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Vacancies are in Leeds and Worcester Massachusetts. 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/. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services. 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: Social Worker, GS-9 (1) Experience, Education, and Licensure. None beyond the basic requirements. (2) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: (a) Ability to work with Veterans and family members from various socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic, educational, and other diversified backgrounds utilizing counseling skills. (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. Social Worker, GS-11 (1) 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. (2) 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. (3) 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, cultural, ethnic, educational and other diversified 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. References: VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39 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-9 to GS-11. ["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. 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. VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Duties include but are not limited to: The incumbent utilizes various treatment modalities of individual and group work, casework, community organization, and community outreach activities to alleviate or remove problems that interfere with homeless veterans' ability to achieve independence. The incumbent is responsible to perform difficult and complex advisory/assistance and/or coordination functions that require interactions between many entities of the medical/scientific field and involve controversial, unconventional or novel issues. The incumbent coordinates care including serving as an advocate on behalf of the veterans to ensure comprehensive service delivery and linking and referring veterans to the VA Medical Center, VA Regional Offices and/or community agencies. The incumbent develops working relationships with various community agencies and other governmental agencies, often serving as the VA liaison or contact person. The incumbent provides information about various resources; address social needs and illnesses; interpret behavior, motive or influence patients and families from engaging in destructive behavior. The incumbent serves as the Community Homeless Assessment, Local Education and Networking Groups (CHALENG) point of contact. The incumbent actively participates in program planning and development, advising the Healthcare for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) Supervisor of shifting trends with caseloads and identifying the need for and making recommendations on program procedure or policy changes based upon work experiences and provides consultation to other hospital personnel and /or community agencies as needed. The incumbent performs accountability functions: 1) document all contacts with patients/families in the medical chart; 2) completes statistical, administrative, staffing utilizations and other reports in accordance with facility policy and respective professional discipline service policies. The incumbent interviews potential clients, confirms eligibility and attempts to complete a psychosocial assessment and make a psychological diagnosis as appropriate, and interprets and explains the VA's treatment and benefit programs. The incumbent will document social work interventions and activities in patient's clinical record utilizing CPRS and ensure appropriate hand off in the transferring of patient care. Incumbent provides a full range of social work services within commonly accepted standards of social work practice, which includes case work, individual, family and group counseling, discharge planning, case management and other services as appropriate. Incumbent provides ongoing therapeutic intervention with the veteran and significant other to assist them in dealing and coping with the psychosocial issues of mental health, aging, illness and disability, and loss and grief. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: F05220 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required EDRP Authorized: Contact Hannah Neilson, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more"]

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