Summary The Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program (BHIP) Social Worker is assigned to the Mental Health Clinic at the Orlando VA Medical Center or the Daytona Beach Outpatient Clinic. The BHIP Social Worker should have experience working with patients with a variety of mental health diagnoses, experience conducting complex assessments, providing full multi-axial diagnosis, developing treatment plans and conducting ongoing interventions. Responsibilities The BHIP Social Worker provides clinical psychosocial and case management services to eligible Veterans and their family members to meet biological, psychological, social, and environmental needs. Their health care and psychosocial problems and needs are complex and require clinical oversight and creative problem solving. The incumbent is required to interact not only with the patient but also with family, significant others, community agencies, and other staff. Duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to: Interviewing Veterans and their family members/significant others to establish facts about the Veteran's situation, presenting problems and their causes, and the impact of such problems on the Veteran's functioning and health as part of a comprehensive psychosocial assessment. Reviewing all data, subjective and objective, and making a clinical assessment identifying needs and strengths. Using advanced clinical training, insight, and experience to interpret data and to identify viable treatment options. Serving Veterans who tend to have frequent and severe crises, lack family or an adequate community support network, be poor at self-monitoring, and frequently fail to comply with instructions and treatment, or have significant deficits in coping skills and require continuing professional psychosocial support. Providing referral to VA medical and mental health treatment and to other VA services including VA benefits, as well as community-based social services and other non-VA entitlement programs. Assessing at-risk factors and developing a preliminary disposition plan involving the Veteran and family or significant others. Developing psychosocial treatment plans in coordination with interdisciplinary team members, including goals for psychosocial clinical treatment. Coordinating screening of patients for specific mental health programs, such as Substance Use Disorder Treatment Program (SUD), Trauma Recovery Specialty Program (TRuST), or Psychiatric Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program (PRRTP) and provides ongoing treatment per mental health program guidelines. Adjusting psychosocial treatment plans and interventions based on changing needs and response to interventions. Initiating and effecting changes in methods and interventions to promote efficient practice and improve patient outcomes. Receiving and completing requests for services (consults) from interdisciplinary team members and from other Mental Health Providers on complex, difficult cases, using advanced practice skills and expertise. Also providing consultation to other Mental Health providers and interdisciplinary team members. Independently documenting in the medical records utilizing paper and/or electronic formats, including psychosocial assessments, diagnostics, treatment, progress notes, follow up, and referral. Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Work Schedule: 8:00am - 4:30pm, Monday - Friday Recruitment/Relocation Incentives: Not authorized. Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized. Telework: Not available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement # Social Worker (BHIP) 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. 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 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: Be a citizen of the United States. Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. English Language Proficiency: You must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f). Education: You must possess 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/. For assignments at the GS-9 level, VHA may waive the licensure or certification requirement for persons who are otherwise qualified, pending completion of state prerequisites for licensure/certification examinations. VHA social workers who are not licensed or certified at the time of appointment must become licensed or certified at the independent, master's level within three years of their appointment as a social worker. 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: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. GS-9 Social Worker Experience, Education, and Licensure. None beyond the basic requirements. GS-11 Social Worker Experience and Licensure. Appointment to the GS-11 grade level requires completion of a minimum of one year of post-MSW experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the field of health care or other social work-related settings, (VA or non-VA experience) and licensure or certification in a state at the independent practice level. OR, Education. In addition to meeting basic requirements, a doctoral degree in social work from a school of social work may be substituted for the required one year of professional social work experience in a clinical setting. While we no longer require essay-style responses to our Knowledge's Skills, Abilities, and Other Characteristics (KSAOs), you must be able to demonstrate that you possess the (below) competencies which are necessary to perform the work of the position. Please ensure your resume/CV/application contains sufficient information to support the level of experience/education/training; otherwise, we will not be able to award you credit for the experience/education/training you claim. These are the KSA's for this subject position: GS-9 Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: Ability to utilize counseling skills when working with Veterans and family members. Ability to assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and their family members, and to formulate and implement a treatment plan, identifying the Veterans problems, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and assistance needed. Ability to implement treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups to achieve treatment goals. This requires judgment and skill in utilizing supportive, problem solving, or crisis intervention techniques. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships and communicate with clients, staff, and representatives of community agencies. Fundamental knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities, and treatment procedures. This includes acute, chronic, and traumatic illnesses/injuries; common medications and their effects/side effects; and medical terminology GS-11 Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: Knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services. Skill in independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic, educational, and other backgrounds. Knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities and treatment procedures (i.e. acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses/injuries, common medications and their effects/side effects, and medical terminology) to formulate a treatment plan. Skill in independently implementing different treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, medical, and social problems to achieve treatment goals. Ability to provide consultation services to new social workers, social work graduate students, and other staff about the psychosocial needs of patients and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and compliance with treatment. 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-11. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-9 to GS-11. Physical Requirements: The physical demands of the work are generally minor. The work is primarily sedentary in climate controlled clinical and administrative settings. The incumbent will be expected to successfully negotiate various functional requirements: lifting (15-44 pounds), carrying (15-44 pounds), walking (1-3 hours), reaching above their shoulder(s), the use of hands or fingers, sitting (4-6 hours), standing (1-2 hours), repeated bending, using stairs or elevators, functional vision, clear speech, hearing, and emotional stability. There may be occasional requirements to relocate boxed materials from one area to another, equipment and room set-up, and physical inspections of the facilities. Education IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. You must possess 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. 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 Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. 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.