Social Worker

Summary

The incumbent serving as a Senior Social Worker is responsible for establishing evidence passed practices for providing effective case management to high utilizers of the emergency department and veterans with avoidable readmissions to the acute and surgical inpatient units. The senior social worker serves as a social work subject matter expert for the emergency department and veterans at high risk of readmissions.

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Duties

Working in Emergency Room (ER) staff will be allocated among 18 networks for a total of 20 full-time employees per network, including 11 Registered Nurses (RNs), 2 Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) or Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVNs), 5 providers (including Medical Doctors, Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine, and Advanced Nurse Practitioners) and 2 Social Workers. When they are not deployed, CDT staff will work at an assigned VA facility. Members of the team must:

• Be available to deploy with 72 hours' notice within 2 windows of time per calendar year, for up to a month at a time
• Work in a high-stress environment, possibly in austere conditions or an emergency setting
• Treat or provide direct patient care within the requirements of practice/privileges/licensure
• Participate in CDT training activities and demonstrate readiness to apply professional skills to a range of emergency situations
• Ensure qualifications and required certifications are maintained, including Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), or Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) certification
• Maintain CDT physical readiness requirements, vaccinations, and safety precautions related to infection control
  
  

The Senior Social Worker selected for this position will need to have experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, especially in crisis intervention and working with an interdisciplinary team. They will be using short-term, solution focused counseling with individuals and families who may be in crisis as well as providing education and referral for resources and benefits, case management, and post-intervention follow-up.

• Provides psychosocial treatment;
• Independently assesses the psychosocial functioning and needs of patients and their family members.
• Formulates and implements a treatment plan, identifying the patient's problems, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and assistance needed, in collaboration with the patient, family, and interdisciplinary treatment team.
• Independently provides a full range of assessment and evaluation services appropriate to the care setting.
• Works with medical center staff on a wide variety of patient care issues to include patient's decision-making capacity regarding health care;
• Develops treatment plans to address the needs of patients.
• Creates plans of action to ensuring assessment and crisis intervention services are maximized based on circumstances and availability of resources.
• Conducts crisis intervention strategies, including assessment and diagnosis.
• Conducts outreach to vulnerable populations, including disadvantaged areas.
• Identifies impacted Veterans and connect them with VA and community resources.
• Assists with locating family members and loved ones.
• Assists with contacting hospitals or other relevant locations to locate medical records or emergency documentation
• Provide subject matter expertise in all phases of disaster response plans, including mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.
  
  

Work Schedule: Tuesday - Saturday, 8:00am - 4:30pm

Telework: This position is eligible for Ad Hoc telework only. Ad Hoc Telework is telework that occurs on an occasional, non-routinebasis.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

EDRP Authorized: This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact VISN15ERDP@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more.

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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Requirements

Conditions of Employment



NOTE: Prior to accepting a final employment offer, all selected applicants will be required to sign a Memorandum of Understanding regarding deployment responsibilities

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job. Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.
• 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 (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's 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 and maintain CDT physical readiness.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.
• Must be able to meet physical demands which include strenuous physical activity to include carrying persons and equipment, walking long distances over difficult terrain, running, climbing, working long hours in primitive or arduous conditions, long periods of standing, and bending and stooping.
  
  

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

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  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. In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English.
• Master's 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.
  
  Note: A doctoral degree in Social Work may NOT be substituted for the master's degree in Social Work. Verification of the degree can be made by going to http://www.cswe.org/Accreditation to verify that the social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a masters of social work.
• Licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work 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.
  
  

Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements stated above, the following qualification criteria must be met for each grade. The candidate's qualifications must clearly demonstrate the level of competence required for the grade.

• Experience: 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 and 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.
• 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 and Certifications

• Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), or Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) certification
• Full independent licensure at the advanced practice level
• At least two years should be in an area of specialized social work practice.
• Experience in conducting visits to impacted areas and emergency shelters, possibly in conjunction with VA Disaster Emergency Medical Personal System (DEMPS) or other Emergency Management response protocols
  
  

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.



Physical Requirements: Eligible applicants must be physically and mentally able to perform efficiently the essential functions of the position, with or without reasonable accommodation, without hazard to themselves or others. Depending on the essential duties of a specific position, usable vision, color vision, hearing or speech may be required. However, in most cases, a specific physical condition or impairment of a specific function may be compensated for by the satisfactory use of a prosthesis or mechanical aid.

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.

Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process.

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 applicant's 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.

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