Career Center

Summary

The Senior Social Worker functions as the Bereavement Social Worker for all of North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System (NF/SGVHS). Senior Social Worker will be based out of Gainesville - FL VAMC and will serve a patient population with highly complex health and mental health problems. The incumbent manages the daily operation of the program - develops procedures for program operations and prepares all reports and statistics for service line - facility - VISN - and national use.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet the requirements by the closing date of this announcement. 06/16/2025

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Must be US Citizen
• Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy
• English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f)
• 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 meeting the basic requirements stated above - the following qualifications criteria must be met in determining the appropriate grade assignment of candidates
• GS-12 Senior Social Worker candidates must have the following: Experience/Education: Must have at least two (2) years of experience POST advanced practice clinical licensure and should be in a specialized area of social work practice of which - one (1) 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
• AND 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
• Advanced License must be submitted with application
• While we no longer require essay-style responses to our Knowledge's Skills - Abilities - and Other Characteristics (KSAOs) - you must be able to demonstrate that you possess the (below) competencies which are necessary to perform the work of the position
• Please ensure your resume/CV/application contains sufficient information to support the level of experience/education/training
• otherwise - we will not be able to award you credit for the experience/education/training you claim
• If selected - you may be required to submit narrative responses then
• These are the KSA's for this position and grade level: 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
• References: VA Regulations - specifically VA Handbook 5005/120 - Part II - Appendix G39 - Senior Social Worker Qualification Standard - dated 9/10/19
• 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: Able to meet the physical demands of the position - reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions
• They must have good manual dexterity
• Must be able to express or exchange ideas by means of spoken and written word
• Must be able to view and read information on computer screens
• The job entails walking - standing - bending - traveling among several different stories/floors - sitting - working on a computer - carrying objects
• The Senior Social Worker is required to travel on a regular basis to other locations of care within the North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System to carry out job duties/assignments
• The Senior Social Worker is required to drive and/or travel using personal vehicle or government vehicle to other sites of care within the NF/SG VHS - as well as - to community partners - as necessary to accomplish work assigned
• Travel will be for long periods of time - up to three hours each way
• Travel is expected at least 50% of work week.

Duties

• 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 Scope of program and supervision requires knowledge of various program designs - operations - guidelines - standards - performance - and outcome measures as well as technical information
• Incumbent is responsible to provide direct clinical services - and resolve problems that arise regarding patient care issues
• Knowledgeable 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
• Provides specialized consultation and education specific to Bereavement/Hospice/Palliative Care 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
• Expands their clinical knowledge in the social work profession - and will develop - write - and educate other regarding policies - procedures - and/or practice guidelines pertaining to the service delivery area
• Able to create educational tools - develop programs - and implementing training focused on Advance Care Planning and Goals of Care
• Requires advance level knowledge and understanding of the biopsychosocial - behavioral health and mental health needs of Veterans and their family members/caregivers regarding end of life care
• Responsible for providing psychosocial and mental health assessment - diagnosis - treatment planning/execution - care management - case management - crisis intervention and evidence-based psychotherapy services to Veterans - their family members - and caregivers in assigned clinical position
• Incorporates multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice and has 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
• Develops and coordinates the NF/SGVHS Bereavement Support program - while developing policy and procedures to ensure compliance with accrediting bodies and regulatory standards as needed
• Responsible for all bereavement follow-ups including correspondence and telephone contacts as required for the Bereavement needs and quarterly reporting of Bereavement Family Survey (BFS) Scores
• Participates in direct Veteran face-to-face clinic contracts - telephone contacts - Clinical Video Telehealth contacts - Video on Demand contacts and other ways of communication to generate workload for the purpose of the development and application of directed clinical treatment interventions to carry out the program goals
• Develops a data driven continuous quality improvement program with established goals and outcomes to evaluate and document the program's effectiveness and will be a champion for advancing conversations on Hospice/Palliative Care and Bereavement Services among all clinical disciplines across all NF/SGVHS
• Actively collaborates with the Survival Assistance Memorial Support (SAMS) Program
• Provides coverage to the inpatient Hospice/Palliative Care unit at Lake City VAMC and/or the Community Living Center units at either Lake City VAMC or Gainesville VAMC
• Work Schedule: Monday - Friday - 8:00am - 4:30pm Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position Functional Statement #: Bereavement Senior Social Worker / FS #52034F Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Additional Benefits 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) 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.