Senior Social Worker

Clarification from the agency

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

VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU
Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

The Social Worker in this position functions as the Medical Center's Grant and Per Diem Liaison/Case Manager for VA's Health Care for Homeless Veterans Programs, Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem (GPD) Program. The social worker is responsible for monitoring and coordination of services provided by community-based programs funded under VA's Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program.

The GPD Program, an essential and critical part of VHA, is vital for providing safe transitional housing and supportive services for homeless Veterans. VA medical centers must ensure that Veterans in community-based funded programs are receiving quality services. The liaison/case manager is responsible for the oversight of these services as well as the case management of the Veterans who receive them.

Specific duties of this position include but are not limited to:

• Provides case management at GPD funded sites as described in the GPD program rules, regulations, and directives. The social worker utilizes various treatment modalities of individual and group work, casework, community organization, and community outreach activities to alleviate or remove problems that interfere with the Veteran participants' ability to achieve independence. The social worker coordinates care including serving as an advocate on behalf of the Veterans to ensure comprehensive service delivery, and linking and referring Veterans to the VA Medical Center, VA Regional Offices and/or community agencies
• The social worker monitors the clinical care and assesses the compliance of the programs receiving per diem as described in the grant recipient's original grant application. When necessary, the social worker intervenes to facilitate compliance or corrective actions and, when appropriate, develops, facilitates and monitors plans of correction.
• The social worker provides services and oversight of the GPD funded programs as defined in the GPD rules, regulations, and directives including verification of Veteran status and eligibility for participation in the GPD Program, maintaining admission and discharge dates of participants for billing purposes, reviewing and approving/disapproving readmissions to and extensions of care, and collecting and submitting participant information as outlined by NEPEC evaluations procedures.
• The social worker coordinates and participates in program site inspections in accordance with the GPD Program rules, regulations, and directives as guidance and forwards completed inspection packages to the appropriate offices. When necessary, the social worker notes inspection deficiencies and establishes methods to monitor corrective actions. The social worker recommends a response to the Medical Center Director as a result of inaction or insufficient actions related to the correction of deficiencies in accordance with the GPD Handbook.
• The social worker engages in coordination with community agencies, organizations, and groups to learn of services or resources available for homeless Veterans as well as provides current information on services and benefits available in the VA for Homeless Grant and Per Diem Program participants
• The social worker actively participates in the GPD conference calls and attends training offered by the GPD National Program Office.
• The social worker performs accountability functions: 1) document all contacts with patients/families in the medical charts; 2) completes statistical, administrative, staffing studies and all other reports in accordance with VA Medical Center and respective professional discipline service policies.
• The social worker works with VA Medical Center multi-disciplinary teams and community agencies to strive for developing more effective and efficient ways of delivering healthcare services to Homeless Grant and Per Diem Program Veterans.
• The social worker participates in providing administrative coverage of overall programs at work site if necessary/needed for the operations of the clinical programs
• The social worker participates in the Social Work 24-hour emergency on call coverage program as needed; providing telephone consultation or onsite social work intervention if the clinician evaluates that to be required.

Work Schedule: Monday to Friday 8:00am to 4:30pm
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact Hannah.Neilson@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more
Telework: Yes, as determined by the agency policy.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 689-F1076
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.
• 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

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. 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.
• 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 Master of Social Work.
• 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.

Senior Social Worker, GS-12

• Experience/Education. The candidate must have 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. Senior social workers 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.
• 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:
  • 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

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).

Preferred Experience: Experience working with individuals with serious mental illness and substance use disorders. Experience working in community base setting.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS12.

Physical Requirements: The work is generally sedentary. The work requires intermittent standing and walking, with periods of bending and sitting. The work requires light lifting and carrying of light items (under 15 lbs.) such as charts, notes, reports and binders. Simple grasping and fine manipulation are required when using a keyboard to access a computer. The work requires the incumbent to drive a government vehicle for conducting visits in the community.
Work is typically performed in both a clinical and community-based setting which may expose the incumbent to the communicable diseases common to the Veteran population. The work environment is adequately lighted and heated. The incumbent may be required to work an irregular tour and/or weekends as the need arises performs related duties as assigned.

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.

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• Social Worker LICSW
• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Special Note for Applications: To complete your application, please use the following link https://vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Resume.docx to download the standard Clinical Resume Document. This one-page document does not need to be modified and must be uploaded into the two-page restricted 'Resume' document upload field.

Your full resume/CV may be uploaded without page limitation into the 'Other' document upload field.

The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please ensure you have included all documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), etc.

• Cover Letter
• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Social Worker LICSW
• Clinical Resume
• Other (3)
• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (for Eligibility and/or Time-in-Grade):

If you are a current federal employee, you must attach your most recent, non-award SF-50. This SF-50 should not be more than a year old and must show your current position, grade and step. Award SF-50's typically do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted if they do not include Grade and Step.
In order to clearly demonstrate you possess the time-in-grade as required by the announcement, additional SF-50s should be attached which clearly demonstrate the minimum time-in-grade requirement.
Examples of appropriate SF-50's include:

• Within grade increases at the highest grade held
• Promotions with an effective date more than one year old
• SF-50's at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old

PLEASE CONTACT THE HR SPECIALIST LISTED ON THE ANNOUNCEMENT IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING THE PROPER SF-50S. NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE AFTER THE CLOSING DATE.

Transcript Reminder - If you are basing your qualifications on education (or a combination of education and experience) you must submit a copy of your transcripts (official or unofficial).

Veterans' Preference: Veterans' Preference: This position is listed on the annual determination of staffing shortages and Veterans Preference does not apply to this recruitment. Veterans are encouraged to apply and will receive full consideration.

For more information on Veterans' Preference, please visit Feds Hire Vets - Veterans - Job Seekers - Veterans' Preference.

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