Senior Social Worker

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

The social worker in this position functions as the Medical Centers Grant and Per Diem Liaison/Case Manager for VAs Health Care for Homeless Veterans Programs Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem (GPO) Program. The social worker is responsible for monitoring and coordination of services provided by community-based programs funded under VAs Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program.

• The social worker provides case management at GPD funded sites as described in the GPD program rules regulations and directives. The social worker utilizes various treatment modalities of individual and group work casework community organization and community outreach activities to alleviate or remove problems that interfere with the Veteran participants ability to achieve independence.
• The social worker coordinates care including serving as an advocate on behalf of the Veterans to ensure comprehensive service delivery and linking and referring Veterans to the VA Medical Center VA Regional Offices and/or community agencies.
• The social worker monitors the clinical care and assesses the compliance of the programs receiving per diem as described in the grant recipients original grant application. When necessary the social worker intervenes to facilitate compliance or corrective actions and when appropriate develops facilitates and monitors plans of correction.
• The social worker provides services and oversight of the GPO funded programs as defined in the GPO rules regulations and directives including verification of Veteran status and eligibility for participation in the GPO Program maintaining admission and discharge dates of participants for billing purposes reviewing and approving/disapproving readmissions to and extensions of care and collecting and submitting participant information as outlined by NEPEC and HOMES evaluations procedures.
• The social worker coordinates and participates in program site inspections in accordance with the GPO Program rules regulations and directives as guidance and forwards completed inspection packages to the appropriate offices. When necessary the social worker notes inspection deficiencies and establishes methods to monitor corrective actions. The social worker recommends a response to the Medical Center Director as a result of inaction or insufficient actions related to the correction of deficiencies in accordance with the GPO Handbook.

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 ( 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

Basic Requirements: The basic requirements for employment as a VHA social worker are prescribed by statute in 38 U.S.C. 7402(b)(9) as amended by section 205 of Public Law 106-419 enacted November 1 2000. To qualify for appointment as a social worker in VHA all applicants must meet the following: a. Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3 section A paragraph 3g this part).

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 Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f).

Failure to Obtain License or Certification. In all cases social workers must actively pursue meeting state prerequisites for licensure or certification starting from the date of their appointment. Failure to become licensed or certified within the prescribed amount of time will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment

Loss of Licensure or Certification. Once licensed or certified social workers must maintain a full valid and unrestricted independent license or certification to remain qualified for employment. Loss of licensure or certification will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment.

Grandfathering Provision. The following is the standard grandfathering policy for all title 38 hybrid qualification standards. Please carefully review the qualification standard to determine the specific education and/or licensure/certification/registration requirements that apply to this occupation.

(1) All persons employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title series and grade held including positive education and licensure or certification that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all of the basic requirements in this standard but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it the following provisions apply:

(2) Such employees in an occupation that requires a licensure or certification may be reassigned promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level or changed to lower grade within the occupation but may not be promoted beyond the journey level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.

(3) Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.

(4) Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration that meet all of the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation.

(5) If an employee who was retained in an occupation listed in 38 U.S.C. 7401(3) under this provision leaves that occupation the employee loses protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation.

NOTE: If social workers covered under the grandfathering provision of the 1991 Federal law regarding licensure or certification of VHA social workers leave the GS0185 social work series they lose the grandfathering protection. If they choose to return at a later date to the GS-0185 series they must be licensed or certified to qualify for employment as a social worker.

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

Senior Social Worker GS-12

Experience/Education. The candidate must have at least two years of experience 9 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.