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Posted: January 13, 2026 (2 days ago)

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Senior Social Worker - Psychosocial Rehabilitation Recovery Center

Veterans Health Administration

Department of Veterans Affairs

Fresh

Salary

$112,045 - $145,665

per year

Closes

January 26, 2026

GS-1 Pay Grade

Base salary range: $21,996 - $27,534

Typical requirements: No experience required. High school diploma or equivalent.

Note: Actual salary includes locality pay (15-40%+ depending on location).

Job Description

Summary

This job involves working as a senior social worker in a recovery center for veterans, helping them rebuild their lives through counseling, therapy, and support services focused on mental health and daily living skills.

It's ideal for experienced social workers who enjoy guiding patients through recovery and collaborating with teams to improve care.

The role suits those passionate about veteran support and advanced psychosocial interventions.

Key Requirements

  • Master's degree in social work from a CSWE-accredited school
  • Licensed or certified at the advanced practice level for independent social work
  • At least two years of post-licensure experience in a specialized social work area, including one year equivalent to GS-11 level
  • Proficiency in English (spoken and written)
  • United States citizenship (non-citizens only if no qualified citizens available)
  • Skills in specialized interventions like individual, group, and family counseling or psychotherapy
  • Ability to provide supervision, consultation, and develop treatment outcome measures

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: Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j, 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.

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 Education and Experience.

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, 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.

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: Preferred training and/or experience in the delivery of evidence-based psychotherapies, to include but not limited to the following: CBT, ACT, DBT, MI, CPT, EMDR.

Preferred experience working with severely mental ill (SMI) population and being a part of an interdisciplinary team 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: Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for this occupation, see duty section for essential duties of this 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.

Work Environment: Work is performed in an office/clinic setting with minimal risks that requires normal safety precautions; the area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated.

However, the work environment requires someone with the ability to handle several tasks at once in sometimes stressful situations. Major Duties:

If you are a current, permanent VA or Federal employee, you should apply under CBST-12862194-26-TH.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Social Work: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Social-Worker-Career-Flyer.pdf The Michel E.

DeBakey MVA Medical Center is a 1a complexity level facility and provides extensive primary, secondary, tertiary, outpatient, inpatient, residential, and community settings.

MEDVAMC is a multi-site healthcare system that includes a major medical facility in Houston, TX and 11 outpatient clinics and growing in the Houston Metropolitan area.

MEDVAMC is an academic health care system with significant teaching and research programs.

The Psychosocial Rehabilitation Recovery Center (PRRC) Senior Social Worker provides services for Veterans based on the psychiatric rehabilitation recovery model.

These services include: 1) a wide range of rehabilitation and recovery services for Veterans with serious mental illness (SMI), 2) collaboration and advocacy for Veterans with SMI and their family members, and 3) education and training of staff, in conjunction with other VA professionals, to promote the transition from maintenance models of treatment to the contemporary recovery rehabilitation model.

In addition to providing direct patient care services, the incumbent has the responsibility of promoting the development, implementation, and maintenance of effective and efficient psychosocial rehabilitation services to Veterans served by MEDVAMC A Senior Social Worker is accountable and responsible for: Responsible for case finding functions, outreach, screenings, initial intake, detailed psychosocial assessments, and creating a working diagnosis Identifies high-risk patients and provides case management services.

Provides crisis intervention services, seeking to address the cause as well as the presenting complaint, coordinates family conferences and serves as liaison to family members.

Has working knowledge and experience in use of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities, and treatment procedures.

Establishes and maintains effective therapeutic relationships with veterans and their families.

Independently work with patients and families who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, medical, and social problems utilizing individual, group and family counseling and therapy skills.

Provides consultation services to other staff regarding the psychosocial needs of veterans and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and adherence to treatment plan.

Communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, with people from varied backgrounds.

General knowledge of veterans' benefits and services relating to special programs, service-connected compensation, nonservice connected pension.

Facilitates referrals based upon veterans needs and eligibility.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00 am - 4:30 pm (subject to change based on facility need) 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 VHA.ELRSProgramSupport@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance.

Learn more 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) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or 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: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 580-00980-F Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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Posted on USAJOBS: 1/13/2026 | Added to FreshGovJobs: 1/13/2026

Source: USAJOBS | ID: CBST-12862193-26-TH