Senior Social Worker

Senior Social Worker

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania

Salary Range: $98176 - $127634 Per Year

Job Summary: 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.

Major Duties:

• Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional The Senior Social Worker practices in the Behavioral Health clinical settings to provide mental health services as the licensed clinical social worker. The work of this position is complex, involving a combination of mental health administrative skills and intensive clinical services both of which require the exercise professional judgment and the flexible use of a wide range of professional abilities. Major duties include, but are not limited to: The incumbent performs specialized treatment and care coordination of complex physical and mental illness for Veterans in the Behavioral Health clinical settings, VA Community Based Outpatient Clinics and/or Lebanon VA Medical Center. The incumbent must demonstrate advanced clinical skills and be able to function independently. The incumbent must incorporate complex multiple causations in treatment of Veteran patients, including making psychosocial assessments, providing case management, and providing psychotherapy within approved scope of practice. Tasks may include triage, evaluation and psychosocial assessment, treatment planning and coordination of care for patients in the program, providing individual and group psychotherapy and consultation with other program areas and staff as appropriate. The incumbent must be able to provide diagnostic evaluation per Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM), case management, provide individual, group, and family psychotherapy and advanced level case management interventions used in the treatment of Veterans with serious medical and psychiatric disorders. The incumbent will provide services that access the continuum of care and serve as Mental Health Treatment Coordinator 2.0. Specific tasks may include biopsychosocial assessment, walk-in/crisis services, education, determining and monitoring veteran needs over time, connecting veterans with resources/supports through shared decision making, facilitating follow-up and outreach as needed to promote proactive, personalized care and care continuity, and other care coordination tasks as needed for Veterans receiving services in BHIP. The incumbent coordinates care including serving as an advocate on behalf of the Veterans on BHIP teams to ensure delivery of comprehensive, seamless Behavioral Health Service Line support. The incumbent actively participates in program planning and development, advising the supervisor of shifting trends with care coordination needs and caseloads and identifying the need for making recommendations on program procedures and/or policy changes based upon work experiences. The incumbent provides services primarily on an outpatient basis during normal business hours but may have responsibilities to include extended evening and/or weekend hours, and performance of duties within various BH&S programs. The incumbent offers consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients treated in specialty areas, rendering professional opinions based on experience and expertise and role modeling effective social work practice skills. The incumbent will participate in the facility's rotating on-call system. Performs additional duties as assigned. Work Schedule: 8:00am-4:30pm, Monday-Friday with on call coverage as necessary. Note: There may be instances when your tour of duty, work location and responsibilities may change to meet the needs of the Medical Center. Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact VHAVISN04HREDRP@va.gov, for questions/assistance. Learn more 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

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 tohttp://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 tohttp://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/. Grandfathering Provision: 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). 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: 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. 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. 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. 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 activity involves sitting, standing, walking, bending, stooping, climbing stairs (generally no more than 3 floors), and carrying light items such as papers, books or other supplies. The incumbent uses a computer and standard office equipment to complete tasks. The emotional demands can be stressful in working with the patient population and their families. A level of self-awareness is essential.

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 12/22/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12840226. 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: 2025-12-22