USA Staffing

Position Title: BHIP Senior Social Worker/Psychotherapist (VHA Tucson Employees Only)
Agency: Veterans Health Administration
Announcement Number: CBSX-12673002-25-KR Opens in new window
Open Period: Friday, January 24, 2025 to Thursday, April 24, 2025

For preview purposes only. To apply, please return to the USAJOBS announcement and click the Apply button.

1. Are you an employee of the facility indicated for this position?
This includes: Career/Career Conditional or Excepted Service (i.e. Canteen, Hybrid, Title 38, etc. and meets interchange agreement requirements). This does not include temporary, term or temporary intermittent.

To verify your eligibility, you must submit a copy of your most recent Notification of Personnel Action, Standard Form 50 (SF-50). Your SF-50 must include enough information to be able to determine that time-in-grade requirements have been met (if applicable) and include your position title, pay plan/series/grade, tenure and the type of appointment (i.e. Competitive or Excepted). Please be aware that award SF-50's do not always include this pertinent information.

A. Yes

B. No

1. Which of the following items describes your current or recent (within the last five years) political appointee service?

If you responded yes to any of the items below, you will need to include a SF-50 specifying your prior service.

A. Yes, I am considered a political appointee as described under 5 U.S.C. sections 5312 through 5316.

B. Yes, I am considered a Non-career Senior Executive Service (SES), Limited Term SES, Limited Emergency SES Executive Branch employee.

C. Yes, I am considered a political Schedule A, Schedule C, or appointee who served in a political capacity under agency-specific authority in the Executive Branch.

D. Yes, I am considered a political appointee in the Executive Branch (as described in a., b. or c above) in a covered position in an agency having an interchange agreement with OPM, which allows movement from the agency's system to the competitive civil service.

E. None of the above. I am not considered a current or recent (last 5 years) political appointee as described above in items a, b, c, or d.

Your resume must be submitted in English and include the following information for each job listed:

Job title Duties (be as detailed as possible)
Month & year start/end dates (e.g. June 2007 to April 2008)
Full-time or part-time status (include hours worked per week)
Series and Grade, if applicable, for all Federal positions you have held
Please be aware that your answers will be verified against information provided on your resume. Be sure that your resume clearly supports your responses to all of the questions by addressing your work experience in detail.

Recommended: Even though we do not require a specific resume format, your resume must be clear so that we are able to fully evaluate your qualifications. To ensure you receive appropriate consideration, please list the duties you performed under each individual job title. If we are unable to match your experiences with the positions held, you may lose consideration for this vacancy. We cannot make assumptions regarding your qualifications. Do not include a photograph or video of yourself, or any sensitive information (age, date of birth, marital status, protected health information, religious affiliation, social security number, etc.) on your resume or cover letter. We will not access web pages or encrypted, and digitally signed documents linked on your resume or cover letter to determine your qualifications.

By submitting your application, you are certifying, to the best of your knowledge and belief, all the information submitted by you with your application for employment is true, complete, and made in good faith, and that you have truthfully and accurately represented your work experience, knowledge, skills, abilities and education (degrees, accomplishments, etc.). The information you provide as part of your application may be investigated. You are also certifying, and acknowledging, that misrepresenting your experience or education, or providing false or fraudulent information in, or with your application, may affect your eligibility for appointment and/or continued employment. False or fraudulent statements may be punishable by fine or imprisonment (18 U.S.C. 1001).

2. Are you willing to accept the working conditions as indicated in the announcement?

A. Yes

B. No

3. Are you willing to accept the conditions of employment as indicated in the announcement?

A. Yes

B. No

4. In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), No person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. Are you proficient in basic written and spoken English?

A. Yes

B. No

If you are basing your qualifications on education (or a combination of education and experience) or if the position requires a college education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your transcripts with your application.

5. In conjunction with accepting a tentative offer, selected candidates must submit a written statement to the HR Office point of contact specifying their vaccination status within two business days of receiving a tentative offer. Using one of the applicable statements below please identify your COVID Vaccination status.

A. I am fully vaccinated and must provide proof if selected for this position. I understand if I select this answer and fail to provide proof of vaccination when requested and at New Employee Orientation, I may not receive a final offer or be appointed.

B. I am not vaccinated but intend to receive the vaccine or have received my first dose and am scheduled for my second dose. I can provide proof of my status or of future appointment(s).

C. I would like to request a legal exception (i.e., medical or religious). Since exceptions must be adjudicated favorably before HR Office staff can issue a final offer for some positions, I may receive a final offer while my request for medical or religious exception is being adjudicated or after a final decision depending on the type of position I apply for.

6. Are you an employee of the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System facility indicated for this position? This includes: Career/Career Conditional or Excepted Service (i.e. Canteen, Hybrid, Title 38, etc. and meets interchange agreement requirements). This does not include temporary, term or temporary intermittent.

A. Yes

B. No

To qualify for this position, you must meet the Basic Requirements as well as any additional grade-level qualification requirements. Grandfather Provision: A Social Worker employed in VHA on the effective date of the qualification standard (9/10/2019) who did not meet all the basic requirements in this standard may not be promoted beyond the full performance level (GS-0185-11) or be newly placed in supervisory or managerial positions until meeting the full qualification requirements.

1. Are you proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f)?

A. Yes

B. No

2. Do you hold 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. Note: A doctoral degree in Social Work may NOT be substituted for the master's degree in social work.

A. Yes, I meet this requirement or I am a current VHA Employee in this occupation that is covered under the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard.

B. No

2a. Please provide the following information regarding the academic institution from which you received your master’s degree.
Name of Institution:
City and State:
Degree: Major/Program:
Month and Year conferred:

3. Are you licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level?

A. Yes, I meet this requirement or I am a current VHA Employee in this occupation that is covered under the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard.

B. No

3a. Please provide your license/certification information.
Name on License:
Issuing state or territory:
Complete license number:
Initial Issuance Date:
Expiration date:

Grade Level Requirements - Please select the appropriate answer to each of the following questions based on your background and experience that demonstrates your ability to perform the duties of this position. When answering the questionnaire, remember that your experience and education are subject to verification by investigation.

4. GS-12 Senior Social Worker Licensure: 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 must be able to provide supervision for licensure.

Do you possess a license that meets the criteria above?

A. Yes, I meet this requirement or I am a current VHA Employee in this occupation that is covered under the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard.

B. No

5. GS-12 ASWB Examination: Did you complete and pass the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) advanced generalist or clinical examination?

A. Yes, I completed and passed the ASWB advanced generalist or clinical examination.

B. No, my advanced practice license was grandfathered by the state in which I am licensed to practice at the advanced practice level (i.e., granted prior to the state administering the ASWB).

C. I took the state of California (CA) exam and have a CA advanced practice license.

D. I am a current VHA Employee in this occupation and covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard.

E. No, A thru D do not apply to my advanced practice license.

6. GS-12 Senior Social Worker Experience: 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.

A. Yes, I meet this requirement or I am a current VHA Employee in this occupation that is covered under the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard.

B. No

7. GS-12 Senior Social Worker Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: In addition to meeting the licensure and experience for the GS-12 level, do you possess the following Knowledge, Skills and Abilities?

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.

A. Yes, I meet this requirement or I am a current VHA Employee in this occupation that is covered under the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard.

B. No

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