Social Worker

The HUD-VASH Social Worker functions as part of the Health Care for Homeless Veterans interdisciplinary team and provides psychosocial services primarily to Veterans who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Responsible for providing case management services for veterans receiving housing provided through HUD Housing Choice vouchers. Case management is defined as the provision of services by VA clinical staff to homeless veterans and includes all activities to provide appropriate treatment and maintain veterans in HUD approved stable housing. The position is located at the Raymond G. Murphy Medical Center in Albuquerque and many of the services occur in the community as the incumbent provides comprehensive clinical case management services to facilitate the provision of housing services and stabilization.

The major duties and responsibilities HUD-VASH Social Worker includes but are not limited to:

• Verifies the veterans status eligibility for VA medical care and eligibility of program participation.
• Assisting Veterans with completion of paperwork specific to the voucher process ensuring all steps are completed for submission to the Public Housing Authorities.
• Provide support to Veterans during the voucher issuance process.
• Utilizing Housing First and other evidence-based practice models to promote Veteran engagement and self-efficacy.
• Assisting the Veteran with housing placement beginning with the process of obtaining a HUD-VASH voucher from the Public Housing Authority (PHA) through the lease up process.
• Advocating on behalf of Veterans and their families with landlords PHA community providers and internal VA stakeholders. - Performs assessments and assists Veterans in developing treatment plans;
• Assisting Veterans to form and achieve goals to improve quality of life to include the pursuit of employment engagement in medical and mental health care increased social supports access to benefits and end of life planning.
• Coordinates care including serving as an advocate on behalf of the Veterans to ensure comprehensive service delivery and linking veterans to VHA services VA Regional offices and all relevant community agencies;
• Maintains and manages a caseload of Veterans on a continuum from initial assessment and housing search through long-term successful housing;
• Provides intensive case management to Veterans in need of ongoing assessment and support in order to achieve and maintain housing and treatment goals.
• Providing a wide range of social work interventions and services in both individual or group settings as consistent with VHA Directive 1110.02 Social Work Professional Practice and approved scope of practice

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

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. Masters degree in social work (MSW) 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 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 masters degree in social work.
• Licensure. Must have license or certification by a state to independently practice social work at the masters degree level. **Exception - For assignments at the GS-9 level VHA may waive the licensure or certification requirement for persons who are otherwise qualified pending completion of state prerequisites for licensure/certification examinations. 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.

1. Ability to utilize a Veteran centric approach when providing interventions and counseling for Veterans their family members caregivers and survivors.
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.

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.