Social Worker Suicide Prevention Program

We're Looking for a skilled Social Worker Suicide Prevention Program in the Veterans Health Administration based in White River Junction, Vermont. Read through the job description to see if it matches your current experience.

The Successful Applicant

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: Noncitizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Education. Have a masters 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 masters 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/Certification. Individuals assigned as Program CoordinatorSocial Workers must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level and must be able to provide supervision for licensure English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. sect 7403(f). Grade Determinations:Program Coordinator Social Worker GS12(1) Education and Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the GS11 grade level. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills in a specialty area or in administration demonstrating progressively more professional competency and judgment. Candidate may have certification or other postmasters 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 Program Coordinator Social Workers must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level and must be able to provide supervision for licensure. (3) Demonstrated Knowledge Skills and Abilities at the GS12 level. 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 areas.(e) Ability to provide training orientation and guidance within clinical practice. (4) 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 GS12 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 programs 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 systemwide trends and needs to enhance the quality of service. They may be responsible for or contribute to the programs 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 inservice 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. Preferred Knowledge: 1. Ability to provide psychosocial treatment to a wide variety of individuals from various socioeconomic cultural ethnic educational and other diversified backgrounds. This requires knowledge of human development and behavior (physical and psychological) and the differential influences of the environment society and culture.2. Knowledge of and previous experience with crisis intervention and suicide risk assessment.3. Knowledge of and previous experience providing staff and/or community education.4. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with clients staff and representatives of community agencies. Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing with people from varied backgrounds.5. Knowledge of and experience with medical and mental health diagnoses disabilities and treatment procedures. This includes acute chronic and traumatic illnesses/injuries common medications and their effects/side effects and medical terminology.6. Knowledge and skill in the use of computer software applications for drafting documents data management and tracking. Ability to learn and utilize software programs in use by VHA.7. Knowledge of community resources how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services and ability to coordinate services.8. Knowledge and experience in conducting community outreach.9. Ability to provide consultation to other staff about suicide risk assessment intervention and prevention.10. Ability to independently evaluate his/her own practice through participation in professional peer review case conferences research studies or other organized means. References: VA Handbook 5005 Part II Appendix G39.The full performance level of this vacancy is 12 which is above the full performance level. 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.

What’s on Offer

The role offers excellent opportunities for top performers to further develop their competencies as a social worker and improving the lives of people.