Clarification from the agency

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this occupational series. For more information, refer to Required Documents below. This announcement is open to the Public - US Citizens.

This job is also open in another announcement to:

Federal employees - Competitive service

Federal employees - Excepted service

Internal to an agency

This position is a key managerial position in the delivery of behavioral health services for Veterans at the Walla Walla VAMC main campus, Yakima CBOC, Tri-Cities CBOC, Lewiston CBOC, and LaGrande CBOC. The incumbent has administrative, professional, and technical duties and responsibilities for the management of the continuum of outpatient specialized services.

The Mental Health Social Work Program Coordinator independently provides clinical psychosocial and case management services at an advanced practice level to eligible Veterans and their family members with complex biological, psychological, social, and environmental needs. The incumbent is required to interact not only with the Veteran but also family, significant others, community agencies and other staff.

FUNCTIONS OF THE POSITION.

• Supervise and manage workload and assignments of assigned direct reports under the BH Service line. The location of service delivery will focus on the needs of each individual Veteran. Service delivery may be provided in the BH, associated CBOC locations or by tele-health.
• Fiscal accountability and responsibility for fund control points, as appropriate.
• Interview Veterans and family members to establish facts about the Veteran's situation, presenting problems and their causes, and the impact of such problems on the Veteran's functioning and health as part of a comprehensive psychosocial assessment. Interpret and explain VA treatment and benefit programs.
• Use advanced clinical training, insight, and experience to interpret data and to identify viable treatment options. Assess high risk, factors, acuity, and need for services.
• Serve Veterans who tend to have frequent and severe crises, lack family or an adequate community support network, are poor at self-monitoring, and frequently fail to comply with instructions and treatment, or have significant deficits in coping skills requiring continued professional biopsychosocial support.
• Perform insightful assessment of serious and complicated cases involving psychiatric illness, catastrophic medical conditions, dementia, and other high risk diagnoses.
• Identify the need to formulate proposals for executive-level management consideration.
• Serve as a mentor to other Social Workers, particularly those at the entry level. Provide clinical supervision to unlicensed Social Workers and Social Work Associates.
• Work collaboratively with community-based organizations, Veterans service groups, and other stakeholders to expand the range of available resources to Veterans.
• Establish strategic partnerships and memorandums of understanding between community-based service providers and the Medical Center as needed and appropriate.
• Provide budget and financial management of the assigned programs through calls, reviews, guidelines, and instructions.
• Direct/coordinate clinical and psychosocial services and is accountable for the overall effectiveness of the services provided across multi-divisions.
• Coordinate Social Work services with other services offered in treatment programs, ensure such services are complementary and comprehensive.
• Provide case management services to those Veterans at high social or medical risk, serving as the liaison to other treatment programs. Represent the program in contacts with other agencies and the public.
• Conduct staff development training and take responsibility for providing opportunities to help staff update their skills and acquire new knowledge in contemporary treatment modalities.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Work Schedule: Mon - Fri, 8:00am to 4:30pm.
Recruitment/Relocation Incentive: 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: Ad-hoc.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000.
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.
• A valid state issued driver's license with a clean driving history in accordance with VA Policy to drive a government vehicle.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• Ability to operate and drive a government vehicle as determined by an Occupational Health driving 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

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS. The basic requirements for employment as a VHA social worker are prescribed by statute in 38 U.S.C. § 7402(b)(9), as amended by section 205 of Public Law 106-419, enacted November 1, 2000. To qualify for appointment as a social worker in VHA, all applicants must meet the following:

• Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with 38 U.S. Code).
• 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 Master 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).

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-13.
Experience/Education. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level.
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.

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) 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.

Preferred Experience: Program Development and minimum 1 year supervisory experience.

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.

Physical Requirements: Operation of a motor vehicle; must be able to see a computer screen; and hearing (aid may be permitted). You must be able to work alone and closely with others.

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.

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
• License
• Other (1)
• Other (2)
• Performance Appraisal
• Professional Certification
• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

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