Senior Social Worker Clinical Care Programs

We're Looking for a skilled Senior Social Worker Clinical Care Programs in the Veterans Health Administration based in Seattle, Washington. Read through the job description to see if it matches your current experience.

The Successful Applicant

Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Noncitizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Education: Have a masters 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 masters 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 4 accreditation standards for a masters of social work. Licensure: Persons hired or reassigned to social worker positions in the GS0185 series in VHA must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the masters degree level. Current state requirements may be found by going to http://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/. Loss of Licensure or Certification. Once licensed or certified social workers must maintain a full valid and unrestricted independent license or certification to remain qualified for employment. Loss of licensure or certification will result in removal from the GS0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f). Grade Determinations: GS12Senior Social Worker: Experience/Education. The candidate must have at least two years of experience 9 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 GS11 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 postmasters 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. Knowledge Skills and Abilities. In addition to the experience above candidates 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: The Senior Social Worker assigned to the Parkinsons Disease Research Education and Clinical Center (PADRECC) provides advanced specialized social work services to Veterans with complex medical neurological and mental health needs primarily those with Parkinsons Disease but also within broader Rehabilitation Care Services (RCS) programs including ALS MS and TBI/Polytrauma. Working as a key member of a multidisciplinary team the social worker delivers expert clinical interventions case management and care coordination for Veterans and their caregivers. Responsibilities include performing comprehensive biopsychosocial assessments (including DSMbased diagnoses) developing and implementing treatment plans providing individual family and group counseling supporting endoflife and chronic illness adjustment and assisting with discharge planning and noninstitutional care options. The incumbent functions as a subject matter expert on VA and community resources ensuring Veterans and caregivers understand available services and assisting them with appropriate referrals. They also maintain and enhance resource materials and act as a Veteran advocate fostering empowerment whenever possible. The social worker conducts rapid assessments develops crisis management plans and coordinates emergency referrals following mental health protocols. The role includes providing education on Advance Directives entitlements and specialty program needs as well as contributing to program evaluation planning and ongoing quality improvement. The PADRECC Senior Social Worker delivers advanced autonomous clinical practice supports complex geriatric and neurologic care and strengthens integrated Specialty Care services across VA Puget Sound. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. Physical Requirements: There are no physical requirements for this occupation per OCHCO Communications email to VA Handbook 5019 updated on 4/17/2026.

What’s on Offer

The role offers excellent opportunities for top performers to further develop their competencies as a social worker and improving the lives of people.