Senior Social Worker - Justice Outreach
: Job Details :

Summary The Justice Outreach Senior Social Worker is an integral member of the Homeless Program. The primary responsibilities of the position are to provide intensive case management services, continuous quality improvement activities, evaluations, consultations, assessments, and referrals to various community agencies for veterans who are incarcerated. The Senior Social Worker is administratively responsible for clinical programming and daily operations of the program. Responsibilities Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf Social Work: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Social-Worker-Career-Flyer.pdf **If you are not a current, permanent VA employee or Federal employee from another agency, you should apply to announcement # CBST-12636437-25-SC** The duties of the Senior Social Worker include, but are not limited to: Develops and implements information systems to track services including visits, referrals, patient demographics, and patient satisfaction. Functions as a case manager for veterans who are incarcerated performing duties to facilitate independent community living by coordinating mental health and community care. Participates in the development of a treatment plan for each veteran contacted through outreach. Provides assessment identification, facilitation, and referrals to appropriate medical and psychiatric services for veterans identified as eligible for services. Assists incarcerated veterans in the preparation of materials needed for applications to various agencies for entitlements, then follows the process of the application until a determination is made. Serves as major consultant for information on negotiating the complex processes veterans encounter when interacting with community agencies. Provides referrals to VA medical and mental health treatment and to other VA services. Conducts individual and family clinical interventions to facilitate the identification of substance abuse, psychiatric illness, and social needs as treatment issues. Manages the daily operations of the Justice Outreach Program, develops policies and procedures for program operations, and prepares reports and statistics for facility, VISN and national use. Works with community legal authorities in establishing Veterans Treatment Courts in the Medical Center's catchment area. Represents the facility and participates on monthly VISN 16 Veterans Justice Outreach conference calls. Collaborates with county probation officers, state attorney's office public defenders and hired attorneys to develop a post-release plan and/or community-based alternatives to incarceration. Meets with county jail administrators and staff on a regular basis to maintain appropriate policies and procedures required by the institution. This position attends correctional institution staff trainings relevant to working with offenders and high-risk populations and represents the VA at community meetings, having membership on boards, councils and task forces. Serves as the Healthcare Re-entry Veterans Specialist in supporting engagement in care for eligible veterans recently discharged from State and Federal prisons. Identifies, and interviews incarcerated veterans at each institution to conduct pre-release needs assessment and determine appropriate post-release referrals, linkage and coordination for VA and non-VA services to enhance the transition from jail to community. Performs work in work in maximum, medium, and minimum-security correctional institutions, usually under a no hostage policy. Observes normal safety precautions while working in correctional facilities, and in community settings. Assists veterans in services stabilization by consulting and intervening when problems arise with service providers and assists in priority management/pace of services/integration of veteran in program with veterans and program staff by participating in treatment meetings. Assists the veteran in contacting probation officer, problem solving with veteran and probation, and advocating for the veteran with probation officer when appropriate. Reviews, encourages, and reinforces adaptive coping with criminal recidivism risk behavior and attitudes. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm, subject to change based on 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 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) 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: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 01313F Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Requirements 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 probationary period. Subject to background/security investigation. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Must pass pre-employment physical examination. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See Additional Information below for details. Must be able to independently operate Government Vehicle. Must provide clean driving record report from the DMV during the pre-employment process. Qualifications 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 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 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: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. Senior Social Worker GS-0185-12 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. Preferred Experience: Experience working with the homeless population, experience assessing for suicide risk. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for 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. Education IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: Additional Information During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status. VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority. Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.