Clarification from the agency

U.S. Citizens. Current permanent federal employees should apply under CBST-10745356-20-SB

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• Provides specialized evidence-based treatment to Veterans. The population served may lack familial and community support, be poor self-monitors, have difficulty adhering to recommended treatment due to the nature of avoidance or other psychosocial barriers, and may have major deficits in coping skills and require intensive professional psychological support.
• Will develop a mechanism for tracking all suicide attempts and patients with serious suicidal ideations.
• Functions as a licensed independent provider of mental health services.
• Is primarily responsible for screening, assessing, treatment planning, clinical care provision, and follow-up of Veterans at an advanced practice level.
• Follows up on all calls made to the Suicide Hotline to assure timely access to care and the appropriate follow-up for patients in crisis.
• Maintains "High Risk" list which the SPC and provider deem as at risk & assures that all veterans on list are closely followed by the appropriate provider on a regular and ongoing basis.
• Represents the social work profession and perspective on a multidisciplinary team.
• Provides and maintains expertise regarding VA and community psychosocial resources.
• Program development regarding suicide prevention including community outreach.
• Tracks "High Risk" patients that "no-show" their appointments attempting to contact them and rescheduling their appointment.
• Participate in tracking the care of Veterans as they move through assessment, orientation, treatment, and follow-up in the suicide prevention program. This Social Worker will also be involved in measuring treatment outcomes.
• Utilizes outcome evaluations to further treatment and design system changes based on empirical findings.
• Participates in the aggregate Suicide RCA's (Root Cause Analysis) team and on individual RCA's concerning Veterans who have died by suicide.
• Responsible for clinical program development and is accountable to clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns. (may include partnering with local universities, colleges, & other agencies to improve the delivery of mental health services and increase utilization)
• 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.
• Provides education and educational materials to Veteran's, their families, co-workers and at community outreach activities.
• Independent planning and provision of treatment services for those veterans assigned to his/her case-management.
• Identifies high-risk patients and provides safety planning, crisis intervention, coordinates staffing with other team members and/or family conferences when clinically indicated.
• Develops partnerships with OEF/OIF/OND Coordinators, Patient Safety Managers, Homeless Coordinators, local Vet Center staff, Residential Care teams and local mental health teams.
• Serves as a resource throughout the facility for the mental health needs of returning Veterans.
• Serves as liaison, arranging referral of veteran for adjunctive diagnostic treatment, and ancillary services within the VHSO, VHA and community-based agencies and organizations.
• Participates in the development of a plan of care for each Veteran assigned, with measurable goals outlined, based on relevant psychological, medical and mental health treatment information.
• Understanding of medication effects/side effects & medical terminology.
• Fulfills all duties as a mandated reporter of elder and child abuse and neglect.
• Evaluates own practice through professional peer review, case conferences, and other organizational means.
• Communicates effectively, both orally and in writing, with people from varied backgrounds.
• Meets the needs of Veterans while supporting the VA mission. This includes consistently communicating and treating Veterans, their representatives, visitors, and all VA staff, in a courteous, tactful, and respectful manner.
• Keeps thorough and complete records in computerized record system.
• Follows all cyber security requirements for sensitive data.
• Obtains any relevant HIPPA clearances to allow transmittal of facility data on suicide attempts and individuals that are at risk to the Medical Center Director and then to the VISN for trending and quality assurance purposes.
• Assures that all high-risk patients that are being followed have a 24-hour resource number to call and ways to get assistance if an immediate crisis occurs.
• Provides other services and duties as assigned by his/her supervisor and/or the Associate Chief of Staff, Mental Health Services.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to a background/security investigation
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

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.

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:

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• 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 http://www.cswe.org/Accreditation to verify that the social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a masters of social work.
• English Language Proficiency: Social Workers appointed to direct patient-care positions must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d) and 7407(d).
• Licensure: Must possess a full, current, and unrestricted license by a state to independently practice social work at the master's level. Current state requirements may be found on the OHRM website. There is no licensure exception for this grade level.

Grade Determinations for Social Work (Program Coordinator) GS-12:
Experience and Education. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressively more professional competency. Candidate may have certification or other post-master's degree training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship, or equivalent supervised professional experience.

Licensure/Certification. Individuals assigned as social worker program coordinator must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level (additional details below), and must be able to provide supervision for licensure.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

(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 area(s).
(e) Ability to provide training, orientation, and guidance within clinical practice.

Advanced Practice:
Advanced Practice Level is defined as the ability to provide independent and expert clinical psychosocial and case management services in a specialized area of practice to Veterans who tend to have serious and severe crises, may lack any familial and community support, may be poor self-monitors, may frequently fail to comply with instructions and treatment, or may have major deficits in coping skills and require continuing professional psychological support. The advanced practice or senior social worker has an increased depth and breadth of practice skills; has expertise in participating in the professional development of colleagues through mentorship and teaching; demonstrates leadership in developing and expanding professional intervention strategies; demonstrates leadership in defining and attending to professional practice issues; and has the ability to expand the conceptual knowledge of the profession. The advanced practice or senior social worker will make independent professional decisions and recommendations for agency action; the consequences to the Veteran of these decisions and actions may be quite serious. Work involves intensive social work services requiring the exercise of mature professional judgment and the flexible use of a wide range of complex social work practice skills not typically required in routine social work interventions. The advanced practice or senior social worker has mastered a range of specialized interventions and provides consultation to colleagues, renders professional opinions based on experience and expertise, develops new models of psychosocial assessment or intervention, and incorporates complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment. The advanced practice or senior social worker utilizes outcome evaluations to further treatment and designs system changes based on empirical findings.

References: A HANDBOOK 5005/120 PART II APPENDIX G39

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12.

Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, résumé, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

NOTE: The Professional Standards Board (a peer-review group) will review the selected candidate's education and experience and recommend the grade and salary at which the candidate will be placed. For internal selectees eligible for promotion, the board will recommend grade and HR will determine step in accordance with policy.

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; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.