Summary The Social Worker (Program Coordinator) position is with the Mental Health Service located in Albany, NY as a Intimate Partner Violence Assistance Program Coordinator. The primary responsibilities are to manage daily operations, develops policies and procedures, prepares reports and statistics for facility, VISN and national use. They may be the sole practitioner at the facility and may provide direct patient care services in the program area while managing the daily operations. Responsibilities VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Duties: The Intimate Partner Violence Assistance Program Coordinator (IPVAP-C) is a Social Worker Program Coordinator whose primary responsibilities are to provide clinical evidence based services including, assessments and interventions; program development; Veteran, family, Caregiver and staff education on domestic violence and intimate partner violence; community outreach; resource development; continuous quality improvement activities; and evaluation/consultation. The Social Worker may provide services in other program areas as requested and will be required to travel based upon assignment. Clinical Functions: Psychosocial Assessments - Interviews Veteran and their family members/significant others to establish facts about their presenting problems and their causes, and the impact of such problems as it relates to their functioning and health as part of a comprehensive psychosocial assessment. Reviews all data, subjective and objective, and makes a clinical assessment, identifying needs and strengths. Uses advanced clinical training, insight, and experience to interpret data and to identify viable treatment options. Psychosocial Treatment - The social worker performs specialized treatment of complex relationship concerns in addition to physical or mental illness. The IPVAP social worker incorporates complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment of veteran patients, including making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnoses within approved clinical privileges. The social worker is able to provide individual, group, and family psychotherapy and advanced level case management interventions used in the treatment of veterans. Promotes communication and interactions among medical, nursing, and social work team members, patients and their families and caregivers to facilitate the treatment process. Coordination of Care - The social worker is a liaison between the VA and community agencies. Participates in DV/IPV assistance activities in the local community and state to promote and recognize the role of individuals who use and/or experience DV/IPV. This social worker will identify community resources within the Albany VA service area for such treatment. They provide consultation to other staff professionals to promote and preserve a therapeutic environment for individual patients. Demonstrates the ability to evaluate their own practice through professional peer review, case conferences, supervision, and other organizational means. Administrative Functions: - The Program Coordinator serves as the Point of Contact (POC) for the IPVAP Program and provides administrative oversight of the program to include planning, establishing, and implementing policies and procedures, developing program goals and objectives, and monitoring, operating, and evaluating the functioning of the program. - They are responsible for or contribute to the program's budget to include reporting salary requirements and funding provided for outreach and training, developing, and monitoring staff compliance with practice standards and guidelines on documentation, ethical practice, and service delivery. - Develops and implements methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services in specialty areas, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services. - Provide leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs for staff. - Initiate and conduct a variety of program or service audits and complete designated clinical practice audits and reports, including quality of care assessments. - Developing and maintaining effective partnerships throughout the facility and satellite clinics, including Primary Care, Veteran Readjustment Centers, Specialty Care Clinics, Facility Patient Advocates, VBA, PVA, and the Business Office to ensure access and a unified approach for providing continuity of care. - Is able to serve as a lead amongst other case managers/coordinators at the direction of the supervisor. As a clinical case manager with an advanced level of practice, they may provide clinical practice guidance for other social workers and/or assist with operations. - Demonstrates the ability to teach and mentor staff and students in the special area of practice and to provide supervision for licensure or specialty certifications. The social worker provides ongoing collaboration, mentoring, and education to staff regarding the unique needs associated with Intimate Partner Violence. - Will perform other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Telework: Ad-hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 00388-F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959. Must be proficient in written and spoken English. 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. Must pass pre-employment physical examination. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details. 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/. Loss of Licensure or Certification. Once licensed or certified, social workers must maintain a full, valid, and unrestricted independent license or certification to remain qualified for employment. Loss of licensure or certification will result in removal from the GS-0185 social worker series and may result in termination of employment. 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). Creditable Experience. The candidate must have knowledge of current professional social work practices. To be creditable, the experience must have required the use of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics associated with current professional social work practice. The experience or education must be post-Masters of Social Work (MSW) degree. Experience and education satisfying this requirement must be active professional practice, which is paid/non-paid employment as a professional social worker, as defined by the appropriate state licensing board. Quality of Experience. Experience is only creditable if it is obtained following graduation with a master's degree in social work and if it includes work as a professional social worker directly related to the position to be filled. Qualifying experience must also be at a level comparable to social work experience at the next lower level. Part-Time Experience. Part-time experience is creditable according to its relationship to the full-time work week. For example, one week of full-time credit is equivalent to two weeks of part-time work. Fellowships or Post-Graduate Training. Fellowship and post-graduate training programs are typically in a specialized area of clinical practice, i.e., group or family practice. Training as a fellow or post-graduate may be substituted for creditable experience on a year-for-year basis. Practicum in a VA Setting. A VHA practicum experience may not be substituted for experience, as the practicum (field placement) is completed prior to graduation with a master's degree in social work. Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. Social Worker (Program Coordinator), GS-12: 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. 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. 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. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is a 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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. Additional Information During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status. VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority. Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.