Clarification from the agency

This job is open to current permanent Department of Veteran Affairs employees, current permanent Federal employees of other agencies, and all US Citizens.

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Major duties include, but are not limited to:

• Ability to thoroughly assess Veterans in need of specialized care and develop and implement effective treatment plans that fit the physical, emotional, and psychosocial needs of Veterans.
• Provides comprehensive case management by ensuring all Veterans identified as high risk for suicide receive follow up mental health care as required, coordinating services as needed.
• Assist in planning, establishing, and implementing policies and procedures, developing individual or group goals and objectives as well as monitoring, operating, evaluating, and coordinating assigned program.
• Ability to work with patients and families who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, medical, and social problems utilizing individual, group, and family counseling skills and identifying the patient's problems, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills and assistance needed, in collaboration with the patient, family and interdisciplinary treatment team.
• Basic knowledge of psychosocial treatment modalities and ability to implement treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups to achieve treatment goals. This requires judgment and skill in utilizing supportive, problem solving, or crisis intervention techniques.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with clients, staff, and representatives of community agencies. Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, with people from varied backgrounds.
• Knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities, and treatment procedures. This includes acute, chronic, and traumatic illnesses/injuries; common medications and their effects/side effects; and medical terminology.
• Basic skill in the use of computer software applications for drafting documents, data management, and tracking. Ability to learn and utilize software programs in use by VHA.
• Knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services.
• Ability to provide consultation services and education to other staff about the suicide prevention program, the psychosocial needs of patients and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and compliance with treatment.
• Ability to provide orientation and coaching to new social workers and social work graduate students. Ability to serve as a field instructor for social work graduate students who are completing VHA field placements.
• Ability to independently evaluate his/her own practice through participation in professional peer review case conferences, research studies, or other organized means.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday; 0800-1630
Telework: Ad-hoc (Ad-hoc Telework)
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
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)
Functional Statement #: 00000

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• You may be required to serve a trial period.
• 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 dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).

Qualifications

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 tohttp://www.cswe.org/Accreditation to verify that the social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a masters of social work.
• Licensure: Persons hired or reassigned to social worker positions in the GS-0185 series in VHA 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/.
• Loss of Licensure or Certification: Once licensed or certified, social workers must maintain a full, valid, and unrestricted independent license or certification to remain qualified for employment. Loss of licensure or certification will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment.
• Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services.
• English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

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).

Grade Determinations:

Social Worker (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, 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:
  • Knowledge of program coordination and administration which includes consultation, negotiation, and monitoring.
  • Knowledge and ability to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines for the program.
  • Ability to supervise multidisciplinary staff assigned to the program.
  • Skill in organizing work, setting priorities, meeting multiple deadlines, and evaluating assigned program area(s).
  • Ability to provide training, orientation, and guidance within clinical practice.

Preferred Experience:

• Minimum of 3 years working at the VA or other federal agency.
• Minimum of 3 years working as a Suicide Prevention Coordinator in the VA or an internship with the Suicide Prevention Program.
• 3-5 years providing case management and care coordination for persons with mental illness, substance abuse and/or homelessness.
• 3 year experience working in crisis services and intervention related to suicide, violence and/or abuse/neglect with evidence based risk assessment and intervention.
• Advanced training in relevant treatment modalities in Advanced Training in the Safety Planning Intervention (ASPI), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - Suicide Prevention (CBT-SP) and Problem Solving Therapy for Suicide Prevention.

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.

Physical Requirements: Individuals, including wage-grade drivers, title 5, title 38 and hybrid title 38 employees or volunteers who are required to operate a government owned or leased vehicle to successfully carry out their assigned duties must be medically cleared prior to appointment (positions that require a CDL are covered under a separate OF-178). Assessment must be made for any acute or chronic medical/physical condition or medication use which interferes with the ability operate the appropriate Government-owned or -leased vehicle safely and without undue risk to themselves or others. The following requirements must be met: distant vision 20/40 in one eye with or without correction; field of vision 70 degrees, ability to distinguish red, green and amber, whispered voice at five feet, or average hearing loss of not greater than 40 dbs. at 500, 1000 and 2,000 Hz.

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.