qualifications must clearly demonstrate the level of competence required for the grade.
  • Experience: 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 and 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.
  • 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 and Certifications
  • Full independent licensure at the advanced practice level
  • At least two years should be in an area of specialized social work practice
  • Experience working in a geriatric setting and collaborating with internal/external partners is highly preferred
  • Knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities, and treatment planning
  • Field based work experience
Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

Full Performance Level: The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12.

Physical Requirements: Light lifting (under 15 pounds); light carrying (under 15 pounds); reaching above shoulder; use of fingers; both hands required; walking; standing; hearing (aid permitted).

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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Additional information

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

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

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, and/or other 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.

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