The social worker coordinator is responsible for provision of direct services and care coordination for Veterans who identify as LGBTQ+ and their families and who require special care due to their status. The LGBTQ+ Veteran Care Coordinator helps to ensure that culturally competent LGBTQ+ clinical services are provided at local facilities consistent with Veterans Health Administration (VHA) policies and priorities

Duties

Duties to include but not limited to: Assesses the needs of LGBTQ+ Veterans through strategic planning to include assisting in planning, organizing, and coordinating facility services and programs to meet those needs. Provides a brief model of clinical and consultative care for LGBTQ+ Veterans in coordination with various clinics in MHSL of the Atlanta VA HCS Engages in ongoing education in order to effectively navigate emotionally challenging and cognitively complex aspects of coordinating culturally sensitive care, with the goal of disseminating this information to staff to ensure Atlanta VA HCS is providing cutting edge and culturally appropriate care. Provides up-to-date and cutting edge training and consultation to staff (clinical and non-clinical) to increase cultural and clinical competence. Collaborates with MHSL, SWSL, and Executive Leadership Team (ELT) to set HCS priorities related to LGBTQ+ Veteran care. Works in coordination with departments to ensure inclusion of patients' LGBTQ+ stats into overall patient care plans. Monitors implementation of VHA directives and national policies as well as guidance provided by the LGBTQ Program (10P4Y) Maintains subject matter expertise within the Atlanta VA HCS and across VA Collaborates with health/social services and local agencies to enhance care of LGBTQ+ Veterans as appropriate. Maintains working relationships with community resources Participates in outreaches and special observance activities as appropriate Incumbent will provide a full rage of psychological services, including assessment, an using the most appropriate psychotherapeutic techniques in providing quality care to LGBTQ+ Veterans. Facilitates patient and family education appropriate to the acute care setting and the specific presenting mental or behavioral health issues. Services may include assessment, group therapy, or individual therapy Completes or supervises gender-affirming health care evaluations as referred from Endocrinology or elsewhere within the Atlanta VA HCS. Provides consultation and training to various service lines staff in the identification and management of common mental and behavioral health disorders that present in a primary care setting when indicated; May supervise social work trainees, and may participate in their supervision May serve on Medical Center committees or task forces at direction of immediate supervisor Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• 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

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/17/2023. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. 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 the CSWE website to verify if that social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a master of social work. Licensure: 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. English Language Proficiency: Social workers must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j, this part.. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Grade Determinations: GS-12-LGBTQ Social Work Program Coordinator Experience, Education and Licensure: 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. 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. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the professional KSAs in subparagraph (b) below. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: (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. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Technical Competence 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. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements:The applicant must be able to perform primarily light and sedentary duties with occasionally moderate physical demands, exercise patience, and control emotions, with reasonable accommodation if necessary, without endangering the health and safety of the applicant or others. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/120 PART II APPENDIX G39 For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

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 Atlanta VA Medical Center 1670 Clairmont Road Decatur, GA 30033 US
• Name: Christie Lowery
• Phone: 205-554-2000
• Email: [email protected]