The Cincinnati VA Medical Center (CVAMC) is seeking a Senior Social Worker to act as the Community Engagement and Partnership Coordinator (CEPC). The incumbent will be assigned to the Suicide Prevention Program, Assessment and Intensive Treatment (AIT) Division, as a part of the Mental Health Care Line (MHCL). This program provides services to Veterans in Southern Ohio, Northern Kentucky, and Southeast Indiana service area.

Duties

Duties and responsibilities include but not limited to: The Senior Social Worker / CEPC for a , reporting directly to the Suicide Prevention Coordinator. The Senior Social Worker is responsible for outreach and coalition-building aimed to promote evidence-based practices to suicide prevention in the community. VA is promoting this public health strategy in an effort to more effectively work toward eliminating Veteran Suicide. The CEPC will work to deploy best practices which are evidence based into the community by engaging stakeholders in coalitions to support this shared mission. This position requires professional administrative expertise, mature judgment, tact, discretion, and the ability to interact with a variety of contacts in an effective and professional manner. The incumbent must be able to understand a wide variety of issues and policies in order to ensure program goals and objectives are met. The incumbent must understand the gravity and responsibility of the position, and be able to prioritize, problem solve, and monitor processes so that efficiency, accuracy, and VA compliances are maintained. He or She must also understand the utility of professional consultation and will be someone who has demonstrated an ability to use it successfully. The incumbent must successfully interface with individuals and groups with a wide variety of educational levels, socioeconomic backgrounds, divergent opinions, and priorities. The incumbent has responsibilities that include, and skills that involve: Assessing Veteran risk for suicide- Identifying appropriate clinical interventions for intervening to prevent suicide and understanding that these may vary based on individual veteran needs Be well versed in evidence-based strategies for reducing suicide risk Understand the difference between modifiable and non-modifiable (static) risk factors- Understand and be experienced in delivery of front-line clinical MH interventions including, but not limited to: Cognitive behavior therapies, motivational interviewing, and safety planning. Be knowledgeable about VA programs and treatment options Be well versed in scopes of practice for disciplines commonly involved in provision of MH care Develops, facilitates, and strengthens Community-Based Interventions for Suicide Prevention at the community, state, and VISN levels. Connects VA programs and stakeholders-including, but not limited to, Veterans, Veteran Service Organizations, congressional staff, media, community business partners, and community members throughout the health care system and VISN catchment areas-to conduct community-based interventions and provide outreach and education on suicide prevention related topics and services Provides leadership for coalition management - leads alignment of community coalition goals with VA goals, collaborates with non-VA coalition leaders (remote or in person), attends coalition meetings (general) and coalition subcommittee meetings, manages and attends coalition sponsored events/public meetings, conducts and/or supports coalition evaluation activities (survey distribution, data collection, key informant interviews, etc.); leads other coalition activities defined in a coalition action plan. Is responsible for establishing and maintaining strong relationships between the VA suicide prevention team and community-based veteran organizations and leadership Comprehends and maintains knowledge of current VA guidelines, policies, Federal regulations, and laws governing benefits for Veterans. Disseminates program evaluation and surveillance data related to suicide prevention with community partners Develops materials and training programs, in coordination with the SP team members, other facility and VISN stakeholders, and the National OMHSP office/MIRECC for staff and external stakeholders regarding suicide prevention in VHA and the facility. Develops and delivers of education and outreach services that encompasses underserved Veteran populations and expands SP coalition building in communities in the Facility's geographical catchment area and may include regional or state events. Develops and maintains content expertise in SP through peer review, networking, internet access, published literature, national conference calls, and educational offerings and professional meetings. Best Practices and Quality Improvement: The Senior Social Worker/CEPC is responsible for helping to diffuse best practices within the facility, and beyond the facility and into the community. These will be communicated to the CEPC by the AIT Division Director, who will work at the VISN level to ensure all CEPCs and VISN/Facility leadership are well informed and can support the work of the CEPC. Work Schedule: Monday thru Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

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. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). 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/. Driver's License: Must posses a valid unrestricted Driver's License 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 Senior Social Worker, GS-12 Experience/Education The candidate must have at least two years of experience post advanced practice clinical licensure and should be in a specialized area of social work practice of which, one year must be equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Senior social workers have experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment. Senior social workers are experts in their specialized area of practice. Senior social workers may have certification or other post-masters 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 a specialty. Licensure/Certification Senior social workers must be licensed or certified by a state at the advanced practice level which included an advanced generalist or clinical examination, unless they are grandfathered by the state in which they are licensed to practice at the advanced practice level (except for licenses issued in California, which administers its own clinical examination for advanced practice) and they 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: Skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities used in specialty treatment programs or with special patient populations. This includes individual, group, and/or family counseling or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial and/or case management. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. Knowledge in developing and implementing methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services in the specialty area, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services and to design system changes. Ability to provide specialized consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients in the service delivery area, as well as role modeling effective social work practice skills. Ability to expand clinical knowledge in the social work profession, and to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines pertaining to the service delivery area. 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. Senior social workers are licensed or certified to independently practice social work at an advanced level. Senior social workers typically practice in a major program area such as but not limited to: Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center or Polytrauma Network Site; a Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Center, or a national VHA referral center, such as a national Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or a national Transplant Center, or other program areas of equivalent scope and complexity. The senior social worker may be assigned administrative responsibility for clinical program development and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns. Assignments include clinical settings where they have limited access to onsite supervision such as CBOCs or satellite outpatient clinics. The senior social worker collaborates with the other members of the treatment team in the provision of comprehensive health care services to Veterans, ensures equity of access, service, and benefits to this population, ensures the care provided is of the highest quality. The senior social worker provides leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs for assigned social work staff. They serve on committees, work groups, and task forces at the facility, VISN and national level, or in the community as deemed appropriate by the supervisor, Social Work Executive or Chief of Social Work Services. This assignment must represent substantial additional responsibility over and above that required at the full performance grade level and cannot be used as the full performance level of this occupation. References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G39, Qualification Standards for Social Workers. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services.

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 Cincinnati VA Medical Center 3200 Vine Street Cincinnati, OH 45220 US
• Name: Rhonda McCubbin
• Email: [email protected]