The Social Worker (Program Coordinator) is located at the Columbia VA Health Care System, Columbia, SC. Incumbent practices in the Emergency Department to provide psychiatric emergency services as a licensed mental health provider. Social Worker (Program Coordinator) also provides Traditional social work services in the Emergency Department setting for Veterans and, at times, humanitarians. Social Worker is required to work nontraditional shifts: includes some weekends and holidays.

Duties

The Social Worker (Program Coordinator) is located at the Columbia VA Health Care System, Columbia, SC. Social Worker Program Coordinator practices in the Emergency Department to provide psychiatric emergency services as a licensed mental health provider. Social Worker (Program Coordinator) also provides traditional social work services in the Emergency Department setting for Veterans and, at times, humanitarians. Social Worker is required to work nontraditional shifts; includes some weekends and holidays. The incumbent also covers social work needs for Veteran's admitted to the medical acute care/critical care and inpatient mental health units during the evening and weekend hours as needed. Coverage includes completing social work psychosocial assessments and offering assistance with any emergent issues that arise after hours. The incumbent serves a patient population with highly complex medical and mental health issues. The Social Worker Program Coordinator is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns. As a Social Worker Program Coordinator, the incumbent has experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressively more professional competency. The incumbent must be licensed at the advanced practice level. The incumbent requires specialized knowledge of psychiatric emergency diagnosis, intervention, and treatment. She/He must also be skilled in the areas of post-traumatic stress disorder, interpersonal violence, sexual assault, child, elder, and dependent abuse, substance abuse, grief and bereavement, and end of life issues. The advanced practice Social Worker Program Coordinator demonstrates an ability to expand clinical knowledge in the profession, provide consultation and guidance to colleagues, role model effective social work practice skills, teach or provide orientation to less experienced Social Workers, develop innovations in practice interventions, and provide clinical supervision for social work licensure or certification. The incumbent performs specialized treatment of complex physical and mental illness for patients in the emergency department with psychiatric emergencies. Services are primarily provided in the emergency department with very little supervisory control. The incumbent could be the only Social Worker on duty after normal business hours, during weekends and on holidays. The incumbent must demonstrate significantly advanced clinical skills and be able to function independently. The number of patients served is considerable. The incumbent incorporates complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment of Veteran patients, including making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnoses within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. The GS-12 Social Worker Program Coordinator performs duties independently, reporting to the social work section supervisor. Work involves intensive Social Work services requiring the exercise of mature professional judgment and the flexible use of a wide range of Social Work skills. The population served has unique needs, and the functional loss and the necessary involvement of family and other agencies often result in serious and complicated cases. Patients present with a wide range of psychological and environmental problems that require creative problem solving and planning. Decisions concerning planning, organizing and implementing the plans are often complicated by the various agencies and individuals involved in the care plan. Work Schedule: Tuesday-Friday, 12:00pm-10:30pm (subject to change based on agency needs changes will be expected to cover others scheduled/unscheduled time off) Compressed/Flexible:Available. Telework: Not Available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Available. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized. Financial Disclosure Report: Not require.

Requirements

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/. Physical Requirements. Applicants must pass a pre-employment physical exam/screening. 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: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. GS-12, Social Worker (Program Coordinator) 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. Preferred Experience: The social worker program coordinator practices in the Emergency Department to provide psychiatric emergency services as a licensed mental health provider. The social worker also provides social work services in the Emergency Department setting for veterans. Previous experience working in an emergency department is preferred. Mental Health experience would be ideal. AND 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. AND 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. 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. References: VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39 dated September 10, 2019.The full performance level of this vacancy is GS12. Physical Requirements: The incumbent must be in overall good health, able to sit at a desk working at a computer, engage in light to moderate physical activity including sitting, walking, bending, and carrying supplies. The incumbent must be able to perform primarily light and sedentary duties with occasionally moderate physical demands with reasonable accommodation, if necessary, without endangering the health and safety of the Social Worker or others. Position requires walking throughout the clinic and/or Medical Center, standing for extended periods of time, and involves sitting at a computer and in counsel and consultation with Veterans and interdisciplinary teams. Position may require minimal travel into the community to meet with community agencies and partners who aid, help, and provide support to the Caregiver Support Program, its Veterans, and caregivers. This position also requires close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading; and repetitive motions of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers.

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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address Columbia VA Health Care System 6439 Garners Ferry Road Columbia, SC 29209 US
• Name: Tammy Myrie
• Phone: 901-663-6722
• Email: [email protected]