Senior Social Worker (HUD-VASH)

The Senior Social Worker is a professional licensed clinical social worker who functions as the Case Management Specialist in the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) Program at the GS-12 grade level and is responsible for providing case management services as part of a geographically-based multidisciplinary team. Duties include but are not limited too:

• Conducts and participates in outreach activities including field interviews and assessments for homeless veterans identified by the Homeless Outreach team in the community shelters and on the streets as well as those who are referred by VA residential programs medical centers or outpatient clinics.
• Evaluates the veterans situation abilities and history in a collaborative and recovery-oriented manner and arrives at a reasoned conclusion including an assessment of vulnerability case management needs and prioritization factors for admission.
• Reviews all subjective and objective data and makes a clinical assessment identifying needs and strengths.
• Provides a concise summary of the veterans history of homelessness case management needs and eligibility factors as well as any additional supports to enhance the veterans ability to safely living independently in the community to the HUD-VASH Determination Committee.
• Develops psychosocial treatment plans actively involving the veteran and their family or significant others in coordination with interdisciplinary team members based on the psychosocial assessments with goals focused on obtaining/sustaining permanent housing and addressing identified challenges to becoming and remaining permanently housed.
• Makes initial and continuing decisions coordinating the veterans care through linking and referral to VA medical facilities or Regional Offices and other VA and non-VA services.
• Provides direct mental health and substance abuse services for veterans and family members and/or counsels significant others in support of the veterans treatment.
• Explains veterans treatment and progress to third parties as appropriate and manages the quality control and evaluation of the professional services provided.
• Responsible for data collection administrative record keeping and monitoring patient clinical indicators for each of the veterans assigned to him/her on their caseload as well as being familiar with all the veterans in the incumbents team.
• The incumbent documents independently in the electronic medical record including psychosocial assessments individual service or treatment plans diagnostics treatment progress notes follow up and referral.
• Provides orientation for interdisciplinary team members and conducts staff development programs for CVAMC staff and in the community as needed.
• The incumbent serves as a mentor to other mental health staff particularly those at the entry level or who are new to HUD-VASH.

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.
• Possess a valid unrestricted State drivers license.
• 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

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.
• 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 4 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 Language Proficiency: Licensed practical or vocational nurses appointed to direct patient care positions must be proficient in both spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d) and 7407(f).

• Experience/Education: The candidate must have at least two years of experience post advanced practice clinical licensure and should be in a specialized area of social work practice of which one year must be equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Senior social workers have experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment. Senior social workers are experts in their specialized area of practice. Senior social workers may have certification or other post-masters training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship or equivalent supervised professional experience in a specialty.
• Licensure/Certification: Senior social workers must be licensed or certified by a state 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.
• Demonstrated Knowledge Skills and Abilities: In addition to the experience above candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
  • Skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities used in specialty treatment programs or with special patient populations. This includes individual group and/or family counseling or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial and/or case management.
  • Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
  • Knowledge in developing and implementing methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services in the specialty area utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services and to design system changes.
  • Ability to provide specialized consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients in the service delivery area as well as role modeling effective social work practice skills.
  • Ability to expand clinical knowledge in the social work profession and to write policies procedures and/or practice guidelines pertaining to the service delivery area.