Clarification from the agency

Open to current permanent Department of Veteran Affairs employees, current permanent Federal employees of other agencies and all US Citizens. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU

The incumbent oversees the delivery and coordination of care activities for family caregivers, who provide personal care services to eligible Veterans regardless of their period of service. The Caregiver Support Program (CSP) includes the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) and the Program of General Caregiver Support Services (PGCSS). Veterans receiving CSP services often have complex medical, mental health, and psychosocial needs, which place increased demands on their caregivers. Addressing these needs requires advanced administrative and clinical oversight, technical consultation, creative problem-solving, and personal mastery skills.

Key responsibilities of the Caregiver Support Program Coordinator include assigning work to be performed, conducting performance evaluations, selecting and training staff, recommending awards and advancements, and when appropriate, disciplinary actions. The CSP serves Veterans throughout North Dakota, 17 counties in Minnesota, and one county in South Dakota, with most of the service area being highly rural. The incumbent coordinates program implementation with multiple clinical services, including nursing, physical, occupational, and speech therapy, as well as mental health and primary care providers. Additionally, the incumbent may provide clinical interventions to Veteran and caregiver populations served by the programs.

The incumbent is responsible for establishing and maintaining an ongoing education program for Veterans, caregivers, community agencies, students, and staff to promote understanding of clinical practice guidelines, mental health, readjustment, and psychosocial issues facing caregivers. This includes developing and facilitating CSP-focused direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs for VA facility staff and the community. The incumbent also implements a comprehensive outreach plan targeting Veterans and caregivers who may benefit from CSP program services but currently do not use VA healthcare.

The incumbent directly supervises Caregiver Support Coordinators (CSCs), Program Support Assistants (PSAs), and other interprofessional staff as outlined in VHA Directive 1152(1). They coordinate program implementation with various clinical services across all VA facility locations, including nursing, physical, occupational, and speech therapy, mental health, and primary care.

As the subject matter expert (SME) for CSP-related issues at the VA facility, the incumbent serves as a consultant to other VA professionals and administrators and liaises with Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) CSP Program and VA Central Office (VACO) Program. They act as the VA HCS point of contact (POC) for all PCAFC and PGCSS caregiver inquiries and outreach requests, engaging with a wide variety of stakeholders like Veterans, family members, community agencies, and military support programs.

The incumbent identifies unmet needs of the caregiver population and collaborates with facility, VISN 23, and VACO staff to implement solutions, participate in national, regional, and VISN operational calls, and contribute to national leadership council committees. They also engage in outreach and cultural transformation initiatives, such as those from the Elizabeth Dole Foundation and Roslyn Carter Institute.

The incumbent is responsible for administrative and personnel management, including personnel actions, clinical supervision, consultation, negotiation with other departments, and quality improvement.

The incumbent oversees CSP program operations, develops policies and procedures, and prepares reports and statistics for facility, VISN, and national use.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m. or 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
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)
Telework: Available ad-hoc only.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

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.
• 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).
• 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

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.
• 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/.
• 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:

GS-13 Social Worker (Program Coordinator)

(1) Experience and Education. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level, which is defined as: Working knowledge of program coordination and administration which includes consultation, negotiation, and monitoring; Working knowledge and ability to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines for the program; Supervising multidisciplinary staff assigned to the program; Organizing work, setting priorities, meeting multiple deadlines, and evaluating assigned program area(s); Providing training, orientation, and guidance within clinical practice.

Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressively more professional competency. Candidates 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.

(2) 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. Documentation is required if part of your state's requirements for providing supervision for licensure is beyond your licensure only (example: certification of continuing education credits).

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

(a) Skill in coordinating and implementing one or more specialty program(s), across the facility.
(b) Skill in local policy and practice development, procedures, and/or practice guidelines for the program as prescribed by the program handbook or national directive.
(c) Skill in organizing work, setting priorities, meeting multiple deadlines, and evaluating assigned program area(s).
(d) Ability to collaborate with internal and external partners to further program goals and enhance patient centered care.
(e) Ability to provide the full range of supervisory duties including assignment of work to be performed; performance evaluations; and selection of staff, training, and recommendation of awards, advancements, and when appropriate, disciplinary action.
(f) Ability to oversee the fiscal matters of the functions supervised (including fund controls, contracts, and equipment expenditures), forecast resource and equipment needs, and administer the allocated budget.
(g) Knowledge of organizational structure and impact on program operations.

All qualifying experience you possess must be clearly described in your application package. We will not make assumptions when reviewing applications. Failure to demonstrate your experience in your resume may result in disqualification. It is strongly recommended that you write to each KSA in your application package.

Assignment. 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. At this grade level, social worker program coordinators oversee the administrative and clinical aspects of a major specialty treatment program, such as, but not limited to: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Substance Abuse Treatment Program, Home-Based Primary Care, Mental Health Intensive Case Management, Caregiver Support Program or Transition and Care Management Program, or a combination of programs located at one facility or multiple divisions of a facility. They are responsible for coordinating interdisciplinary staffing, work assignments, budget, treatment services provided, and admission criteria for the program. The program coordinator may or may not have supervisory responsibilities. They have full responsibility for all phases of service delivery for a major specialty program. The program coordinator is responsible for the program's resource and fiscal management, monitoring control points developing the annual budget, operating within that budget, and accounting for appropriated funds. They are administratively responsible for the programming and operations of the program assigned, develop policies and procedures for program operation, and prepare reports and statistics for facility, VISN, and national use. Program coordinators provide leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs for assigned staff. They initiate and conduct program or service audits and complete designated clinical practice audits and reports, including productivity. Program coordinators 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-13. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-13.

Physical Requirements: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination.

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.

Area of Consideration - Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order: 1. Current permanent VA employees of the facility. 2. All other VA employees. 3. All other applicants.

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• License
• Resume
• Transcript

Special Note for Applications: To complete your application, please use the following link https://vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Resume.docx to download the standard Clinical Resume Document. This one-page document does not need to be modified and must be uploaded into the two-page restricted 'Resume' document upload field.

Your full resume/CV may be uploaded without page limitation into the 'Other' document upload field.

The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please ensure you have included all documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), etc.

• Cover Letter
• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Disability Letter (VA)
• License
• RECOMMENDED: Write to the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) on a separate document - KSAs are found under qualification/grade requirements in the announcement.
• Supervision for licensure documentation
• Resume/CV exceeding two-pages
• PCS Orders
• Performance Appraisal
• Professional Certification
• Resume
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Next steps