Career Center

Summary

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP) - a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval - award amount (up to $200 -000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: You must be a citizen of the United States
• Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy
• Education: You must 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 http://www.cswe.org/Accreditation to verify that the social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a masters of social work
• Licensure or Certification: You must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level
• Current state requirements may be found by going to http://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/
• 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: Program Coordinator- Social Worker GS-0185-12: Licensure Requirement: You 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
• AND Experience Requirement: You must possess at least two years of experience 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 GS-11 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 post-masters 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
• 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
• AND Demonstrated Knowledge - Skills - and Abilities In addition to the experience above - you must demonstrate the following Knowledge - Skills and Abilities: (a) Knowledge of program coordination and administration which includes consultation - negotiation and monitoring
• (b) Knowledge and ability to write policies - procedures and/or practice guidelines for the program
• (c) Ability to supervise multidisciplinary staff assigned to the program
• (d) Skill in organizing work - setting priorities - meeting multiple deadlines and evaluating assigned program areas
• (e) Ability to provide training - orientation and guidance within clinical practice
• Assignments
• For all assignments above the full performance level - the higher level duties must consist of significant scope - complexity (difficulty) - and variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time
• Program coordinators at the GS-12 grade level are administratively responsible for a clinical program providing treatment to Veterans in a major specialty area - such as but not limited to: Spinal Cord Injury - Homeless Continuum Veteran Program - Hospice and Palliative Care Program - Suicide Prevention Program - Veterans Justice Outreach - Caregiver Support Program and Community Nursing Home Program
• The program coordinator may be the sole practitioner in this specialty at the facility and typically provide direct patient care services in the program area
• The program coordinator oversees the daily operation of the program - develop policies and procedures for program operation - and prepare reports and statistics for facility - VISN - and national use
• They may be responsible for the program's budget - developing and monitoring staff compliance with practice - standards and guidelines on documentation - workload - data entry - ethical practice and service delivery
• The program coordinator provides analysis and evaluation of clinical program data and computerized programs to identify system-wide trends and needs to enhance the quality of service
• They may be responsible for - or contribute to - the program's resource and fiscal management - monitoring control points developing the annual budget - operating within that budget - and accounting for appropriated funds
• The program coordinator is administratively responsible for the clinical programming and prepares reports and statistics for facility - VISN - and national use
• They provide leadership - direction - orientation - coaching - in-service training - staff development - and continuing education programs for assigned staff
• They initiate and conduct a variety of program or service audits and complete designated clinical practice audits and reports - including productivity assessments
• They oversee program operations and evaluations - identifying areas for improvement - gathering relevant data - assessing the data - developing and implementing ideas for improvement and evaluating efficacy of improvement efforts
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/ The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12.The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12
• Physical Requirements: Traveling throughout the Medical Center and the community is required - as is performing activities involving sitting - walking and standing - bending and carrying such items as books - papers - and files
• In carrying out responsibilities it may be necessary for the incumbent to travel into the community where incumbent conducts interviews with the Veterans - their families - representatives of community health and welfare agencies and law enforcement agencies
• Environment Requirements: Reports safety hazards - accidents and injuries
• Responds as appropriate to the Emergency Preparedness Plan
• Adheres to security policies and procedures
• Demonstrates compliance with Federal - State and local environmental requirements preventing pollution - minimizing waste and conserving cultural and natural resources.

Duties

• This Senior Social Worker position is within the Mental Health Service for the White River Junction VA Healthcare System
• This position is full-time at 40 hours per week
• The Suicide Prevention Coordinator (SPC) serves to facilitate suicide prevention strategies within the medical center to help ensure that all appropriate measures are being taken to prevent suicide in our patient population
• To this end - the SPC role is complex and includes interventions on the individual - system and community levels
• The work affects a wide range of agency activities and operations as well as the health and well-being of the patients served - relationships with community organizations and stakeholders
• The incumbent plans - develops - implements and evaluates the Suicide Prevention Program to ensure quality improvement and compliance with national mandates
• The GS-12 full performance level requires licensure or certification by a state at the advanced practice level and a minimum of two years of experience post advanced practice licensure in a specialized area of social work practice of which one year is the equivalent to the GS-11 grade level
• The Suicide Prevention Coordinator has specialized knowledge and at least two years of experience in clinical assessment - crisis intervention and suicide risk assessment
• Duties include but are not limited to: Provides follow up on all consults received from the National Veteran's Crisis Line
• Conducts clinical/risk assessments and implements appropriate interventions for referred Veterans
• Provides clinical interventions - as appropriate - adjunctive to the MHTC.- Documents all clinical interventions in the medical record
• Provides consultation to inpatient and outpatient providers hospital-wide related to risk assessment - intervention and requirements for enhanced services
• Develops relationships with facility Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn Coordinators - Patient Safety Managers - Homeless Veteran Coordinators - local Vet Center and CBOC staff - residential care and mental health teams to assure that Veterans are assessed for suicide risk as appropriate and that preventative interventions are in place
• Identifies and intervenes with high risk Veterans who refuse care including implementation of the SPC mail program
• Participates in Environment of Care Rounds - assisting the team in determining actions that should be taken to improve the safety of the hospital environment
• Tracks and reports all suicide attempts and completions
• completes related issue briefs as required
• Monitors VHA performance monitors and measures related to the Suicide Prevention Program to assure they are met or exceeded.- Initiates and maintains high risk for suicide patient record flags for Veterans who meet criteria
• Facilitates high risk for suicide patient record flagging committee meetings - reviewing all flagged Veterans every ninety days
• Development and implementation of other suicide prevention training for both clinical and non-clinical settings in the hospital and in the community
• Develops - organizes and participates in community outreach activities regarding recognizing Veteran suicide risk and access to care for Veterans and their families
• Develops relationships with local and state suicide prevention organizations - crisis organizations and Veteran Service Organization
• Develops activities and training for staff and Veterans for Suicide prevention Month
• Work Schedule: Full-Time - Monday- Friday - 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
• Compressed/Flexible: Authorized Telework: Not Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive
• Contact Hannah Neilson - Hannah.Neilson@va.gov - the EDRP Coordinator for questions or assistance on how to begin the application process
• Learn more Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure: Not Required Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases
• 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) 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)