Senior Social Worker BHIP Care Coordinator

Full Job Description

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.

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. 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. 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.

Failure to Obtain License or Certification. In all cases, social workers must actively pursue meeting state prerequisites for licensure or certification starting from the date of their appointment.

Failure to become licensed or certified within the prescribed amount of time will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment.

Loss of Licensure or Certification. Once licensed or certified, social workers must maintain a full, valid, and unrestricted independent license or certification to remain qualified for employment.

Loss of licensure or certification will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment.

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.

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: (a) 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.

(b) Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.

(c) 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.

(d) 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.

(e) 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: Advanced practice licensure with ability to provide psychotherapy.

Experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgement in the provision of mental health treatment. Be an expert in mental health practice.

Experience with integrated case management and care coordination.

Be able to provide advanced practice level clinical psychosocial and case management services to Veterans with complex health care and psychosocial needs and provide a high degree of clinical oversight and creative problem solving with the Veteran, their families, caregivers, significant others, community agencies and other staff.

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: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services. Major Duties:

The announcement will close on April 2nd or when the first 25 applicants are received.

Opening Date: April 2, 2026 Closing Date: April 14, 2026 Applicant Count: First 25 applicants VA Careers - Licensed Clinical Social Worker: https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/U_xC25QsN0w Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional The Senior Social Worker Care Coordinator conducts clinical activities as a member of a Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program team, including general and specialty clinics such as Women's Clinic, Trauma Recovery, and Post 9/11 Military to Veterans (M2VA) Transitions.

As care coordinator, the incumbent is responsible for the coordination and continuity of care for Veterans receiving services throughout Outpatient Mental Health.

Duties include, but are not limited to: The incumbent will provide a full range of services within commonly accepted standards of practice and prioritize care coordination activities as the primary job function, [e.g., biopsychosocial and needs assessments, walk-in/crisis services, chart reviews, discharge planning, facilitating follow-up and outreach, etc.] and other services as appropriate.

The incumbent will provide Care Coordination (including care management and/or case management) to Veterans and families, as needed throughout the continuum of care.

This includes communication within and across care lines to facilitate continuity of care for Veterans.

The incumbent will be an active participant in the treatment planning process with other disciplines.

The Senior Social Work BHIP Care Coordinator provides a full range of psycho-diagnostic services which requires advanced and expert 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 psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial and/or case management interventions used in the treatment of Veterans with a range of diagnoses, substance abuse/dependence, and poly-traumatic injuries; serves as the primary clinician to meet the same day access needs of Veterans requesting mental health care within the clinic.

This includes conducting the same day evaluation in-person or by telephone, according to policy.

Given that a significant portion of these Veterans are new to Mental Health treatment, this involves providing a diagnosis and provisional treatment plan; provides initial and follow-up comprehensive psychological intake evaluations, including diagnosis, to Veterans in BHIP.

The Senior Social Work BHIP Care Coordinator conducts risk evaluation and treatment, including oversight of interdisciplinary documentation of treatment plans, for Veterans within BHIP, including those who are in the REACH Vet program and those with a High Risk for Suicide Patient Record Flag.

To ensure that Veterans have access to timely, quality mental health care, the incumbent will actively monitor clinic availability and panel size of BHIP team members to be able to coordinate the flow of patient care amongst BHIP teams and BHIP team members.

This includes knowledge of availability of specialty mental health services, as well as working actively with program support staff to ensure that team assignments in the Patient Care Management Module (PCMM) are accurate and up to date.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8am - 4:30pm 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 Byron.Collins@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator 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 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: ADHOC according to agency policy.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized