Job Details

Mental Health Behavioral Sciences Senior Social Worker

The Mental Health Behavioral Sciences (MHBS) Senior Social Worker is a member of the Bridge the Gap Team within the Mental Health service line of Northern Arizona VA Healthcare System (NAVAHCS), located at the Prescott VA facility. The Bridge the Gap Team consists of a Program Manager, Psychiatrist, Psychologist, and Social Worker that operate in collaboration with the Primary Care Mental Health Integrated (PCMHI) Team, service line programs, and other departments at the facility.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Coordinates and triages disposition of referrals to MHBS Service Line; provides expert clinical services and consultation; comprehensive Assessments and Evidence-Based Interventions (Individual, Group and Family Therapy); consultation to other Mental Health and Medical Providers.
• Coordinates outpatient follow-up for patients discharging from inpatient psychiatric hospitalization and/or residential treatment.
• Provides outreach to Veterans flagged as high risk for suicide and not engaged in MH services.
• Develops and maintains a system to ensure follow-up with patients who miss initial consult appointments.
• Triages and manages electronic consults received by MHBS.
• Develops policies and procedures related to Access to Care.
• Develops a data monitoring system to measure the efficacy of the program.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): May be authorized for highly qualified candidates.

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases.

Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year.

Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave.

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.

Retirement: Traditional federal pension and federal 401K.

Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care.

Telework: Ad Hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual or remote position.

Functional Statement #: 000000

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 trial period.

Subject to background/security investigation.

Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.

Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.

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).

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.

Licensure: Persons hired or reassigned to social worker positions in the GS-0185 series in VHA must be licensed 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.

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:

Senior Social Worker, GS-12: Experience/Education. Applicant 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.

In addition to the experience above, the candidate 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.

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.

Physical Requirements: Involve active listening, reading, observing and evaluating verbal and nonverbal behavior, walking, speaking, writing reports, writing policies and procedures, writing clinical notes, using office equipment such as computers, telephones, fax machines, photocopy machines and traveling throughout the catchment.

References: VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39, Social Worker Qualification Standard GS-0185 Veterans Health Administration.