Senior Social Worker (VASH)

Veterans Health Administration; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

VA San Diego Healthcare System seeks a Senior Social Worker in the Social Work Service, within the VA Supported Housing (VASH) Program. The role involves advanced psychosocial case management, counseling, and program evaluation.

License verification and MSW are required, with two years post-licensure experience preferred. The position emphasizes expert practice, consultation, and potential involvement in policy development.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in social work from CSWE-accredited program.
• Licensed or certified to independently practice social work at MSW level.
• Verification of degree via CSWE accreditation.

Responsibilities

• Provide advanced psychosocial case management in a VASH setting.
• Deliver individual, group, or family counseling as appropriate.
• Develop and implement methods to measure effectiveness of social work services.
• Provide specialized consultation to colleagues and students on psychosocial treatment and practice.
• Assist in policy development and program oversight within Social Work Service.

Skills

Specialized interventions

Differential diagnosis

Outcome measurement

Clinical consultation

Policy development

Education

MSW from CSWE-accredited program

Job description

The Senior Social Worker serves as a case manager in the VA Supported Housing (VASH) Program within Social Work Service located at the VA San Diego Healthcare System . VASH is a collaborative effort, supported through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 8 rental assistance program, and VA's provision of intensive case management services.

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.

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 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 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/. 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 0185, 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 Worker Proficiency

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.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• (a) 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.
• (b) Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
• (c) 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.
• (d) 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.(e) Ability to expand clinical knowledge in the social work profession, and to write policies,

Preferred Experience

Best qualified candidate will have two years of experience in the specialized area of medical/psychiatric social work.

References

VA Handbook 5005/120, PART II, APPENDIX G39 dated September 10, 2019

The position is above the Full Performance Level for this series. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12.

Physical Requirements

This work is primarily sedentary but also requires some standing, walking, bending, lifting and carrying of items. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.