Senior Social Worker (Program Coordinator) - Medical Foster Home Program

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs seeks a Social Worker (Program Coordinator), GS-12, to oversee the Medical Foster Home (MFH) program under the Extended Care Social Work Service.

The role involves coordinating community placements for eligible Veterans not needing hospital or nursing home care, with supervision of a multidisciplinary team and governance of program operations. Requirements include an MSW from a CSWE-accredited program,-state licensure at the advanced practice level, English

Qualifications

• Master's degree in social work from a CSWE-accredited program.
• Must be licensed or certified to independently practice social work at the master's level.
• Eligibility for grandfathering provision applies to current VHA employees in this occupation.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate the MFH program and provide community placements for eligible Veterans.
• Supervise multidisciplinary staff and monitor program operations.
• Develop policies, procedures, and practice guidelines for program administration.
• Provide training and orientation within clinical practice and supervise licensure processes.

Skills

Program coordination

Policy writing

Multidisciplinary supervision

Time management

Training and guidance

Education

MSW degree

Job description

The Medical Foster Home (MFH) Program is administered locally under the direction of the Extended Care Social Work Service. The MFH coordinator provides community placements to eligible Veterans not in need of hospital or nursing home care, but who, because of medical and/or psychosocial health conditions, are not able to live independently. These individuals have no suitable family or significant others to provide the needed supervision or supportive care.

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. You must be proficient in spoken and written English as required 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 tohttp://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/. NOTE: 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 forlicensure.

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

Social Worker (Program Coordinator), GS-12

Licensure Requirement

You must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level, and must be able to provide supervision for licensure.

Experience Requirement

You must possess 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. Examples of specialized experience at the GS-11 include, but are not limited to: assessing and documenting identified behaviors or symptoms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and/or intimate partner violence; use of clinical social work skills; maintaining patient privacy and confidentiality per policies, handbooks or directives; acting as an advocate with appropriate community service providers and agencies when it serves the best interest of the patient and family members/caregiver; independently assessing the psychosocial functioning and needs of patients and their family members, identifying the patient's strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and psychosocial acuity.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• 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.

Reference

For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12.

Physical Requirements

The physical demands of this position involve active listening, reading, observing and evaluating verbal and nonverbal behavior, walking, speaking, bending, carrying light items such as paper, books, small parts, writing reports, writing clinical notes, using office equipment such as computers, telephones, fax machines, photocopy machines, and possibly driving an automobile. The work is performed in an urgent care clinical setting that exposes the incumbent to the communicable disease common to the diseases that are present within the Specialty Outpatient Mental Health Clinic or Urgent Care Clinic. Strenuous physical activity is not required.