Lead Social Worker

Summary

Join the Indian Health Services as a Lead Social Worker providing advanced clinical services, crisis intervention, behavioral health support, and care coordination. This position combines independent clinical practice with lead responsibilities, including guidance, workload coordination, mentoring, and interdisciplinary collaboration to support high-quality patient care and community well-being. A REAL ID will be required beginning May 7, 2025, in accordance with 6 C.F.R. 37.5 (2021).

Duties

Total Compensation Package - Check out IHS's outstanding total compensation package for this job: Social Worker Total Compensation | Pay (ihs.gov) Leads and coordinates the work of assigned staff by providing clinical guidance, mentoring, workload coordination, and team support activities. Provides independent clinical social work services, including assessment, diagnosis, treatment planning, therapeutic intervention, and behavioral health support for individuals, families, and groups. Responds to behavioral health crises by conducting risk assessments, implementing crisis intervention techniques, coordinating safety planning, and providing stabilization services. Provides clinical case management and care coordination services through collaboration with interdisciplinary teams, community resources, tribal programs, and outside agencies. Maintains clinical documentation, participates in interdisciplinary meetings, and serves as a resource on trauma-informed care, culture-responsive practices, and behavioral health services.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, your resume must state sufficient experience and/or education, to perform the duties of the specific position for which you are applying. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer and part time experience. You must clearly identify the duties and responsibilities in each position held and the total number of hours per week. BASIC REQUIREMENT(S): Education: Must fulfill all of the requirements for the Master's degree in Social Work in a school 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. Degree verification can be done at http://www.cswe.org/Accreditation to confirm that the social work degree meets the 3 accreditation standards for a Master's of Social Work. Licensure: You must possess an active, unrestricted U.S. State license as an independent clinical social work license (LCSW, LICSW, LISW, or equivalent) authorizing diagnosis and treatment without supervision. In addition to the Basic Requirements, you must also meet the Minimum Qualifications stated below. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Your resume must demonstrate at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 grade level in the Federal service obtained in either the private or public sector performing the following type of work and/or tasks: Conducting biopsychosocial assessments; developing diagnostic impressions and treatment plans; providing psychotherapy counseling, crisis intervention, behavioral health services, and case management; assessing risk factors and determining appropriate clinical interventions for patients experiencing behavioral health crises; coordinating care with interdisciplinary teams, community resources, tribal programs, and outside agencies; maintaining clinical documentation and case records; providing consultation and treatment recommendations; and offering guidance, mentoring, coordination, and support within clinical or behavioral health settings. In describing your experience, please be clear and specific. We do not make assumptions regarding your experience. Your resume must support your application responses. Time In Grade Federal employees in the competitive service are also subject to the Time-In-Grade Requirements: Merit Promotion (status) candidates must have completed one year of service at the next lower grade level. Time-In-Grade provisions do not apply under the Excepted Service Examining Plan (ESEP). This position is ineligible for the Bargaining Unit. You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement.

Education

This position has an education requirement. Only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education may be credited. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website: https://www.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/. The Indian Health Service (IHS), National Health Service Corps (NHSC), and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) have student loan repayment programs for qualifying health disciplines. This is a competitive process separate from the hiring process. Opportunities for LRP are based on agency hiring priorities and availability of funds. For additional information please visit: For IHS - http://www.ihs.gov/loanrepayment/ For NHSC - https://nhsc.hrsa.gov/loanrepayment/ For HRSA Nurse Corps - https://bhw.hrsa.gov/loansscholarships/nursecorps