Social Worker - Primary Care Behavioral Health

Clarification from the agency

This job is open to current permanent VA Nationwide employees, Federal employees of other Agencies, and U.S. Citizens NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Duties of the Social Worker include, but are not limited to:

• Establishes and maintains effective therapeutic relationships with Veterans and/or their support systems. Works with Veterans who are experiencing a wide range of complicated medical, psychiatric, emotional, behavioral, financial, and psychosocial issues
• Identifies high-risk needs and prioritizes case management services
• Completes an appropriate (brief or comprehensive) psychosocial assessment to determine the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and/or their support systems
• Actively participates and collaborates with the interdisciplinary treatment team and with Veterans and/or their support systems to develop and implement treatment goals and interventions
• Implements appropriate interventions to include facilitating psycho-educational classes, providing individual and/or group psychotherapy and supportive groups for Veterans and/or their support systems
• Conducts cognitive screening including utilizing the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and St. Louis University Mental Status exam (SLUMS)
• Provides consultation and education to Veterans/support systems regarding community resources, VA benefits and specialty programs, and advance directives
• Provide case management services to Veterans and their families throughout the continuum of care
• Performs comprehensive suicide risk screenings and assessments and develops and integrates safety planning and safety goals into the Veteran's collaborative, individualized treatment plan
• In conjunction with the healthcare team, identifies and assesses risk, safety, supports and implements appropriate interventions/treatment for those who are experiencing abuse, neglect, exploitation or are experiencing domestic or intimate partner violence
• Documents all Veteran care in the electronic health record in accordance with facility policy, VHA Directive 1162.05 (and revisions), and program-specific SOPs
• Actively participate on committees, work groups, and task forces at the facility as deemed appropriate by the supervisor, Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH) Program Manager, Deputy ACOS and/or ACOS, Mental Health Service

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 7:30am-4:00pm or 8:00am-4:30pm (Subject to change based on the needs of the service)
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized.
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized.
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact VHALITSBU@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more
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). Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.
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: Available, per supervisor discretion
Virtual: This is not a virtual position
Functional Statement #: GS-9, 598-01520-F; GS-11, 598-01521-F
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 evaluation.
• 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:
1. United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
2. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
3. Education. VHA Social Worker must 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.
4. 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.
  • For appointments at the GS-9 grade level, VHA social workers who are not licensed or certified at the time of appointment must become licensed or certified at the independent, master's level within three years of their appointment as a social worker. Most states require two years of post-MSW experience as a prerequisite to taking the licensure/certification exam, and VHA gives social workers one additional year to pass the licensure/certification exam. In states such as California, Washington, and others where the prerequisites for licensure exceed two years, social workers must become licensed at the independent, master's level within one year of meeting the full state prerequisites for licensure.

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).

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

Social Worker, GS-9
Experience, Education and, Licensure: None beyond the basic requirements.

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

1. Ability to work with Veterans and family members from various socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic, educational, and other diversified backgrounds utilizing counseling skills
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

Social Worker, GS-11
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.

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 (KSAs): 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, cultural, ethnic, educational and other diversified 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

Note: KSAs must be clearly reflected in your resume under description of duties to be found qualified for this position/grade level.

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

Preferred Experience:

• LMSW License
• One and a half years (1.5 years) of experience with PCMHI certification as a CCC or similar experience working on integrated behavioral health teams
• Demonstrated success in teamwork, collaboration, and interpersonal effectiveness especially in busy settings
• Experience and success in PCMHI same-day access and implementation via scrubbing the PCMHI dashboard to generate patient referrals, huddling with PACT teams, creative outreach
• Strong computer and written communication skills
• Experience providing suicide risk assessments and initial treatments
• Commitment to continual growth in culturally competent practice
• Experience in treating behavioral health conditions such as chronic pain, sleep disturbance, diabetes treatment adherence, and tobacco cessation
• Strong background in the provision of brief, individual and group evidence-based therapies (i.e., Motivational Interviewing/Motivational Enhancement Therapy, Behavioral Activation, Mindfulness and Acceptance-based interventions, Problem Solving Therapy, Cognitive­Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain)
• Experience providing tele-mental health services
• Experience and willingness to supervise and train interns and fellows

Continuded in Education Section...

How you will be evaluated

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

Area of Consideration - Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order:

1. Current permanent VA employees of the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, including CBOCs
2. Current permanent VHA employees
3. All other VA employees
4. Current Permanent Federal employees of other agencies
5. All other applicants

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

Resume Requirement:Your resume MUST include the following information:

1. Job title
2. Description of duties
3. Beginning and ending date (month/year) of employment
4. Average hours worked per week

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)
• Performance Appraisal
• Professional Certification
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (if applicable for Eligibility):

• Most recent SF-50 if you are a current or former Federal employee

Examples of appropriate SF-50's include:

• Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or
• Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or
• SF-50's at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.

Selections from this announcement will be made without regard to Veterans' preference in accordance with OCHCO Bulletin dated 9/25/2025

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