Duties
VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU
Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf
Social Work: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Social-Worker-Career-Flyer.pdf
Major Duties:
- Tracking all suicide behaviors through the use of the Suicide Behavior and Overdose Report and Comprehensive Suicide Risk Evaluation report.
- Providing comprehensive case management to ensure veterans assigned a patient record flag for high risk of suicide receive follow-up care and coordination of services as needed.
- Conducting individual and group psychotherapy through telehealth, face-to-face, and/or telephone appointments for Veterans assigned a patient record flag for high risk of suicide.
- Maintaining tracking lists of veterans assigned a patient record flag for high risk of suicide to ensure timely follow-up appointments are made as specified by National and STVCHS policies.
- Provide crisis intervention, suicide risk assessment, and safety planning for all Veterans as needed.
- Coordinate with mental health providers, other treatment staff, and program managers through ongoing communication to ensure necessary components in the veteran's care plan address ongoing assessment of suicide risk, review of safety plans, etc. Ensures the required frequency of mental health appointments are in place for Veterans assigned a patient record flag for high risk of suicide through such ongoing communication.
- Completes Behavioral Health Autopsy Reports, Family Interview Tool - Contact forms, Issue Briefs, and Heads Up Memoranda as required.
- Following completed suicides, provides postvention services to both surviving family members and VA staff involved in the affected Veteran's care.
- Participation in and provision of expertise during individual Root Cause Analysis teams as assigned.
- Assure all Veterans assigned a patient record flag for high risk of suicide are followed properly by appropriate providers through the duration of flag assignment.
- Follow-up with patients and providers when a veteran assigned a patient record flag fails to report to a mental health appointment in order to address barriers to care, facilitate rescheduling, and ensure patient is safe.
- If the safety of a Veteran cannot be established, or it is determined the Veteran is at imminent risk for self-harm, the SPC initiates a health-and-welfare check or emergency response request as appropriate to the situation, including but not limited to, contacting the Veteran's identified emergency contact and/or 911.
- Maintain awareness of treatment options for those assigned a patient record flag for high risk of suicide and make recommendations to the Veteran's providers regarding such options.
- Obtain relevant HIPPA clearances to allow transmittal of facility data on suicide attempts and individuals at risk to VISN and National authorities for trending and quality assurance purposes; and transmitting the data following cyber security requirements as applicable for this sensitive data.
- Assure all Veterans assigned a patient record flag are aware of 24-hour resource numbers to call and other ways to obtain assistance should a suicidal crisis develop.
- Assure compliance with Joint Commission and other accrediting body standards related to suicide prevention.
Major Duties section continues in Education Section:
Work Schedule: 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM, Monday - Friday
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade
may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).
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)
Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.
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,
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Requirements
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 probationary period.
- Subject to background/security investigation.
- Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
- Pre-employment physical examination may be required.
- Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
- Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.
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 tohttp://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.
- 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-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.
- Assignments: 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. Program coordinators at the GS-12 grade level are administratively responsible for a clinical program providing treatment to Veterans in a major specialty area, such as but not limited to: Spinal Cord Injury, Homeless Continuum Veteran Program, Hospice and Palliative Care Program, Suicide Prevention Program, Veterans Justice Outreach, Caregiver Support Program and Community Nursing Home Program. The program coordinator may be the sole practitioner in this specialty at the facility and typically provide direct patient care services in the program area. The program coordinator oversees the daily operation of the program, develop policies and procedures for program operation, and prepare reports and statistics for facility, VISN, and national use. They may be responsible for the program's budget, developing and monitoring staff compliance with practice, standards and guidelines on documentation, workload, data entry, ethical practice and service delivery. The program coordinator provides analysis and evaluation of clinical program data and computerized programs to identify system-wide trends and needs to enhance the quality of service. They may be responsible for, or contribute to, the program's resource and fiscal management, monitoring control points developing the annual budget, operating within that budget, and accounting for appropriated funds. The program coordinator is administratively responsible for the clinical programming and prepares reports and statistics for facility, VISN, and national use. They provide leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs for assigned staff. They initiate and conduct a variety of program or service audits and complete designated clinical practice audits and reports, including productivity assessments. They 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.]
Preferred Experience:
- Prior experience in role, setting or working with population
- Clinical experience, EBP certified
- Clinical care coordination
- Quality or utilization management experience
- Prior Veterans Healthcare administration experience
- Licensed to practice at independent practice level
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. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for GS-12.
Physical Requirements: Light lifting, under 15 pounds; Light carrying, under 15 pounds; Use of fingers; Both hands required; Hearing (aid may be permitted); Ability to perform privileges; Ability to independently perform physical exam as appropriated to position; Emotional & mental stability; Mostly sitting w/ some walking
Education
IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.
NOTE: If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.
Continuation of Major Duties:
- Deliver on-going Gatekeeper Training with non-clinical staff to ensure their effective identification of patients in crisis and awareness of treatment and intervention options for such patients.
- Collaborate with community resources by providing gatekeeper training and other activities to promote awareness of veteran suicide risk, ways to mitigate risk, and how they might assist veterans gaining access to proper resources.
- Develop and implement ongoing education for providers, Veterans, families, and members of the community regarding suicide risk identification and prevention.
- Respond timely to Veteran Crisis Line referrals, internal consults, and other inquiries from VA staff and community members to address needs of veterans at elevated risk of suicide.
- Ensure patient and staff educational materials on suicide prevention are prominently displayed throughout STVHCS.
- Gather data regarding suicide attempts, completions, and staff and community training for recurring suspense reporting, adhering to station and VISN reporting requirements and timelines.
- Performs other related duties as assigned.
The Suicide Prevention Coordinator additionally demonstrates competency in the below areas:
- Professional knowledge of the principles and practices of social work and social work care management for patients with a wide range of physical, mental health, and psychosocial problems.
- Knowledge of the psychosocial, medical, and mental health needs common to Veterans, to include recognizing risk factors and warning signs of suicide.
- Ability to conduct sound clinical assessments addressing suicide risk and develop appropriate treatment planning for Veterans at elevated risk.
- Mastery of a wide range of qualitative and quantitative methods for the assessment and improvement of program effectiveness and advocating for the special needs of the population.
- Knowledge of statistics, data analysis, and program evaluation using statistical data.
- Comprehensive knowledge of VHA and other government entitlement programs and benefits available to Veterans, including community resources and services for the disabled, peer counseling programs, and Federal laws and regulations regarding the disabled. Comprehensive understanding of Federal laws and regulations, VHA policies, and resources applicable to Veterans.
- Knowledge of the requirements contained within the Mental Health Uniform Services Handbook, and the VHA's Care Management goals, objectives, and guidelines. Knowledge of the sequence and timing of key program events and milestones and methods of evaluating the worth of program accomplishments.
- Ability to operate a computer with a variety of software, to include CPRS, Vista, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in order to enter required information regarding patient care, complete recurring reports, development and collection of clinical and administrative data, and the development of presentations.
- The position requires both knowledge and skill in written communication. This includes policies and procedures, reports, letters for the incumbent's signature, and the signature of others, which often addresses sensitive and potentially controversial topics and issues.
- Knowledge of oral communication, as required to present effectively in both clinical and nonclinical settings within the VA and broader community.
- The position requires clinical and interpersonal skill in eliciting information which is usually considered private, personal, and often emotionally-charged. This includes skill in evaluating the information, measuring its meaning and importance to the Veteran, and applying it to direct services and/or to treatment objectives.
- The position requires knowledge of state and federal reporting requirements for child and elder abuse, endangerment of handicapped or disabled persons, domestic violence, and deficiencies in the operations of licensed providers and agencies.
- The position requires knowledge of VA reporting requirements regarding patient incidents or irregular events
- Knowledge of adult education techniques to inform and assist patients and families regarding participation in treatment and follow-up with established treatment objectives or plans.
- Knowledge of clinical teaching.
- Knowledge of short- and long-term case management and care coordination methods and techniques.
Benefits
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Review our benefits
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
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.
Required Documents
To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:
- Professional Certification
- Resume
The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please use this
checklist to 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 (Schedule A)
- Disability Letter (VA)
- License
- Other (1)
- PCS Orders
- Performance Appraisal
- Professional Certification
- Resume
- Separation Notice (RIF)
- SF-15
- SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
- Transcript
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from
schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
How to Apply
All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the full questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 02/10/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12601400.
- To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
- Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package.
NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.
To verify your application is complete, log into your USA JOBS account,
https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then select the more information link for this position. The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process. To return to an incomplete application, log into your USA JOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USA JOBS account or your application will be incomplete.
Next steps
Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. After we receive application packages (including all required documents) and the vacancy announcement closes, we will review applications to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued and applicants will be notified of their status by email. Referred applicants will be notified as such and may be contacted directly by the hiring office for an interview. All referred applicants receive a final notification once a selection decision has been made.
You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USA Jobs account and clicking on Applications. Information regarding your application status can be found in the USAJobs Help Center.
NOTE: Participation in the seasonal influenza program is a condition of employment and a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). It is a requirement that all HCP to receive annual seasonal influenza vaccination or obtain an exemption for medical or religious reasons. Wearing a face mask is required when an exemption to the influenza vaccination has been granted. HCP in violation of this directive may face disciplinary action up to and including removal from federal service. HCP are individuals who, during the influenza season, work in VHA locations or who come into contact with VA patients or other HCP as part of their duties. VHA locations include, but are not limited to, VA hospitals and associated clinics, community living centers (CLCs), community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs), domiciliary units, Vet centers and VA-leased medical facilities. HCP include all VA licensed and unlicensed, clinical and administrative, remote and onsite, paid and without compensation, full- and part-time employees, intermittent employees, fee basis employees, VA contractors, researchers, volunteers and health professions trainees (HPTs) who are expected to perform any or all of their work at these facilities. HPTs may be paid or unpaid and include residents, interns, fellows and students. HCP also includes VHA personnel providing home-based care to Veterans and drivers and other personnel whose duties put them in contact with patients outside VA medical facilities.