Social work serp_jobs.h1.location_city

Summary

Assigned to Mental Health & Behavioral Sciences organizationally and is a member of the of the Outpatient Substance Use Disorder (SUD) interdisciplinary team. The work is based in the Miami VA Healthcare System and performed on site at the SUD Outpatient Clinic, with the main area of responsibility being Miami-Dade, but including Broward and Monroe counties in Florida as necessary.

Duties

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• Performs specialized treatment of complex physical or mental illness. Incumbent incorporates complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment of veteran patients, including making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnoses within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
• Provide individual, group, and family psychotherapy and case management interventions used in the treatment of veterans with substance use / abuse disorders and addictions and other co-morbid conditions, such as polytrauma injuries, traumatic brain injuries, visual impairment, and other serious disorders. Incumbent utilizes outcome evaluations to improve treatment services and is able to demonstrate the ability to design changes based on empirical findings.
• Offers consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients treated in specialty areas, rendering professional opinions based on experience and expertise and role modeling effective social work practice skills.
• Demonstrates the ability to teach and mentor staff and students in the special area of practice and to provide supervision for licensure or specialty certifications.
• Works effectively with other MH&BS Service and other Clinical Service's interdisciplinary teams and provides recommendations for treatment planning and case management.

Work Schedule : Monday - Friday, 8 : 00am - 4 : 30pm

Pay : Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).

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 : Not available.

Virtual : This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement # : 30100F

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

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 :

Grandfathering Provision. The following is the standard grandfathering policy for all title 38 hybrid qualification standards. Please carefully review the qualification standard to determine the specific education and / or licensure / certification / registration requirements that apply to this occupation.

(1) All persons employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including positive education and licensure or certification that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all of the basic requirements in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply :

(2) Such employees in an occupation that requires a licensure or certification, may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level, or changed to lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the journey level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.

(3) Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.

(4) Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and / or licensure / certification / registration that meet all of the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation.

(5) If an employee who was retained in an occupation listed in 38 U.S.C. § 7401(3) under this provision leaves that occupation, the employee loses protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation.

NOTE : If social workers covered under the grandfathering provision of the 1991 Federal law regarding licensure or certification of VHA social workers leave the GS-0185 social work series, they lose the grandfathering protection. If they choose to return at a later date to the GS-0185 series, they must be licensed or certified to qualify for employment 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-11 Social Worker candidates must have the following :

OR

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. If selected, you may be required to complete narrative responses then. The GS11 KSA's for this position are :

GS-11

References : VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005 / 120, Part II, Appendix G39, Qualification Standard, dated 9 / 10 / 19. For more information on this qualification standard, please visit

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11.

Physical Requirements : The work requires walking, standing, bending, pushing, carrying, lifting, and transporting items as required. The position requires and incumbent to be adaptable and flexible in several roles.

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 to verify that the social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a masters of social work.

IMPORTANT : A transcript must be submitted with your application.

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 : 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 :

Additional information

This position is temporary not to exceed one year with possibility of renewal for an additional year.

This occupation is listed on the OIG Determination of Veterans Health Administration's Occupational Staffing Shortages fiscal year (FY) 2026 dated September 25, 2025. Therefore, vacancy announcement is exempt from Veterans Preference.

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.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.