Social Worker (Suicide Prevention Coordinator)

Summary

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.

Duties

• This position is within the Mental Health Service for the White River Junction VA Healthcare System. This position is full-time at 40 hours per week. The Suicide Prevention Coordinator (SPC) serves to facilitate suicide prevention strategies within the medical center to help ensure that all appropriate measures are being taken to prevent suicide in our patient population. To this end, the SPC role is complex and includes interventions on the individual, system and community levels. The work affects a wide range of agency activities and operations as well as the health and well-being of the patients served, relationships with community organizations and stakeholders. The Suicide Prevention Coordinator (SPC) plans, develops, implements and evaluates the Suicide Prevention Program to ensure quality improvement and compliance with national mandates. The GS-12 full performance level requires licensure or certification by a state at the advanced practice level and a minimum of two years of experience post advanced practice licensure in a specialized area of social work practice of which one year is the equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. The Suicide Prevention Coordinator has specialized knowledge and at least two years of experience in clinical assessment, crisis intervention and suicide risk assessment. Duties include but are not limited to: Provides follow up on all consults received from the National Veteran's Crisis Line. Conducts clinical/risk assessments and implements appropriate interventions for referred Veterans. Provides clinical interventions, as appropriate, adjunctive to the MHTC.- Documents all clinical interventions in the medical record. Provides consultation to inpatient and outpatient providers hospital-wide related to risk assessment, intervention and requirements for enhanced services. Identifies and intervenes with high risk Veterans who refuse care including implementation of the SPC mail program. Participates in Environment of Care Rounds, assisting the team in determining actions that should be taken to improve the safety of the hospital environment. Tracks and reports all suicide attempts and completions; completes related issue briefs as required. Monitors VHA performance and measures related to the Suicide Prevention Program to assure they are met or exceeded.- Initiates and maintains high risk for suicide patient record flags for Veterans who meet criteria. Facilitates high risk for suicide patient record flagging committee meetings, reviewing all flagged Veterans every ninety days. Development and implementation of other suicide prevention training for both clinical and non-clinical settings in the hospital and in the community. Develops, organizes and participates in community outreach activities regarding recognizing Veteran suicide risk and access to care for Veterans and their families. Develops relationships with local and state suicide prevention organizations, crisis organizations and Veteran Service Organization. Develops activities and training for staff and Veterans for Suicide prevention Month. Work Schedule: Full-Time, Monday- Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm. Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized. Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized. EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact Hannah Neilson, Hannah.Neilson@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade). Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experienc…

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: You must be a citizen of the United States. 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: You must 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 or Certification: You 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: 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. Candidates 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. 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, you must demonstrate the following 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 areas. 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. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services.

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/.