Clarification from the agency

Open to Current, Permanent Facility employees only. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

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The Suicide Prevention Program Coordinator serves as a Miami VA Healthcare System facility subject matter expert and point of contact for matters related to suicide including prevention, intervention, postvention efforts, suicide death and behavior reporting, education and outreach. The areas of responsibility include Miami VA Medical Center and surrounding CBOCs in Monroe, Miami-Dade, and Broward counties. This position is 90% administrative and 10% Clinical.

Duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• The incumbent functions as facility subject matter expert advising mental health and medical staff leadership, the mental health executive council, VA medical facility leadership, program managers, and staff concerning suicide prevention strategies, accrediting agency requirements, and guidelines pertaining to individual Veterans, for the VA medical facility and Veteran's community.
• Tracking and reporting on Veterans who have attempted suicide or are at high risk for suicide
• Responding to referrals from the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) and self-referrals from other sources
• Ensuring that all VA staff members have received discipline-appropriate suicide prevention training (VA S.A.V.E. training or equivalent)
• Collaborating with community organizations and partners to increase awareness of suicide prevention best practices and providing training to individuals who have contact with Veteran
• Providing subject matter consultation to providers on available resources for suicidal individuals, as well as expertise and direction in the areas of system design to prevent deaths by suicide within their local VA medical centers
• Working with providers to ensure that monitoring and treatment is intensified for high-risk patients while making sure that those who are at elevated risk receive education and support about approaches to reduce risks
• Reporting to Office of Mental Health Suicide Prevention (OMHSP) on Veterans who attempted or died by suicide and sending OMHSP requested data, which is used to determine characteristics and risks associated with these groups of Veterans.
• Making sure that providers follow up on missed appointments to ensure patient safety for high-risk patients and initiate problem-solving decisions about possible tensions or difficulties in patients' ongoing care.
• Ensuring that medical centers have established a High-Risk for Suicide List (HRSL) of Veterans and a process for establishing Patient Record Flag Category 1 High Risk for Suicide (HRS-PRFs), which includes: Exclusively controlling all HRS-PRFs and limiting their use to patients who meet the criteria for being placed on the facility HRSL, Coordinating with facility committees that manage PRFs to incorporate the use of HRS-PRFs into overall facility flag processes, Assessing the risk for suicide in individual patients in collaboration with their treating clinicians and ensuring that those patients receive appropriate follow-up care for any missed mental health appointments. Documenting, when appropriate, the nature of the follow-up care and plans for continuing
  treatment in the electronic health record (EHR), Identifying training needs related to suicide prevention, Maintaining communication with the facility-designated advisory groups to keep them aware of flag placements and review outcomes.
• Professional knowledge of the principles and theoretical concepts of counseling and social work, as well as the administrative mechanism and processes appropriate to the assignment.
• Demonstrated knowledge of and ability to provide direct care to suicidal and/or mental health patients, as well as ability to provide patient/staff education
• Ability to select the pertinent techniques for data collection and identify aspects of successful program operations that can be used for improving this and similar programs, including the ability to utilize a variety of fact-finding techniques.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm(Note: Work schedules are determined and approved by the supervisor. The incumbent may be required to work various shifts on a permanent or temporary basis based on facility/patient care needs).
Telework: Not available.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #:31972F
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

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: Must be a US Citizen.
• English Language Proficiency: In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English.
• Education: Must possess a master's or doctoral degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling; Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling; Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling; OR a related field, from a program accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). Examples of related mental health counseling fields include but are not limited to Addiction Counseling; Community Counseling; Gerontology Counseling; Marital, Couple, and Family Counseling. CACREP defines the date when graduates are considered to have graduated from a CACREP accredited program. Additional information may be obtained from http://www.cacrep.org/directory/. NOTE: Traditional Rehabilitation counseling programs that are accredited by CACREP do not meet the Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (LPMHC) qualification standards as Traditional Rehabilitation counseling differs from Clinical Rehabilitation counseling.
• Licensure: Must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to independently practice as a Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, which includes diagnosis and treatment.
• Grandfather Provision: An LPMHC employed in VHA on the effective date of the qualification standard (4/3/2018) who did not meet all the basic requirements in this standard may not be promoted beyond the full performance level (GS-11) or be newly placed in supervisory or managerial positions until meeting the full qualification requirements

Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements stated above, the following qualification criteria must be met for each grade. The candidate's qualifications must clearly demonstrate the level of competence required for the grade.

GS-12 LPMHC Experience, Education, and Licensure. In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must have at least one year of progressively complex experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Experience must have been in a major specialty treatment program area such as, but not limited to, Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), mental health intensive case management (MHICM), or other areas of equivalent scope and complexity. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressively more professional competency

While we no longer require essay-style responses to our Knowledge's Skills, Abilities, and Other Characteristics (KSAOs), you must be able to demonstrate that you possess the (below) competencies which are necessary to perform the work of the position. Please ensure your resume/CV/application contains sufficient information to support the level of experience/education/training; otherwise, we will not be able to award you credit for the experience/education/training you claim. These are the KSA's for this subject position:

1. In depth knowledge of the program coordinated, and demonstrated knowledge and ability to write policies procedures and or practice guidelines for the program.
2. Ability to make key decisions in the hiring and identification of top candidates.
3. Ability to provide leadership in facilitating the process of coordinating program consults, assessments, admissions, care assignments and discharges.
4. Ability to provide subject matter consultation to other colleagues and trainees within the field of counseling working on an interdisciplinary team.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

This position is being filled above the full performance level at GS-12.

Physical Requirements: Must pass a pre-employment physical evaluation as required by VA Handbook 5019. This evaluation is administered by VA Occupational Health. Position requires moving throughout the clinic and the Medical Center, standing for extended periods of time, and involves sitting at a computer and in counsel and consultation with Veterans and interdisciplinary teams.

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, resume, 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.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

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.