Social Worker (Program Coordinator)- COMPACT ACT

The Veterans Comprehensive Prevention, Access to Care, and Treatment Act of 2020 (COMPACT) Act, Section 201 expands the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)' s ability to furnish and pay for treatment of eligible individuals in acute suicidal crisis. The Social Worker Program Coordinator serves as the COMPACT Act Coordinator and has responsibility as the primary navigator for Veterans receiving care under COMPACT Act.

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: 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-12 Social Worker (Program Coordinator) (1) Experience and Education. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level, which is defined as: Working knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services; Independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic, cultural, ethnic, educational and other diversified backgrounds; Working knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities and treatment procedures (i.e. acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses/injuries, common medications and their effects/side effects, and medical terminology) to formulate a treatment plan; Independently implementing different treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, medical, and social problems to achieve treatment goals; Providing consultation services to new social workers, social work graduate students, and other staff about the psychosocial needs of patients and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and compliance with treatment.

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. (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) Knowledge of program coordination and administration which includes consultation, negotiation, and monitoring. (b) Knowledge and ability to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines for the program. (c) Ability to supervise multidisciplinary staff assigned to the program. (d) Skill in organizing work, setting priorities, meeting multiple deadlines, and evaluating assigned program area(s). (e) Ability to provide training, orientation, and guidance within clinical practice. 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. 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. 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: The physical demands of this position involve primarily walking talking driving use of the telephone etc. strenuous physical activity is not required although the incumbent is expected to withstand pressure and stress as part of their daily activities. Light lifting and carrying - under 1 5 pounds. Hearing aid permitted as needed.

Work Environment: The incumbent observes normal safety precautions while working primarily in an office type environment. Most of the incumbent' s work takes place in environments that are clean, well-lit, and free of hazards. There are possible ongoing exposures to individuals experiencing psychiatric, substance related, and medical illnesses, which include, but not limited to infections, and/or violent/aggressive behavior.