The Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center provides veterans with health care services at 9 locations in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and northeastern Wisconsin. Facilities include our Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center in Iron Mountain and 8 community-based outpatient clinics in Gladstone, Hancock, Ironwood, Manistique, Marquette, Menominee, and Sault Saint Marie, Michigan, and Rhinelander, Wisconsin.

The incumbent is responsible for the case management, coordination, and provision of mental health services for a caseload of Veterans in the HUD-VASH program. The incumbent works on an interdisciplinary team and works collaboratively with other professionals to provide high quality care to Veterans enrolled in the HUD-VASH Program.

Major Duties include but not limited:

• Verifying the Veteran's status, eligibility for VA medical care, and eligibility of program participation.
• Ensuring that homeless Veterans are considered as primary participants for HUD-VASH program acceptance.
• Identifying behaviors or symptoms of abuse, neglect or exploitation and following local standard operating procedures and policies for reporting to appropriate authorities.
• Facilitating the delivery of health care services in collaboration with the Veteran, family/caregiver, and interdisciplinary treatment team.
• Conducting an intake assessment with Veterans referred to the HUD-VASH program including a comprehensive biopsychosocial (BPS) assessment to determine the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and their family members, identifying the Veteran's strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and psychosocial acuity.
• Following standard operating procedures for evaluating and mitigating suicide risk to include: Completing the Columbia Suicide Severity Risk Screening (C-SSRS) in the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) on all patients at intake. Adding treatment plan goals on any Veteran whose record is flagged "High Risk for Suicide." Additionally, completing the Comprehensive Suicide Risk Evaluation, Suicide Safety Plan, and Suicide Behavior & Overdose Report (SBOR) via shared template as clinically indicated per BHS policy.
• Educating the Veteran and his or her family about the process of obtaining a HUD-VASH voucher with the local housing authority and assisting the Veteran and/or his/her family with navigating this process and selecting a unit for housing. Helping Veterans obtain all necessary documentation required by the PHA for voucher assistance.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm
Telework: Not available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #:09026F
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive.Contact , the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more
This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific eligibility requirements per VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) & eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply.
VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• 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.
• 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:

• Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States.
• English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed.
• 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.

IN ADDITION TO MEETING THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS LISTED ABOVE, YOU MUST MEET THE FOLLOWING GRADE REQUIREMENTS TO QUALIFY FOR THIS POSITION.

GS-11 Grade Requirements:
(1) 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
(2) 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.
AND
(3) 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, cultural, ethnic, educational and other diversified 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.

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

Preferred Experience: The incumbent is responsible for the case management, coordination, and provision of mental health services for a caseload of Veterans in the HUD-VASH program. The incumbent works on an interdisciplinary team and works collaboratively with other professionals to provide high quality care to homeless Veterans enrolled in the HUD-VASH Program.

Physical Requirements: Work is mostly sedentary and primarily performed in an office setting. Typical office work involves active listening, reading, observing, and evaluating verbal and nonverbal behavior, writing reports and clinical notes. The position requires the use of office equipment such as computers, keyboards, telephones, fax machines, and photocopy machines.

The incumbent may occasionally be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium, dementia, or psychiatric disorders. If required as a condition of employment, the incumbent must complete annual Employee Health requirements, such as annual TB screening or testing, employee physicals, etc.

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:

• Resume

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
• License
• Other (1)
• Resume
• Transcript

This position is a FY26 VHA Shortage Occupation Approved for Waiver of Veteran's Preference.

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