Social Worker Program Coordinator (Military Sexual Trauma)

Applicants must meet the requirements by the closing date of this announcement. 10/29/2024 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/. 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 meeting the basic requirements stated above, the following qualifications criteria must be met in determining the appropriate grade assignment of candidates. GS-12 Social Worker Program Coordinator candidates must have the following: Experience/Education: Applicants applying at the GS-12 grade level must have 1 year of experience, equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Program Coordinator social workers have experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment. Social workers are experts in their specialized area of practice. They 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. Training or additional certs must be submitted with application. AND Licensure/Certification: At this grade level, 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. Advanced License must be submitted with application. References: VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005/120, Part II, Appendix G39, Social Worker Qualification Standard, dated 9/10/19. Selective Placement Factor (SPF): This position includes a skill, knowledge, ability or other worker characteristic basic to -and essential for- satisfactory performance of the job. Selective Placement Factors are a prerequisite to appointment and represent minimum requirements for a position. Applicants who do not meet it are ineligible for further consideration. Evidence of the Selective Placement Factor must be reflected in your resume. The SPF for this position is: In addition to the English Language Proficiency, you must also be proficient in basic written and spoken Spanish in order to perform the duties of this position. However, your documents must be submitted in English. While we no longer require essay-style responses to our Knowledge’s Skills, Abilities, and Other Characteristics (KSAOs), you must be able to demonstrate that you possess the (below) competencies which are necessary to perform the work of the position. Please ensure your resume/CV/application contains sufficient information to support the level of experience/education/training; otherwise, we will not be able to award you credit for the experience/education/training you claim. If selected, you may be required to submit narrative responses then. These are the KSA’s for this position and grade level: Knowledge of program coordination and administration, which includes consultation, negotiation, and monitoring Knowledge and ability to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines for the program Ability to supervise multidisciplinary staff assigned to the program. Skill in organizing work, setting priorities, meeting multiple deadlines, and evaluating assigned program area(s) Ability to provide training, orientation, and guidance within clinical practice Preferred experience: Specialized knowledge obtained through education or experience in evidenced-based psychotherapies used in the treatment of conditions resulting from MST (e.g., Prolonged Exposure, Cognitive Processing Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy). Has an extensive knowledge of facility and local community resources for Veterans. Knowledgeable in the procedures involved in coordinating referrals to various appropriate services for Veteran patients. Ability to effectively explain complex clinical and policy information, both to fellow specialists and to laypersons from diverse groups. Exceptional time management skills; able to make use of available time and resources and to prioritize tasks. Physical Requirements: The work requires extreme patience and controlling of emotions. The work may also require assisting physically disabled Veterans. Day-to-day work involves sitting, walking, standing and carrying light objects, such as medical records They must have good manual dexterity. Must be able to express or exchange ideas by means of spoken and written word. Must be able to view and read information on computer screens. Work is typically performed in a clinical setting that exposes the incumbent to the communicable diseases common to the homeless population. Much of the work is performed in a setting away from the office, where the environment cannot be controlled. The incumbent must be able to safely operate a government owned vehicle to be utilized in community-based work.
The incumbent is the Military Sexual Trauma (MST) Facility Coordinator and is primarily tasked with facilitating access to appropriate health care and mental health services for Veterans who experienced MST. The Social Worker is administratively assigned to the Mental Health & Behavioral Health Sciences Service (MH&BHS), under the Associate Chief of Staff for MH&BHS to provide services at the VA Caribbean Healthcare System.