Clarification from the agency

US CITIZENS: All qualified candidates encouraged to apply. Open to U.S. Citizens. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this occupational series. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

The CLC Social Worker is responsible for completing assessments, facilitating Goals of Care Conversations, facilitating completion of Advance Directives, discharge planning, providing crisis intervention services, and providing ongoing behavioral health interventions to Veterans and their families at the Lake City VA Community Living Center (CLC ) neighborhoods. The Lake City VA CLC consists of four neighborhoods, including a 40-bed Short Term Rehabilitation neighborhood, a 40-bed Long Term Care neighborhood, a 30-bed secure Dementia Care neighborhood, and a 15-bed Hospice and Palliative Care neighborhood. Veterans may be admitted for short term rehabilitation or long-term care. Clinical work may include the provision of short-term solution-focused or problem-solving focused evidence-based interventions, support groups and counseling/psychotherapy (appropriate to level of licensure). Work is conducted in collaboration with interdisciplinary treatment teams and with Veterans and/or their caregivers.

Duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Requiring basic knowledge of human development and behavior (physical and psychological), and the differential influences of the environment, society, and culture. Additionally, has basic knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities, and treatment procedures to include acute, chronic, and traumatic illnesses/injuries; common medications and their effects/side effects; and basic medical terminology for the purpose of ensuring a comprehensive assessment of biopsychosocial barriers to health and well-being.
• Conducting psychosocial assessments to evaluate the needs of patients and their family members to formulate and implement a treatment plan, identifying the patient's problems, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and assistance needed.
• Evaluating outcomes of interventions for a wide variety of individuals from various socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic, educational, and other diversified backgrounds.
• Working with patients and families/caregivers who are experiencing emotional, medical, social, and behavioral/mental health problems utilizing individual, group, and family psychotherapy skills appropriate to level of licensure.
• Reviewing and coordinating all phases of continuing care for Veterans served while they are an inpatient as well as providing a handoff to the Veteran's assigned PACT, Specialty Clinic and/or other appropriate Clinical Social Worker for follow up post discharge.
• Facilitating referrals based upon the Veteran's needs and eligibility.
• Serving as liaison to community agencies and networks with agency representatives.
• Understanding the complexities of the medical system, recognizing and understanding the intimidation of bureaucracy, and acting as an advocate when needed to serve the best interest of the Veteran and family members/caregiver.
• Remaining up to date on the community social service programs available to ensure the Veteran is receiving education and information about, and referrals to current, viable resources to best meet their needs.
• Completing crisis assessments, developing and executing crisis management plans in a timely, effective and efficient manner. Effectively negotiating crisis situations, utilizing supportive, problem solving, and/or crisis intervention techniques.
• Collaborating in the performance improvement processes and complying with performance measures as required by the VA for their specific population and/or program.
• Establishing and maintaining positive, professional working relationships with internal and external stakeholders and communicating effectively, both orally and in writing, with people from varied backgrounds.
• This position can also float and cover other areas, including but not limited to; medical surgical unit, PACT, and Emergency Department.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
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: Not available.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement # 51186F & 51187F

Conditions of employment

NOTE: Prior to accepting a final employment offer, all selected applicants will be required to sign a Memorandum of Understanding regarding deployment responsibilities

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job. Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• 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 and maintain CDT physical readiness.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Must be able to meet physical demands which include strenuous physical activity to include carrying persons and equipment, walking long distances over difficult terrain, running, climbing, working long hours in primitive or arduous conditions, long periods of standing, and bending and stooping.
• 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-year 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 masters 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.
Social Worker, GS-9

• 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 of the following KSAs:

a) Utilize a Veteran centric approach when providing interventions and counseling for Veterans, their family members, caregivers, and survivors.
b) 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.
c) 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.
d) Establish and maintain effective working relationships and communicate with clients, staff, and representatives of community agencies.
e) 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

• Entry Level Assignments: Individuals assigned as GS-9 grade level social workers are considered to be at the entry level and are closely supervised, as they are not yet functioning at the independent practice level conferred by independent licensure or certification. Social workers at the GS-9 are typically assigned to program areas that do not require specialized knowledge or experience. Duties may include but are not limited to:identifying behaviors or symptoms of abuse, neglect or exploitation; providing education on advance directives and advanced care planning; providing social work case management; acting as an advocate with appropriate VA and community service providers/agencies when it serves the best interest of the Veteran and family members/caregiver; assessing the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and their family identifying the Veteran's strengths, weaknesses, coping skills and psychosocial acuity, in collaboration with the Veteran, family, and interdisciplinary treatment teams; maintaining a current network of internal and external resources to educate the Veteran and/or family members/caregivers and assist with the appropriate referrals. Since social workers at this level are not practicing at an independent level, they should not be assigned to program areas where independent practice is required unless there is a licensed social worker in the program area who can provide supervision for practice. GS-9 social workers provide psychosocial services in the assigned area under supervision
• Experience: 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 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:
  • Knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services.
  • Skill in independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic, educational, and other backgrounds.
  • 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.
  • 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
  • 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.
  • Full Performance Level Assignments: Social workers at this level are licensed or certified to independently practice social work. Are assigned to all program areas, including but not limited to: inpatient or outpatient medicine, surgery, mental health, neurology, rehabilitation medicine, and geriatrics. Employees provide professional, independent social work services in the assigned area. Duties include but are not limited to: assessing and documenting identified behaviors or symptoms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and/or intimate partner violence.

Preferred Experience and Certifications

• Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), or Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) certification
• Full independent licensure at the advanced practice level
• At least two years should be in an area of specialized social work practice.
• Experience in conducting visits to impacted areas and emergency shelters, possibly in conjunction with VA Disaster Emergency Medical Personal System (DEMPS) or other Emergency Management response protocols
• Experience working on a multi-disciplinary team with experience using evidence based treatment

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

Physical Requirements: Eligible applicants must be physically and mentally able to perform efficiently the essential functions of the position, with or without reasonable accommodation, without hazard to themselves or others. Depending on the essential duties of a specific position, usable vision, color vision, hearing or speech may be required. However, in most cases, a specific physical condition or impairment of a specific function may be compensated for by the satisfactory use of a prosthesis or mechanical aid.

How you will be evaluated

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

Your application, resume, C.V., and/or other 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.

To apply for this position, you must submit a C.V. and/or resume. Other documents may be requested later in the process if needed.

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.

Veterans' Preference Note: Preference eligible candidates and other Veterans will be given preference when qualification of candidates are approximately equal for Title 38 positions in VHA. When applying for Federal Jobs, eligible Veterans should claim preference for 5pt (TP), 10pt (CP/CPS/XP), or for Sole Survivor Preference (SSP) in the questionnaire. You must provide a legible copy of your DD214(s) which shows dates and character of service (honorable, general, etc.). If you are currently serving on active duty and expect to be released or discharged within 120 days you must submit documentation related to your active duty service which reflects the dates of service, character of service (honorable, general, etc.), and dates of impending separation. Additionally, disabled veterans and others eligible for 10-point preference (such as widows or mothers of eligible Veterans) must also submit an SF-15 "Application for 10 Point Veteran Preference" with required proof as stated on the form. Documentation is required to award preference. For more information on Veterans' Preference, please visit Feds Hire Vets - Veterans - Job Seekers - Veterans' Preference.

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