Senior Social Worker (Joint Suicide Prevention)

Clarification from the agency

*** This position is ONLY open to current, permanent VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System (ECHCS) Employees, current permanent VHA Employees Nationwide, and other current permanent Federal employees*** NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position.

The incumbent will develop and create assessments through an electronic screening tool called eScreening, as needed. The incumbent will be creating and reviewing eScreening batteries sent to and completed by transitioning Service Members.

The incumbent will be responsible for administering a screening for eligibility of VHA care, high risk characteristics, and other psychosocial screens as developed through eScreening. The JSPC Program will review each Veteran's responses provided through eScreening, providing an educational overview about Veteran's VA Healthcare benefits and to provide immediate medical/mental health triage when clinically necessary.

The JSPC Program Coordinator will be responsible for data collection, data management, and oversight of all eScreening operations within the Joint Suicide Prevention Collaborative initiative. The incumbent will be responsible to report data as requested by JSPC Program Manager, Sharing Agreement Oversight Committee, CM&SW leadership, and Executive Leadership Team as directed and requested.

The incumbent must actively participate as a member of the M2VA/JSPC Program.

The incumbent must possess skills and knowledge to provide case management services to Service Members/ Veterans and their families throughout the continuum of care. The incumbent will be able to appropriately utilize principles of human growth and development over the life span.

The incumbent must possess and demonstrate ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing with people from varied backgrounds.

The incumbent is administratively responsible for the JSPC eScreening program, overseeing the daily operations, developing policies & procedures for program operations, and preparing reports and statistics for facility, DoD Partners, VISN and National use.

The incumbent is responsible for developing and monitoring staff compliance with practice, standards and guidelines on documentation, workload, data entry, ethical practice and service delivery.

The incumbent provides analysis and evaluation of clinical program data and computerized programs to identify system-wide trends and needs to enhance the quality of service.

The incumbent provides leadership, direction, orientation, in-service training, staff development throughout ECHCS as needed.

The incumbent is responsible for supporting the mission, policies, and procedures of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 19, and VA Eastern Colorado Healthcare System.

The incumbent keeps their supervisor apprised of problems and recommended solutions to problems encountered in the incumbent's area of responsibility.

The incumbent is responsible for furthering one's own professional growth through working toward completion of prerequisites for licensure or certification, through continuing education and for ensuring continuing education is appropriate to the area of assignment.

The incumbent demonstrates knowledge and skill in the use of software applications for drafting documents and data management as well as other computer systems in use by the VHA.

The incumbent maintains a level of productivity and quality consistent with the complexity of the assignment and consistent with Social Work standards, Joint Commission standards, and facility standards.

The incumbent modifies tour of duty as necessary to accommodate the needs of Service Member/Veteran patients.

Incumbent must meet the needs of customers while supporting VA Missions; consistently communicate and treat customers (Veterans, their representatives, visitors, and all VA Staff) in a courteous, tactful, and respectful manner; provide customer with consistent information according to established policies and procedures; and handle conflict and problems in dealing with customers constructively and appropriately.

Incumbent effectively communicates with and utilizes other disciplines (e.g. nursing, medicine) to facilitate treatment planning and implementation. Collaborates with multidisciplinary team members in a manner that enhances coordination of comprehensive patient care. Effectively communicates with and utilizes community agencies to facilitate treatment and continuity of care. Collaborates with a variety of community agencies and engages in
problem resolution activities. The employee's relationship with supervisors, co-workers, patients, visitors, and the general public is consistently courteous and cooperative in nature, and overall contributes to the effective operation of the case management program.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm
Telework: Available Ad-HOC per agency policy
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 55359A
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): 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.
• 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 & 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. At the time of appointment, the supervisor, chief social work or social work executive will provide the unlicensed/uncertified social worker with the written requirements for licensure or certification, including the time by which the license or certification must be obtained and the consequences for not becoming licensed or certified by the deadline.

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).

Grandfathering Provision. The following is the standard grandfathering policy for all title 38 hybrid qualification standards. Please carefully review the qualification standard to determine the specific education and/or licensure/certification/registration requirements that apply to this occupation.

1. All persons employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including positive education and licensure or certification that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all of the basic requirements in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply:
2. Such employees in an occupation that requires a licensure or certification, may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level, or changed to lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the journey level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.
3. Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.
4. Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration that meet all of the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation.
5. If an employee who was retained in an occupation listed in 38 U.S.C. § 7401(3) under this provision leaves that occupation, the employee loses protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation.

• NOTE: If social workers covered under the grandfathering provision of the 1991 Federal law regarding licensure or certification of VHA social workers leave the GS 0185 social work series, they lose the grandfathering protection. If they choose to return at a later date to the GS-0185 series, they must be licensed or certified to qualify for employment as a social worker.

Grade Determinations: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, the candidate 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: Experience working with Active Duty Service Members. Knowledge of challenges faced by separating Service Members, knowledge of VA service programs.

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

Physical Requirements: Physical demands of the work are generally minor, as the position requires sitting, standing, and walking. This position also requires the incumbent be trained in therapeutic containment and personal safety skills in the most advanced levels of Prevention and Management of Disruptive Behavior (PMDB) which requires blocking strikes and grabs, dropping to knees and lunging forward and balancing on an extended leg.

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

Examples of SF-50s to include Within Grade Increase(s), Promotion(s), and/or Appointment action(s). AWARD SF50'S ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE AND WILL BE DISQUALIFED

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 (VA)
• License
• Long-form resume/Curriculum vitae (CV)
• Other (1)
• Professional Certification
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Next steps