Senior Social Worker Veterans Intensive PTSD (VIP) Program

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

The MHRRTP at American Lake VA is a 64-bed residential unit currently housing the STAR (residential substance use treatment) VIP (residential PTSD treatment) and HERO (residential mental health treatment for Veterans experiencing homelessness) programs. Senior Social Workers in all MHRRTP programs work as part of an interdisciplinary treatment team in which social work psychology psychiatry nursing and primary care medicine are represented.

The major duties and responsibilities of the Senior Social Worker are as follows:

• Provide a full range of services within the Social Work Scope of Practice based on Veteran needs acuity level and preferences for care. Services may include but are not limited to the following:
  • case management; individual family and group therapy; discharge planning; resource linkage; and care coordination.
• Provide consultation and psychoeducation to Veterans and Veteran families on topics including community resources Advance Directives VA benefits budgeting activities of daily living and recovery goals.
• Act as a consultant to other team/staff members and take a lead clinical role in case consultation.
• Fulfill ethical responsibilities to Veterans colleagues and VA in accordance with NASW Code of Ethics VHA Code of Ethics and local ethics policies. This includes but is not limited to: compliance with all laws and regulations related to confidentiality and release of information; protecting Veterans personal identifying information.
• Document all Veteran care in the electronic health record in accordance with facility policy VHA Directive 1162.05 (and revisions) and program-specific SOPs.
• Actively participate in program planning and development advising the supervisor of shifting Veteran care needs and identifying the need for SOP or policy changes.
• Provide supervision to students interns or unlicensed Social Workers as requested.
• Provide training education and consultation to trainees VA staff and community partners as a subject matter expert in specialized practice area(s).

• 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.

To qualify for this position applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.

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. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f).
  May 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:
  Senior Social Worker GS-12
  • 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.
  
  Preferred Experience:
  • Have received training and certification in Prolonged Exposure (PE) and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
  • Familiarity with other modalities such as EMDR CBT for Nightmares Written Exposure Therapy and Adaptive Disclosure is desirable.
  • Over three years of experience in trauma treatment preferably with Veterans or military personnel.
  
  Reference: For more information on this qualification standard please visit full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12.
  
  Physical Requirements: There are no physical requirements for this occupation per OCHCO Communications email to VA Handbook 5019 updated on 4/17/2026.
  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:

  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.

  Review our benefits

  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.