Senior Social Worker

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Duties for this position include but are not limited to:

• Provide specialized treatment of complex physical or mental illness including adjustment to chronic or life threatening diagnoses and readjustment/re-integration to the community after completion of treatments.
• Provide educational information to veterans and their families regarding cancer and
  treatment related issues. Educates referral sources community agencies Veteran
  Service Organizations and other interested parties regarding the scope and
  management of this patient population.
• Provide referrals to VA and community resources as needed by inpatient and outpatient hematology oncology and radiation therapy patients. Facilitates treatment and discharge plans for hematology and oncology admitted patients.
• Provide individual group and family psychotherapy or counseling and advanced level case management interventions used in the treatment of veterans with oncology and hematology.
• Provide consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients treated in specialty areas rendering professional opinions based on experience and expertise and role modeling effective social work practice skills.
• Provide or refer for couples/family interventions as indicated.
• Providing sufficient clinical care for competency assessment peer review and
  credentialing and privileging processes.
• Participation in a peer review process as assigned.
• Serve as a mentor including new employee orientation if privileged to perform
  and as assigned.
• Providing LCSW supervision if privileged to perform and as assigned.
• Participating in data collection and practice standardization activities.
• Providing information to Social Work Professional Practice Council regarding
  their needs as an individual practice member.

• 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.
• English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f).
• 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. NOTE: 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. At the time of appointment the supervisor chief social work or social work executive will provide the unlicensed/uncertified social worker with the written requirements for licensure or certification including the time by which the license or certification must be obtained and the consequences for not becoming licensed or certified by the deadline.
• A social worker who does not yet have a license that allows independent practice must be supervised by a licensed independent practitioner of the same discipline who is a VA staff member and who has access to the electronic health record.
• Different states have different levels of licensure or certification making it difficult for VHA staff to determine the independent practice level. Each state Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia completed surveys identifying the level of licensure or certification allowing independent practice. Copies of the surveys are on file in the VHA Office of Care Management and Social Work Services and a summary spreadsheet of the levels of licensure or certification is available to social work professional standards board members for purposes of determining whether the social workers level of licensure or certification meets the VHA qualification standards. All states except California use a series of licensure exams administered by the ASWB. Information can be found at ASWB is the association of boards that regulates social work. ASWB develops and maintains the social work licensing examination used across the country and is a central resource for information on the legal regulation of social work.

• 2 years of medicine experience in an inpatient/prime care/outpatient/specialty clinic.