Videos

Major duties include, but are not limited to the following:

• The SW Acute Care Program Coordinator is a supervisor to social work staff assigned to the Acute Care areas. Incumbent is an advanced practice social worker with leadership skills. Incumbent must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment and an ability to problem solve at the Leadership level and work with other staff at all levels throughout the facility.
• The incumbent is a working supervisor who will perform a minimum of 25% direct patient care and must have strong clinical skills. This will include but not limited to collaboration with the Specialty Care SW Team, PACT Team and related areas for patients who may be hospitalized.
• The incumbent will ensure that Acute Care SW staff are providing comprehensive, specialized care that will improve access in order for the patient to remain in the most appropriate level of care.
• The incumbent will analyze and evaluate clinical program data to improve and decrease the readmission rates and SMR (Standard Mortality Rate) as well as identify areas for improvement and evaluating the efficacy of improvement throughout Acute Care.
• The incumbent will initiate and conduct a variety of programmatic and/or service audits and reports to include productivity assessments. Incumbent must be able to organize work, set priorities, meet multiple deadlines within the realm of evaluating assigned program areas and supervising staff.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00a - 4:30p (The individual may be required to work an irregular tour of duty, to include weekends depending on the needs of the service and medical center. The individual will participate in the medical center's social work on-call rotation, as required. Social work on-call coverage is between 4:30p - 8:00a, to include weekends and holidays).
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.

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 (MSW) 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 the CSWE website (www.cswe.org) to verify if that social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a master of social work.
• Licensure: Persons hired or reassigned to social worker positions in the GS-185 series in VHA must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree levels.
• English Language Proficiency: Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j.

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).

Preferred Experience: Demonstrates an ability to effectively works with various disciplines and treatment teams. Certified Lean Six Sigma and demonstrates an ability to conduct performance improvement efforts based on systems engineering principles.

Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

Social Worker (Program Coordinator), GS-12

Experience/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, and must be able to provide supervision for licensure.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, candidates 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.

References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II Appendix G39 http://vaww.va.gov/ohrm/Directives-Handbooks/Documents/5005.pdf

Physical Requirements: The position will require a moderate level of keyboarding, standing (up to 1 hour), walking (up to 2 hours), bending, reaching above the shoulder, use of fingers, both hands required, both legs required, ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously, depth perception, moderate carrying (15 - 44 pounds) and moderate lifting (15-44 pounds). Hearing aid permitted. Long periods of standing are common in this position. The work is performed while sitting though some work may require periods of standing. The regular and recurring work of the position involves sitting at a desk, conferences, meetings, etc., and daily visits to various areas within the community. Position does require daily driving.

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.

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.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.