Summary The Access Crisis Team (ACT) Senior Social Worker (SSW) is a member of a 24/7 interdisciplinary treatment team which provides crisis/mental health services to the Emergency Department (ED) and consultation to outpatient mental health services for new and returning Veterans seeking mental health services. Additionally, the SSW also responds to crises in the community as they arise, arranging transport and notifying authorities when appropriate, but not physically going into the community. Responsibilities VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz\_ua\_UU Collaborates with other members of the treatment team in the provision of comprehensive health care services to Veterans to ensure equity of access, service, and benefits and that the care provided is of the highest quality. Ensures continuity of care for all Veterans presenting to the ED in mental health crisis by providing intervention and/or facilitating services with other provider(s). Covers all needed emergent crisis intervention anywhere on campus including weekends and holidays. Provides education and referrals to veterans for community services, and coordinates these services, as necessary. Acts as a liaison between community and VA programs as needed. Makes appropriate referrals, as indicated, to reporting agencies such as Department of Family Services, Adult Protective Services, police, etc. Facilitates transfer and/or discharge from ED with appropriate continuity of care. Social workers cannot complete interfacility transfers or discharge. Arranges and facilitates transfers of mental health patients to the SLC VAMC IPU from a variety of community placements, including from other states, which requires ACT SW to be familiar with not only the state laws of Utah but the surrounding states as well. Completes the initial assessment, evaluation, treatment, and disposition (including involuntary holds) of Veterans in crisis with an acute and/or chronic mental illness responding to acute mental health crisis situations in the ED and the entire campus of the SLC VAMC. Assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and family members, identifying the Veteran's strengths, challenges, coping skills, and psychosocial acuity. Provides assessment, brief psychotherapeutic interventions, and treatment referrals for veterans presenting with substance use disorders. Evaluates options to mitigate potential safety concerns which may include calling police for assistance, providing crisis intervention, mediating conflicts, and/or making referrals to ensure a safe outcome. Facilitates admissions (both voluntary and involuntary) to the inpatient psychiatric unit (IPU) and/or Collaborates with community facilities for psychiatric resources, to include admission. Social workers cannot admit. Provides clinical recommendations to ED physicians regarding appropriateness of psychiatric admissions and/or ED discharge with referral(s) to outpatient services, prioritizing patient safety, and balancing emergent situations arising simultaneously. Provides consultation to colleagues regarding emergent/urgent situations. Provides education to both Veterans and family members regarding relevant mental health concerns Provide access consultation to new and returning Veteran requesting mental health care including referrals to a wide variety of services and treatments provided by the SLC VAMC. Conducts interventions using evidence-based strategies to a full range of complex psychosocial needs in the ED, including psychiatric emergencies, substance abuse treatment, homelessness, abuse, and geriatric psychiatric emergencies. Evaluates patients in the ED for involuntary psychiatric holds and completes appropriate paperwork. Serves as a resource for SLC VAMC staff regarding the local laws and regulations regarding involuntary psychiatric holds. Determines suicide and homicide risk utilizing current evidence-based research tools. Incumbent will fully assess suicide/homicide risk and protective factors to determine safety of the patients. Assesses and intervenes in high acuity situations with dynamic psychiatric emergencies applying a high level of clinical knowledge and expertise in current methods, theoretical framework, evidence-based practices, medications (as appropriate for scope of practice), and interventions, utilizing best practices in the delivery of clinical services, in accordance with professional and clinical guidelines. Provides a full range of psycho-diagnostic services including assessment and uses the most appropriate psychotherapeutic techniques in providing quality care. Performs evaluations for wide array of patients representing diverse diagnostic entities. Completes comprehensive suicide risk evaluations (CSRE), safety planning, and suicide behavior reports, as needed. Ensures adherence to facility and national risk management policies for assessment, management, consultation and documentation related to suicide/homicide risk. Work Schedule: Varied 10-hour shifts, to include weekends and holidays. Compressed/Flexible: Available. Telework: Not available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 57276-A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized. 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. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). Qualifications 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/. 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. GS-11 Experience. Social workers at this level are licensed or certified to independently practice social work. Incumbents are assigned to all program areas, including but not limited to: inpatient or outpatient medicine, surgery, mental health, neurology, rehabilitation medicine, and geriatrics. Employees provide professional, independent social work services in the assigned area. Duties 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 and knowledge to maintain Veteran privacy and confidentiality per policies, handbooks or directives; and acts as an advocate with appropriate VA and community service providers and agencies when it serves the best interest of the Veteran and family members/caregiver. 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: 1 year of crisis experience. 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: Must be in overall good health, able to sit at a desk working at a computer, engage in light to moderate physical activity including sitting, walking, bending, and carrying supplies. Social Worker must be able to perform primarily light and sedentary duties with occasionally moderate physical demands, exercise patience, and control emotions, with reasonable accommodation, if necessary, without endangering the health and safety of the social worker or others. This position also requires close visual acuity to perform an activity such as preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading; and repetitive motions of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers. Education Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. Additional Information Trial Periods: The first year of continuous service in the same or similar position of a preference eligible in the excepted service is a trial period. The first 2 years of continuous service in the same or similar position of an individual in the excepted service (other than a preference eligible), is a trial period. At least 60 days prior to the end of each employee's initial probationary or trial period, management officials shall, to the extent practicable, meet to discuss the employee's performance and conduct (based in part on the input from the employee's supervisor), the needs to the agency, and whether their continued employment would advance the public interest, the organizational goals of the agency, and the efficiency of the service. Within 30 days prior to the end of each employee's probationary or trial period, management officials shall determine whether to finalize the employee's appointment to the Federal service, or whether to terminate their service. Before the employee is terminated, they shall be notified in writing of the effective date of the action. During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status. VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.