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VHA Social Work

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National Social Work Program

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Career as a VA social worker

VA is the largest employer of social workers in the nation with over 20,000 Master’s prepared social workers. VA trains more social work graduate students than any other single agency

Social workers are an integral part of VA health care. In this large and complex system, social workers are often the thread that pulls a treatment plan together and the one leading linkage and referral processes with community partners and engaging with Veterans’ groups and organizations on efforts to strengthen services. Social workers’ contributions with these efforts are valued, acknowledged and necessary. The wide range of opportunities within VA allows for social workers to experience many different jobs/positions throughout their careers. We are in small clinics in rural communities as well as in large medical centers in metropolitan areas. 

VA Social Workers Opportunities

VA Social Workers can be found working and managing in the following programs:

Characteristics of social workers who work with Veterans

Social workers who assist Veterans rely on the same skills and motivations that all effective social workers exhibit: compassion, a genuine desire to help others, adaptability and a willingness to learn new things. Social workers who work with Veterans must also understand the unique challenges facing their clients.

Professionals who work with Veterans must assess clients in the context of their military experience. This requires understanding of military service-specific factors such as deployment, relocation, combat, and reintegration post-deployment.

Benefits of VA social work jobs

  • Access to technology. The VA is a leader in telehealth and its technology resources extend to such areas as speech recognition, virtual technologies, and mobile devices.
  • The VA offers extensive benefits and employees are covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) and Thrift Savings Plan (TSP).
  • Education support. The VA offers loan repayment and tuition assistance and VA employees with federal student loans may be eligible for the national loan forgiveness program.
  • VA employees can transfer to other VA facilities with no loss of benefits and one active, unrestricted state license allows VA employees to practice in any VA facility nationwide.
  • The VA has steady demand for qualified social workers and it serves, more than 1,200 health care facilities throughout the U.S. and its territories. The wide range of physical, mental, and social challenges that Veterans experience also provides social workers with unique opportunities for professional development.
  • Veterans served by the VA work with multidisciplinary care groups under the Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) program. PACT brings together diverse individuals, such as primary care providers, clinical specialists, social workers, pharmacists, and administrative professionals, to coordinate holistic care.
  • Work-life balance. VA offers many opportunities to support a strong work life balance for staff. Some VA facilities offer on-site childcare and fitness centers. Some positions may be conducted virtually with flexible work schedules.

Apply online:

Find additional information about VA Social Work careers and apply for VA Social Work jobs online at Social worker jobs | VA Careers.

Work at VA

Become an integral part of our patient care team as a social worker, helping Veterans, and their families, caregivers, and survivors access the resources they need and finding solutions for complex problems.

Resources

Hear from VA social workers  /SOCIALWORK/images/2023-2024/YouTubeVideo-TinyBadge.png

Social work licensure

In compliance with Public Law 106-419, VA social workers appointed after August 14, 1991, must be licensed at the master’s level to independently practice social work in a state. VA social workers have a master's degree in social work (MSW or MSSW). Some are also limited licensed master social workers (LLMSW), licensed master social workers (LMSW), or licensed clinical social workers (LCSW).

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