Social Worker

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Care in the Community Social Worker

Duties may include but are not limited to:

1. Provide comprehensive psychosocial assessment triage and case management services to Veterans currently referred to Specialty Care through Care in the Community.
2. Coordinate with Veterans referred to specialty care through Care in the Community coordinating needed services for discharge planning and assessing Veteran and caregiver needs via telephone assessments.
3. Provide clinical assessment and act as a liaison insuring Care in the Community Veterans are able to connect with required services through the local V AMC if desired.
4. Continuously assesses and monitors the psychosocial needs discharge plan and follow up needs for Veterans currently referred to Community Care specialty services.
5. Provide support assessment and appropriate interventions (case management) for Veterans that require continued case management due to limited supports and resources.
6. Management coordination and provision of Social Work services to Veterans and their families as well as community vendors .
7. Must have a current valid unrestricted drivers license and the ability to operate a GSA vehicle for outreach activities.
8. Independently complete thorough initial assessments to determine the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and/or their families.
9. Participate as a member of the interdisciplinary treatment team by collaborating with treatment team members in the mental health clinic primary care clinic and inpatient units when Veterans are readmitted to the medical center for stabilization of psychiatric or medical conditions or have been discharged to the community from an inpatient unit.
10. Facilitate discharge planning through collaboration with Veterans and their families as well as community vendors community specialty clinics community hospitals and interdisciplinary treatment team members.
11. Serve as a liaison between Veterans their families sponsors and VA and community resources in order to ensure thorough follow through of required services.
12. Provide consultation to other treatment team and staff members as well as sponsors/vendors regarding psychosocial needs of Veterans and/or their families and the impact of the identified psychosocial problems on the Veterans health care planning compliance with treatment discharge planning and ongoing adjustment following Community Care specialty clinic treatment.
13. Provide assistance with the orientation and learning of less experienced Social Workers to serve as a preceptor for Social Work students.
14. Participate in a rotation of on-call Social Workers including modification of tour of duty to accommodate patient care needs on weekends if needed.

• 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.
• 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.

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.

VHA Health Professions Trainee (HPT): VHA Health Professional Trainees (HPT) pending the completion of education or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. NOTE: This applies to current/past/upcoming VHA HPTs only. An HPT is an individual appointed to a temporary position in one or more VHA medical facilities performing clinical or research training experiences to satisfy program or degree requirements or receiving VA Health Professional Scholarship Program. HPTs can be either VA-paid or Without Compensation (WOC).

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 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 SW Licensure by State
  • Exception. 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.
    • For appointments at the GS-9 grade level 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. Most states require two years of post-MSW experience as a prerequisite to taking the licensure/certification exam and VHA gives social workers one additional year to pass the licensure/certification states such as California Washington and others where the prerequisites for licensure exceed two years social workers must become licensed at the independent masters level within one year of meeting the full state prerequisites for licensure.
• English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f).

• Ability to work with Veterans and family members from various socioeconomic cultural ethnic educational and other diversified backgrounds utilizing counseling skills.
• 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.
• 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.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships and communicate with clients staff and representatives of community agencies.
• 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.

• Knowledge of community resources how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services and ability to coordinate services.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.