Senior Social Worker

Senior Social Worker

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Lafayette, Louisiana

Salary Range: $91756 - $119285 Per Year

Job Summary: The Senior Social Worker will report to the Lafayette VA Clinic in Lafayette, La. and function as Alexandria Veterans Affairs Health Care System Case Manager for VA's Health Care for Homeless Veterans Program (HCHV) Department of Housing and Urban Development and Department of Veterans Affairs Supported Housing (HUD-VASH) Program. The Senior Social Worker

Major Duties:

• Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional The Senior Social Worker is responsible for program oversight, monitoring and administration, servicing as the primary contact with local Public Housing Agencies (PHA) and providing case management-based services necessary to ensure that veteran care is coordinated with the VA Medical Center, Community Health or Mental Health Providers and agencies that serve homeless populations. Duties include but not limited to: Ensures that coordination of services is facilitated and veterans direct care, referral and follow up is contiguous and based on a continuum of services; Perform site visits of HUD-VASH apartments to ensure that veterans reside in safe environments in compliance with local housing codes; Verifies status, eligibility for VA medical care, and eligibility of program participation; Responsible for collecting and submitting HUD-VASH Program participant data as outlined by Northeast Program Evaluation Center (NEPEC) evaluation procedures; Arranges and coordinates care and provide direct clinical services (assessment, treatment plan lead, etc) and support; Provides education and assistance with locating and obtaining suitable and HUD acceptable housing; Provides direct mental health and substance abuse counseling, crisis management services needed to maintain the veteran safely in the Section 8 apartment; Monitor psychiatric status and stability; Assertively pursue re-entry into treatment in the event of a relapse or treatment disruption; Knowledge of end-of-life issues including advance directives, palliative care and grief; Demonstrates the ability to teach and mentor staff and students in the special area of practice and to provide supervisor for licensure or specialty certifications. Work Schedule: 8:00 am - 4:30 pm, Monday - Friday - subject to change based upon the needs of the facility. Recruitment Incentive (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: Not available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 502-00942-F Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized.

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/. Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. Senior Social Worker, 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 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. In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: (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, procedures, and/or practice guidelines pertaining to the service delivery area. Preferred Experience: Working with persons experiencing or at risk for homelessness Experience working with persons who have mental health and/or substance use diagnoses Experience working independently in a community setting 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-12. Physical Requirements: Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation, see Duties section for essential job duties of the position. May require standing, lifting, carrying, sitting, stooping, bending, pulling and pushing. May be required to wear personal protective equipment and undergo annual TB screening or testing as conditions of employment. Work Environment: Work is performed in an office/clinic setting with minimal risks that requires normal safety precautions; the area is adequately lighted, heated and ventilated. However, the work environment requires someone with the ability to handle several tasks at once in sometimes stressful situations.

How to Apply: All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the full questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 03/18/2026 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12906864. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.

Application Deadline: 2026-03-18