Social Worker-Patient Aligned Care Team

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VA Careers - Licensed Clinical Social Worker: Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

• Able to maintain effective therapeutic relationships with Veterans in the Primary Care Clinic &/or their families.
• Independently works with Veterans & their families who are experiencing a wide range of complicated medical psychiatric emotional behavioral financial legal & psychosocial problems.
• Independently complete thorough psychosocial assessments to determine the psychosocial functioning & needs of Veterans &/or their families.
• Participates as a member of the interdisciplinary treatment team & actively participate through collaboration with Veterans & family as well as interdisciplinary treatment team members in the development & implementation of treatment goals & interventions.
• Has experience in medical & mental health diagnoses disabilities & treatment procedures including acute chronic & traumatic illnesses substance abuse disorders common medications & their effects/side effects & medical terminology.
• Facilitates action for community placements through collaboration with Veterans & their families as well as interdisciplinary treatment team members to ensure that appropriate community placements are completed in a timely manner.
• Serves as a liaison between Veterans &/or their families & VA & community resources in order to ensure thorough delivery of services.
• Works independently to implement treatment modalities provide educational classes &/or supportive groups for Veterans & families including shared medical appointments. The social worker must be able to use & teach Veterans in the effective use of the My HealtheVet system.
• Coordinates with staff at each of the assigned CBOCs as well as telehealth coordinators to provide clinical telehealth services.
• Must be up to date on all trainings & requirements so that they may provide ongoing telehealth services without interruption to patient care.
• Provides consultation & education to Veterans & their families regarding community resources VA benefits & specialty programs & advance directives.
• Ability to understand the process for accessing &/or coordinating community-based services including information & referral for additional services from other VA programs other government programs & community programs.
• Must be available to provide consultation to other treatment team & staff members regarding psychosocial needs of Veterans &/or their families & the impact of the identified psychosocial problems on the Veterans health care planning & compliance with treatment.
• Maintains up-to-date knowledge of Veterans benefits & services community resources & process for making appropriate referrals to community & other governmental programs or agencies.
• Provides case management services to Veterans & their families throughout the continuum of care. The incumbent will be able to appropriately utilize principles of human growth & development over the life span & will be able to assist Veterans in coping with the loss & grief experiences from disability & terminal illness.
• Communicates effectively both orally & in writing with people from varied backgrounds.
• Able to provide brief psychotherapy & support therapy to Veterans & their families.

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 ( Effective May 7 2025 drivers 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.

• 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.

Qualifications

***This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until December 30 2025. The initial cut-off date for referral of eligible applications will be November 13th 2025 with subsequent cut-off dates on the 1st of each month. Eligible applications received after that date will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as-needed basis until position is filled.***

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 and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f).
• Driver License: Driver License is Required.
• Education. Have a masters 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 masters degree in social work. Verification of the degree can be made by going to 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 masters degree level. Current state requirements may be found by going to 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.
  • 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 masters level within three years of their appointment as a social worker.

• Ability to work with Veterans and family members from various socioeconomic cultural ethnic educational and other diversified backgrounds utilizing counseling skills.
• 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.
• 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.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships and communicate with clients staff and representatives of community agencies.
• 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.

• NOTE: For appointment licensure or certification at this level please refer to paragraph 3c.

• 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.