Social Worker

Clarification from the agency

Open to all US Citizens. Veterans Preference does not apply to this job series. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

The PACT Social Worker provides clinical psychosocial and case management services to eligible Veterans and their family members to meet biological, psychological, social, and environmental needs.

Major duties and responsibilities of the position:

• The incumbent interviews Veterans and family members/significant others to establish facts about the Veteran's situation, presenting problems, causes, contributing factors, and the impact of such problems on the Veteran's functioning and health as part of a comprehensive psychosocial assessment. Interprets and explains VA's treatment and referral to services and programs.
• Reviews all data, subjective and objective, and makes a clinical assessment identifying needs and strengths. Effectively uses professional skill, objectivity, and insight. Uses advanced clinical training, insight, and experience to interpret data and to identify viable treatment options. Assesses high risk factors, acuity; and need for services of veterans.
• Evaluates the client's situation, including the Veteran's social, medical, and personal barriers, and arrives at a reasoned conclusion. Based on the psychosocial assessment; use professional judgment and advanced practice skills to make a psychosocial diagnosis.
• Performs insightful assessment of serious and complicated cases involving psychiatric illness, catastrophic medical conditions, dementia, and other high-risk diagnoses. Make independent professional decisions and recommendations to treatment team for action.
• Develops psychosocial treatment plans in coordination with interdisciplinary team members, including goals for psychosocial clinical treatment. Using known available resources and the initial assessment of the Veteran's likelihood to accept differing types of assistance, the incumbent makes initial and continuing decisions regarding use of VA and non-VA services and referrals.
• Provides independent consultation and makes recommendations to interdisciplinary team on course of treatment. The incumbent coordinates screening of patients for specific medical treatments, mental health issues, and specialty clinics and programs. The incumbent adjusts the psychosocial treatment plan and interventions based on changing needs and response to interventions.
• Evaluates his/her practice on an ongoing basis through participation in professional peer review, case conferences, research studies, or other organized means. The incumbent is active in and accepts responsibility for the development and maintenance of professional standards of treatment.
• Provides clinical services to Veterans and family members/significant others in support of the Veteran's treatment; gives advice, guidance, emotional support, and other assistance. Assists and encourages Veterans and significant others in facing problems, thinking them through, evaluating the situation realistically, considering alternative courses of action, and arriving at plans for using resources to resolve problems.
• Receives and completes requests for services (consults) from interdisciplinary team members and from other Primary Care Providers and Social Workers. Also provides consultation to Social Workers, other Primary Care Providers, and interdisciplinary team members. The incumbent is responsible for the development and maintenance of professional standards of practice and educating others about them.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).
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, as determined by the agency policy.
Functional Statement #: 52962A, 52963A

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.

Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

Basic Requirements:

• Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• English Proficiency Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
• Education:
• 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.
• 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 SW Licensure Summary by State https://www.aswb.org/licenses/how-to-get-a-license/licensing-requirements-by-state-or-province/.
• **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.

Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

GS-09 Social Worker:

Experience, Education, and Licensure. None beyond the basic requirements.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all the following KSAs:

(1) Ability to utilize a Veteran centric approach when providing interventions and counseling for Veterans, their family members, caregivers, and survivors.
(2) Ability to assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and their family members, and to formulate and implement a treatment plan, identifying the Veterans problems, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and assistance needed.
(3) Ability to implement treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups to achieve treatment goals. This requires judgment and skill in utilizing supportive, problem solving, or crisis intervention techniques.
(4) Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships and communicate with clients, staff, and representatives of community agencies.
(5) Fundamental knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities, and treatment procedures. This includes acute, chronic, and traumatic illnesses/injuries; common medications and their effects/side effects; and medical terminology.

GS-11 Social Worker:

Experience and Licensure:
Appointment to the GS-11 grade level requires completion of a minimum of one year of post-MSW experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the field of health care or other social work-related settings, (VA or non-VA experience) and licensure or certification in a state at the independent practice level.

OR

Education:

In addition to meeting basic requirements, a doctoral degree in social work from a school of social work may be substituted for the required one year of professional social work experience in a clinical setting.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities.

In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
(1) Knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services.
(2) Skill in independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic, educational, and other backgrounds.
(3) Knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities and treatment procedures (i.e. acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses/injuries, common medications and their effects/side effects, and medical terminology) to formulate a treatment plan.
(4) Skill in independently implementing different treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, medical, and social problems to achieve treatment goals.
(5) Ability to provide consultation services to new social workers, social work graduate students, and other staff about the psychosocial needs of patients and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and compliance with treatment.

Preferred Experience: Prefer two years' experience post licensure.

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-11. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-9 to GS-11.

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. 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 fingers.

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:

• Long-form resume/Curriculum vitae (CV)
• Transcript

Your resume/CV must include the following information for each job listed (a determination may not be able to be made if these items are missing):

• Job title and Duties
• Month & year, start/end dated (e.g. June 2020 to April 2021)
• Full-time or part-time status (include hours worked per week)
• Series and Grade, if applicable

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