Clarification from the agency

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below. This announcement is open to current permanent Department of Veterans Affairs employees and current permanent Federal employees of other agencies. Applicants will be referred in the following order: 1. Current permanent Facility employees. 2. Current permanent Agency (Department of Veterans Affairs) employees. 3. Current permanent employees of other Federal agencies.

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As the Social Work Supervisor of the CHOS program, the incumbent has significant personnel management responsibilities for the professional social work and interdisciplinary staff members assigned to the CHOS program. The incumbent is responsible for the professional and administrative management of social work services provided in the breadth of CHOS programs, to include: Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Administration Supportive Housing (HUDVASH), Grant and Per Diem (GPD), Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV), Community Resource and Referral Center (CRRC), and Veterans Justice Outreach (VJO). The position requires the employee travel to Bellingham, Port Angeles, Thurston County, Bremerton, Seattle, King County, Tacoma, Pierce County, Skagit County, Snohomish County, and Island County as well as other VA facilities including CBOC's, Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN), and VA Central Office (VACO) as necessary. The incumbent reports directly to the Director, Community Housing and Outreach Services, Social Work Service and ultimately to the Chief, Social Work Service.

Some of the roles and responsibilities of the CHOS Supervisor include:

• Provide supervision for subordinate staff to qualify for licensure.
• Plan, establish, and implement policies and procedures; develop individual or group goals and objectives as well as monitor, operate, evaluate, coordinate and oversee the social work and interdisciplinary staff of the CHOS program.
• Ensure supervised staff are aware of and adhere to all current directives of VHA, and meet current Joint Commission Standards, state licensure standards, and VA-OPG expectations, as well as CARF accreditation standards.
• Develop, enhance, and track new initiatives, monitor their effectiveness, and modify as needed to meet the program needs.
• Supervise a large group of Social Work Supervisors (GS-12), Senior Social Workers (GS-12), Social Work Coordinators (GS-12), Social Workers GS-11, and interdisciplinary staff, both clinical and non-clinical.
• Provide administrative, technical, and clinical supervision necessary for accomplishing the work of the program.
• Work collaboratively with a broad range of community partners including 14 Public Housing Authorities in a large geographic area covering most of Western Washington.
• Implement programmatic changes to ensure the needs of Veterans are met.
• Assign work, establish guidelines and performance expectations for staff, and communicate with them through the formal employee performance management system.
• Observe staff performance and demonstrate and conduct work performance critiques.
• Work with CHOS Supervisory Administrative Specialist to manage CHOS Fund Control Points, spreadsheets, HUD/VASH voucher distribution, and outreach efforts across the Puget Sound region.
• Work closely with budget to manage CHOS budget and travel allocations.
• Provide informal feedback and periodically evaluate employee performance.
• Resolve informal complaints and grievances and develop processes and procedures for handling complaints.
• Provide advice and counsel to workers related to work and administrative matters.
• Effect disciplinary measures as appropriate to the authority delegated in this area.
• Review and approve or disapprove leave requests.
• Assure subordinates are trained and fully comply with the provisions of the safety regulations and HUD/VASH national guidelines.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Work Schedule: Mon - Fri, 8:00am to 4:30pm.
Relocation Incentive: 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: Ad-hoc.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000.
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.
• Candidates must have an unrestricted State Driver's License and be cleared upon hire to drive a government vehicle for transporting Veterans.
• Candidates will be expected to perform a large part of their work in community settings.
• 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

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.

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:

• Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with 38 U.S. Code).
• 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 Master 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/.
• 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 DETERMINATIONS. In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

Supervisory Social Worker, GS-13.
Experience/Education. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills in a specialty area or in administration demonstrating progressively more professional competency and judgment.

• 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 supervisory social workers 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) Ability to independently organize work, set priorities, and meet multiple deadlines.
(b) Skill in a range of supervisory duties which includes clinical supervision, consultation, negotiation with other departments and quality improvement.
(c) Ability to ensure provision of clinical social work services by supervised social workers.
(d) Ability to delegate authority, manage priorities, coordinate work, and follow up on pending issues to complete duties in an accurate and timely fashion.
(e) 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.
(f) Ability to provide staff training and development.

Preferred Experience:

• Experience with homeless Veterans preferred.
• 3 Years of supervisory experience preferred.

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: Moderate lifting and carrying (15-44 pounds); pushing (up to 6 hours); operation of a motor vehicle; the ability to distinguish basic colors; and hearing (aid may be permitted). Work will be performed outside and inside and you must be able to work alone and closely with others.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

What are KSAs?
In the federal hiring process, Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) are a list of special qualifications and personal attributes that you need to have for a particular job/grade level (see Qualifications section of this announcement).

• Knowledge statements refer to an organized body of information usually of a factual or procedural nature which, if applied, makes adequate performance on the job possible. A body of information applied directly to the performance of a function. Skill statements refer to the proficient manual, verbal or mental manipulation of data or things.
• Skills can be readily measured by a performance test where quantity and quality of performance are tested, usually within an established time limit.
• Ability statements refer to the power to perform an observable activity at the present time. This means that abilities have been evidenced through activities or behaviors that are similar to those required on the job. Note that abilities are different from aptitudes. Aptitudes are only the potential for performing the activity.

Although not required at the time of application, we highly recommend submitting a supplemental document with your written responses to the KSAs required at each grade level you wish to be considered. If you choose not to submit KSA responses, please ensure your resume includes details of your experience that fully demonstrate the required KSAs as described in the "Qualifications" section of this announcement.

5 Tips for Writing a Federal Resume - FederalPay.org (https://www.federalpay.org/articles/5-tips-for-writing-a-federal-resume)

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.