Senior Social Worker

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 95,000 - 135,000; Full time

Job summary

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs - VA Puget Sound Health Care System in Puget Sound, WA seeks a Senior Social Worker to deliver direct services to Veterans and their families.

Based in Seattle, the role supports Community Housing and Outreach Services across multiple facilities including American Lake Campus in Tacoma and various clinics. The ideal candidate holds an MSW from a CSWE-accredited program, is licensed to practice at the master's level, and has demonstrated advanced social work

Qualifications

• CSWE-accredited MSW required with verification of degree
• Must be licensed/certified to independently practice social work at the master's level

Responsibilities

• Provide direct social work services to Veterans, families and caregivers within CHOS programs
• Collaborate with VA leadership and CHOS teams for outreach and coordination
• Participate in coordinated entry and resource planning analyses as part of program operations
• Support multi-site VA system activities and ensure adherence to privacy and information security policies

Skills

Licensure requirement

English proficiency

Education

Master's degree in social work (CSWE accredited)

Job description

Summary

This Social Worker is assigned to Community Housing and Outreach Services Programs at VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VAPSHCS) located in Puget Sound - Washington with responsibility to provide direct services for Veterans - their families and caregivers. VAPSHCS is a multi-site medical system that includes a major medical facility in Seattle - Washington - outpatient and residential facilities at American Lake Campus in Tacoma - Washington - and seven Community Based Outpatient Clinics.

Summary

This Social Worker is assigned to Community Housing and Outreach Services Programs at VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VAPSHCS) located in Puget Sound - Washington with responsibility to provide direct services for Veterans - their families and caregivers. VAPSHCS is a multi-site medical system that includes a major medical facility in Seattle - Washington - outpatient and residential facilities at American Lake Campus in Tacoma - Washington - and seven Community Based Outpatient Clinics.

Qualifications

• 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 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
• 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 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 master's degree level
• Current state requirements may be found by going to http://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/
• Loss of Licensure or Certification
• Once licensed or certified - social workers must maintain a full - valid - and unrestricted independent license or certification to remain qualified for employment
• Loss of licensure or certification will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C.
• 7403(f)
• Grade Determinations: GS-12-Senior Social Worker: 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
• 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
• **In addition to the above requirements you must also meet the below Knowledge - Skills and Abilities
• 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
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
• Physical Requirements: There are no physical requirements for this occupation per OCHCO Communications email to VA Handbook 5019 - updated on 4/17/2026.

Duties

• Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Duties may include Include nut are not limited to: Communicating potential policy or protocol changes to local VA leadership Coordinates local planning efforts in the creation of a CES - in coordination with HUD and local CoC Ensure efficient sharing of Veteran data and program information - as allowed under VA Privacy and Information Security policies and directives
• This will include knowledge of HMIS and HOMES data standards - data sharing and privacy authorities - HUD guidance - and other applicable documents or established guidance
• Participate and contribute to a CoC level resource-and-demand analysis - including periodic review of the gaps to determine inflows/outflows - and make recommendations to CHOS leadership on adjustments to resource allocations within coordinated entry based on this analysis
• Provide support to CHOS teams as a functional member of program team - to include participation in outreach activities and provide subject matter consultation on community involved interventions for homeless Veterans
• Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases
• When setting pay - a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade)
• Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave - 13 days of sick leave - 11 paid Federal holidays per year)Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual - based on prior [work experience] or military service experience
• Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment - up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth - adoption - or foster care placement of a child
• Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment - full time employees with a total family income below $144 -000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66
• Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Telework: May be Authorized Ad-Hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position.