Senior Social Worker (Mental Health/Same Day Access)
Veterans Health Administration
Posted: March 12, 2026 (1 day ago)
This job was posted recently. Fresh listings typically have less competition.
Veterans Health Administration
Department of Veterans Affairs
Location
Salary
$106,735 - $138,758
per year
Type
Full-Time
More Social Services jobs →Closes
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).
This job involves providing advanced social work support to veterans with serious mental illness and substance use disorders in a community mental health program in Richmond, Virginia.
The role focuses on assessing needs, offering counseling and therapy, and coordinating care to help patients and their families improve their well-being.
It's a great fit for experienced, licensed social workers passionate about mental health recovery and veteran care.
The incumbent works for the Central Virginia VA Health Care System in Richmond, Virginia, as a direct report to the Social Work Service, and is assigned to Intensive Community Mental Health Recovery (ICMHR) Services.
The basic requirements for employment as a VHA social worker are prescribed by statute in 38 U.S.C. § 7402(b)(9), as amended by section 205 of Public Law 106-419, enacted November 1, 2000.
To qualify for appointment as a social worker in VHA, all applicants must meet the following: Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States.
(Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g this part). 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/. GS-12: Licensure/Certification.
Individuals assigned as social worker program coordinator must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level, and must be able to provide supervision for licensure. Experience and Education.
Do you possess at least two years of experience post advanced practice clinical licensure of which, one year must be equivalent to the GS-11 grade level?
Examples of specialized experience include, but are not limited to: assessing and documenting identified behaviors or symptoms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and/or intimate partner violence; use of clinical social work skills; maintaining patient privacy and confidentiality per policies, handbooks or directives; acting as an advocate with appropriate community service providers and agencies when it serves the best interest of the patient and family members/caregiver; independently assessing the psychosocial functioning and needs of patients and their family members, identifying the patient's strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and psychosocial acuity.
Applicable experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment. Senior social workers are experts in their specialized area of practice.
Applicable experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment. Senior social workers are experts in their specialized area of practice.
In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following: 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 caution 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. Major Duties:
Provides community-based, intensive case management and clinic-based therapeutic services to Veterans dually diagnosed with serious mental illness (SMI) and substance use disorders (SUD).
Intensive case management services are characterized by assertive outreach, individualized treatment planning, multidimensional orientation, and intensive delivery of services in the Veterans home or community.
In coordination with the ICMHR interdisciplinary team, completes SUD specific assessment and provides individual, family, and group interventions targeting SMI and SUD.
These services may be provided in the home, community, or clinic. Regularly utilizes measurement-based care tools and other assessment measures in the delivery of services.
Provides consultation and direct services for Veterans diagnosed with SMI and SUD in other SMI programs, SUD, and general mental health in Richmond and, virtually, to the Fredericksburg, Charlottesville, Emporia, and Henrico community-based outpatient clinics Performs other directly related duties as assigned.
Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8am - 4:3-pm Recruitment/Relocation Incentives: Not Authorized 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: Ad Hoc -As determined by the agency policy Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
VA Careers - Social Work: https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional
Check your resume before applying to catch common mistakes