Clarification from the agency

This position is ONLY open to current, permanent VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System employees. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this occupational series. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

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• Establishes & maintain effective therapeutic relationships with Veterans in the Primary Care Clinic and/or their families.
• Independently works with Veterans & their families who are experiencing a wide range of complicated medical, psychiatric, emotional, behavioral, financial, legal & psychosocial problems.
• Independently completes thorough psychosocial assessments to determine the psychosocial functioning & needs of Veterans &/or their families.
• Completes assessment to facilitate the Veteran's maximum use of treatment for attainment of the highest level of independence that is possible & practicable.
• Actively participates as a member of the interdisciplinary treatment team & actively participate through collaboration with Veterans & family as well as interdisciplinary treatment team members in the development and implementation of treatment goals & interventions.
• Has knowledge of medical diagnoses, disabilities, treatment procedures & medical terminology. Diagnoses mental health disorders, including acute, chronic & traumatic illnesses, substance abuse disorders, common medications & their effects/side effects.
• Facilitates action for community placements through collaboration with Veterans & their families as well as interdisciplinary treatment team members to ensure that appropriate community placements are completed in a timely manner.
• Serves as a liaison between Veterans &/or their families and VA and community resources in order to ensure thorough delivery of services.
• Independently implements treatment modalities, provide educational classes, &/or supportive groups for Veterans & families, including shared medical appointments. The social worker must be able to use & teach Veterans in the effective use of the My HealtheVet (MHV) system.
• Provides consultation & education to Veterans & their families regarding community resources, VA benefits & specialty programs, and advance directives. This includes processes for accessing &/or coordinating community-based services.
• Available to provide consultation to colleagues & students regarding psychosocial needs of Veterans &/or their families and the impact of the identified psychosocial problems on the Veteran's health care planning & compliance with treatment, role modeling effective social work practice skills.
• Maintains knowledge of Veteran's benefits & services, community resources, & process for making appropriate referrals to community & other governmental programs or agencies.
• Teaches & mentors staff and students in the special area of practice & to provide supervision for licensure or specialty certifications.
• Develops and implements methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice & services in specialty areas, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services, & designs changes based on empirical findings.
• Provides case management services to Veterans & their families throughout the continuum of care.
• Appropriately utilize principles of human growth & development over the life span & will be able to assist Veterans in coping with the loss & grief experiences from disability & terminal illness.
• Communicates effectively, both orally & in writing, with people from varied backgrounds.
• Must be up to date on all trainings and requirements, so that they may provide ongoing telehealth services without interruption to patient care.
• Provides brief psychotherapy to Veterans, as needed & clinically indicated.
• Coordinates with staff at each of the assigned CBOC's, as well as telehealth coordinators, to provide clinical telehealth services.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8am-4:30pm
Compressed/Flexible: May be available
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.
Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.
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: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 60704-0
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 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).
• 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.
• English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
• 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/.
  • 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.
    • For appointments at the GS-9 grade level, VHA social workers who are not licensed or certified at the time of appointment must become licensed or certified at the independent, master's level within three years of their appointment as a social worker.

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:
Social Worker (Program Coordinator), GS-12
Experience and Education. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressively more professional competency. Candidate may have certification or other post-master's degree training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship, or equivalent supervised professional experience.

Licensure/Certification. Individuals assigned as social worker program coordinator must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level, and must be able to provide supervision for licensure.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
(a) Knowledge of program coordination and administration which includes consultation, negotiation, and monitoring.
(b) Knowledge and ability to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines for the program.
(c) Ability to supervise multidisciplinary staff assigned to the program.
(d) Skill in organizing work, setting priorities, meeting multiple deadlines, and evaluating assigned program area(s).
(e) Ability to provide training, orientation, and guidance within clinical practice.

Preferred Experience: Medical/hospital social work; rural populations; geriatrics; primary care

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. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12.

Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Typically, the employee sits comfortably while working. However, there may be some light exertion required when walking, standing, bending, climbing stairs, carrying of light items such as papers, books, small objects, or driving an automobile. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.

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.