Senior Social Worker HUD-VASH

Clarification from the agency

This position is ONLY open to current, permanent VA Western Colorado Health Care System Employees, VA Employees Nationwide, and all other Federal Employees. *** If you are NOT a current federal employee, please apply to the Public Announcement: CBSU-13098750-27-AGL*** NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position.

• Serve as a liaison between Veterans and/or their families and VA and community resources to ensure thorough delivery of services.
• Communicates effectively, both orally and in writing with people from varied backgrounds.
• Facilitate action for community placements through collaboration with Veterans and their families as well as interdisciplinary treatment team members to ensure that appropriate community placements are completed in a timely manner.
• Provide consultation and education to Veterans and their families regarding community resources, VA benefits, and specialty programs.
• Assess psychosocial problems often at a time when the Veteran is experiencing crisis and provide short-term and long-term solution-focused counseling with Veterans and/or their families.
• Complete thorough assessments to determine the presenting problem, factors impacting the situation, and obstacles to treatment and/or follow through with recommended treatments.
• Independently implement treatment modalities, provide educational classes, and/or supportive groups for Veterans and families.
• Respond to referrals that typically originate from members of the interdisciplinary team, from Veterans and/or their families coming as walk-ins to seek assistance, and from community professionals.
• Provide consultation to other treatment team and staff members regarding psychosocial needs of Veterans and/or their families and the impact of the identified psychosocial problems on the Veteran's health care planning and compliance with treatment.
• Conduct a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities used in specialty treatment programs or with special patient populations.
• Be accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns for their evolving caseload.
• Work in the community most of the time, away from main campus, without Social Work Supervision available when traveling and/or alone with a complex Veteran.
• Use various and appropriate theories and modalities in the specialized treatment of complex physical or mental illness.
• Incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment of veteran patients, including making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnoses within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
• Determine priority for services and provide specialized treatment services.
• Coordinate the delivery of specialized psychosocial services and programs.
• Design system changes based on empirical findings.
• Utilize outcome evaluations to improve treatment services.
• Provide case management with members of the outpatient interdisciplinary team and home and community-based services for a collaborative effort to meet the agreed upon goals for a Veteran's treatment needs and include liaison with community professionals regarding needed services for Veterans and/or their families.
• Provide subject matter consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients treated in the specialty area, rendering professional opinions based on experience and expertise and role modeling effective social work practice skills.
• Responsible for innovation in the creation of new models of psychosocial assessment or intervention to identify and address specialized clinical needs.
• Further professional growth through continuing education and ensure continuing education appropriate to the area of assignment.
• Aid with the orientation and learning of less experienced social workers and to serve as a preceptor for social work students.
• Teach and mentor staff and students in the specialty area of practice and to provide supervision for licensure or for specialty certifications.
• Evaluate their practice on an on-going basis through participation in professional peer review, case conferences, research studies, or other organized means.
• Reviewing agreements between Section 8, landlords, Public Housing Authorities, and the VA in establishing appropriate referral sites for HUD-VASH placements.
• Supporting other programs in community outreach and home visits when deemed appropriate for service delivery or safety concerns.
• Supporting the mission, policies, and procedures of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the appropriate Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN), and the facility.
• Serving on committees, work groups, and task forces at the facility as deemed appropriate by the supervisor and Chief of Social Work Services.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 51100A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive.Contact VHA.ELRSProgramSupport@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more
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: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/.

Driver's License:Must possess a valid unrestricted state issued driver's license.

Grade Determinations: 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:

(a) 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.
(b) Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
(c) 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.
(d) 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.
(e) 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: Two years working with individuals experiencing homelessness, housing insecurity, or low income.

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

Physical Requirements: Must be in overall good health, able to sit at a desk working at a computer, engage in light to moderate physical activity including sitting, walking, bending, and carrying supplies. Social Worker must be able to perform primarily light and sedentary duties with occasionally moderate physical demands, exercise patience, and control emotions, with reasonable accommodation, if necessary, without endangering the health and safety of the social worker or others. The emotional demands can be stressful in working with the patient population and their families. A level of self-awareness is essential. This position requires a valid state driver's license and local travel to provide community-based care to Veterans. The position requires significant travel in the community, through use of a government vehicle or other individual arrangements, to meet with representatives/stakeholders who aid and support to Veterans in clinics, medical centers, Community Clinics, etc. This position also requires close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading; and repetitive motions of the wrists, hands, and/or finqers.

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:

• License
• Long-form resume/Curriculum vitae (CV)
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

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
• Disability Letter (Schedule A)
• License
• Long-form resume/Curriculum vitae (CV)
• Drivers License
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees.

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