Senior Social Worker Behavioral Health Access Team EDRP

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

The Behavioral Health Access Team (BHAT) Senior Social Worker is a senior practitioner that works as part of a multidisciplinary team comprised of Psychiatric providers Psychologists Nurses Medical Support Assistants and other Social Workers of varying practice levels that provide immediate access on demand same day Mental Health Services to Veterans enrolled in the El Paso VA Health Clinic.

Duties include but are not limited to:

• Under the direction of the BHAT Program Manager the BHAT Senior Social Worker orients trains and oversees new Social Work staff as well as other interdisciplinary and allied staff in BHAT systems processes and workflows.
• Serves as a mentor and coach to other Social Workers assumes responsibility and shows initiative for their learning and professional development evaluates BHAT social work practice through participation in professional peer reviews.
• Utilizes deescalation strategies conducting suicide risk assessments developing and implementing crisis management plans establishing safety plans coordinating admission to inpatient psychiatric programs and coordinating after-care treatment.
• Completes same day triage assessments crisis assessments suicide risk assessments and biopsychosocial assessments of Veterans in collaboration with the interdisciplinary treatment team the Veteran and Veterans family members/caregivers.
• Collaborates with the veteran in treatment plan development based on their biopsychosocial assessment setting achievable treatment goals with the Veteran and identifying outcome-based measures for each goal.
• Collaborates with other service providers throughout the ongoing assessment of veteran needs.
• Educates the veteran and if requested family members/caregivers about available services and assists them in establishing appropriate referrals based on veteran needs and preferences.
• Identifies understands and brokers available resources within the VA and community to meet veterans presenting needs.
• Provides education to veterans and involved family/caregivers related to evidence-based psychotherapy treatments group therapy treatment and/or additional VA and community resources.
• Review the progress notes from other multidisciplinary providers to accurately determine the strengths and limitations of each veteran.
• Assists the BHAT Program Manager in drafting policies procedures functional statements planning and conducting Department meetings attends all required Behavioral Health staff meetings and performs other duties as required.
• Enters all Veteran/family contacts in the electronic record using appropriate formats and templates.

• 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 identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• 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.

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 tohttp:// 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 tohttp:// 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.
  
  For GS-12:
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Demonstrated Knowledge Skills and Abilities. In addition to the experience above candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
     1. 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.
     2. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
     3. 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.
     4. 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.
     5. 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
  
  Preferred Experience:
  • Knowledge of working with Veteran and/or Military population.
  • Experience with crisis intervention and risk management.
  • Experience with evidence-based psychotherapies.
  • Clinical proficiency in managing discharge planning.
  • Experience with admitting patients for mental health treatment.
  
  Reference: For more information on this qualification standard please visit full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12.
  
  Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Some work may require movement between offices hospitals warehouses and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work. Work may also require walking/standing in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site. Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds.
  Education

  Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges universities schools or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information visit: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
  
  If your school has changed names or is no longer in existence you must provide this information in your application.
  
  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.
  
  If your school was accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) at the time of graduation but is no longer listed on the CSWE website you must provide documentation of accreditation with your application packet. 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.

  Additional information

  During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.
  
  This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.
  
  This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.
  
  VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38 and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.
  
  If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.
  
  Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicants criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations Security and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

  Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government passionate about the ideals of our American republic and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

  A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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  Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.