Clarification from the agency

Applicants will be referred in the following order: First - Current Permanent Federal Employees Other Agencies; Second- All other qualified applicants. In accordance with Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO) Bulletin, Annual Determination of Staffing Shortages dated 10/01/2024, Veteran's Preference will not be applied to this occupation.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Duties include but are not limited to the following:

• The basic values of social work promotes a holistic view of the individual and their functioning within the systems they live, work and walk through.
• The incumbent must use high level skill in assessing and treating the complicated psychosocial problems often presented in crisis.
• Assessment, evaluation, treatment and referral include the provision of short term, solution focused options with the goal of resolving psychosocial, emotional and economic barriers to health and well-being while building on their strength and abilities.
• Operating within the ambulatory outpatient Primary Care Settings, the social worker promotes veteran, family and caregiver health and wellness; provides education, provides proactive case finding and provides triage assessment, comprehensive psychosocial assessment, psychosocial interventions and long term care coordination.
• Assessment and intervention focuses on social determinants of health domains: access to care, psychological status, economics, functional status, housing and social support.
• The social worker assists with challenging patient-care situations; eliminates barriers to health; helps to build upon and promote strengths and abilities; educate and motivate toward health promotion, disease prevention and management of self.
• The incumbent is expected to provide care that is consistent, continuous, coordinated, accessible and integrated through the continuum of care.
• The social worker will complete an assessment of the veteran in collaboration with the interdisciplinary treatment team, the veteran, family members and significant others.
• The Social Worker understands the intimidation of bureaucracy and will act as an advocate when it serves the best interest of the veteran and family members/caregiver. When appropriate and feasible, the Social Worker will educate and encourage the veteran to advocate on his/her own behalf, thus fostering a sense of independence and empowerment.
• The Social Worker is experienced in making rapid assessments and developing crisis management plans. The Social Worker has access to multiple resource directories in addition to previously developed resources to meet the demands of a crisis. In the event of a medical or psychiatric emergency, staff will follow the protocol of his/her respective clinic and the facility at Boise VA Medical Center.
• The Social Worker provides education related to VA and community resources, entitlements, Advance Directives/Living Will and will refer veterans and family members/caregiver to the appropriate interdisciplinary team member for identified health education needs.
• The Social Worker will review the progress notes from the other providers to accurately determine the strengths and limitations of each veteran. The Social Worker will educate the veteran, their family members/caregiver and the team of all the options available to them and will collaborate with the veteran and family members/caregiver on the preferred option.
• The Social Worker will provide the veterans and their family members/caregiver with ongoing supportive counseling. The purpose of such counseling is to deal with the psychosocial impact of coping with chronic/disabling illness (es), onset of a catastrophic illness mental illness(es), etc.
• The Social Worker will enter all veteran/family contacts in the electronic record using appropriate formats and templates. This information will be entered in a complete, confidential and professional manner to ensure information on the patient is shared with other VA staff. This information will be reviewed on a regular basis.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 7:30am to 4:00pm
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
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: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: FS-021910
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Conditions of employment

• 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.
• You may be required to serve a trial 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.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit e-verify.gov

Qualifications

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/.
  • 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.
• English 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:

GS-09 Social Worker:

• Experience, Education, and Licensure: None beyond the basic requirements.

AND

• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
  • (a) Ability to utilize a Veteran centric approach when providing interventions and counseling for Veterans, their family members, caregivers, and survivors.
  • (b) 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.
  • (c) 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.
  • (d) Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships and communicate with clients, staff, and representatives of community agencies.
  • (e) 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.

GS-11 Social Worker:

• Experience and Licensure: Appointment to the GS-11 grade level requires completion of a minimum of one year of post-MSW experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the field of health care or other social work-related settings, (VA or non-VA experience) AND licensure or certification in a state at the independent practice level.

OR

• Education: In addition to meeting basic requirements, a doctoral degree in social work from a school of social work may be substituted for the required one year of professional social work experience in a clinical setting.

AND

• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
  • (a) Knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services.
  • (b) Skill in independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic, educational, and other backgrounds.
  • (c) 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.
  • (d) 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.
  • (e) 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.

Preferred Experience: One year of social work experience in a medical social work setting preferred.

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

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-09 to GS-11.

Physical Requirements: Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation and would generally not require a pre-placement examination. Exceptions: A pre-placement examination is required for any occupation or assignment that requires the operation of a government-owned or -leased motor vehicle in order to properly carry out assigned duties. Examinations may also be required for any occupation or assignment that requires a pre-placement examination by virtue of another policy, regulation, or statute.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• Resume
• Transcript

The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please ensure you have included all documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), etc.

• Cover Letter
• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Disability Letter (VA)
• License
• Other (1)
• Resume
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Next steps