Summary

The Fargo VA Health Care System is recruiting for 1 full-time Social Worker (Program Coordinator). The position will be responsible for coordinating - implementing - and maintaining the Care Coordination and Integrated Case Management Program (CC&ICM) Program across the Fargo HCS.

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/
• 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)
• Grade Determinations: GS-12 Social Worker (Program Coordinator) (1) Experience and Education
• One year of experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level - which is defined as: Working knowledge of community resources - how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services - and ability to coordinate services
• Independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic - cultural - ethnic - educational and other diversified backgrounds
• Working knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses - disabilities and treatment procedures (i.e
• acute - chronic and traumatic illnesses/injuries - common medications and their effects/side effects - and medical terminology) to formulate a treatment plan
• Independently implementing different treatment modalities in working with individuals - families - and groups who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric - medical - and social problems to achieve treatment goals
• Providing consultation services to new social workers - social work graduate students - and other staff about the psychosocial needs of patients and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and compliance with treatment
• 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
• (2) 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
• Documentation is required if part of your state's requirements for providing supervision for licensure is beyond your licensure only (example: certification of continuing education credits)
• (3) 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
• All qualifying experience you possess must be clearly described in your application package
• We will not make assumptions when reviewing applications
• Failure to demonstrate your experience in your resume may result in disqualification
• It is strongly recommended that you write to each KSA in your application package
• 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 GS 12 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 program's 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 system-wide trends and needs to enhance the quality of service
• They may be responsible for - or contribute to - the program's 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 - in-service 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
• 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: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position
• Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination.

Duties

• VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU This position is essential to ensuring case management is coordinated for our most complex Veterans
• The focus is on Veterans in the emergency room and Veterans who are receiving care in the community
• The coordinator facilitates weekly meetings to staff cases and determine case management - provide training for case managers in Fargo and CBOCs - collect and maintain data for the program and ensure program implementation continues to meet goals of providing better coordination of care for Veterans and keeping Veterans in VA system
• Duties include - but are not limited to: Subject Expert - The position will be a subject expert for the CC&ICM program
• The position will be a champion for the implementation and maintenance of the CC&ICM program
• Groups - The position may complete groups for CC&ICM
• The position will demonstrate an understanding of group facilitation - development - and recruitment
• When appropriate the position will utilize telehealth for groups
• Coordination - The position will coordinate CC&ICM development and implementation at the facility and/or CBOC's
• The position will provide facility education to staff
• Veteran recruitment for CC&ICM
• The position will provide training regarding CC&ICM across the entire HCS
• This position will also be the lead on implementing the CC&ICM
• Psychosocial Assessment - The social worker will develop an assessment of the veteran - family - economic - community - and psychosocial support systems when clinically indicated
• The assessments must reflect a high level of skill in gathering - analyzing - interpreting - and documenting data that is pertinent and directly related to patient health care planning - treatment - education and case management
• The veteran - family members - significant others and the interdisciplinary treatment team are involved in this process - whenever possible
• The goal of the communication is to highlight the veteran's strengths - limitations - and internal/external supports and service needs in order to optimize the veteran's functional status and safely maintain the veteran in his/her home
• Clinical diagnosing using DSM-5 and ICD-10 behavior codes - Incumbent demonstrates knowledge in DSM-5 diagnosing and documents diagnostic impressions in psychosocial assessments when appropriate
• Clinician may function independently or within a team to determine an appropriate diagnosis and formulate a treatment plan based on that diagnosis
• Treatment Planning/Goal Setting - Incumbent demonstrates basic knowledge of psychosocial treatment modalities and demonstrates the ability to implement treatment modalities in working with individuals - families - and groups to achieve treatment goals
• This requires judgment and skill in utilizing supportive - problem solving - or crisis intervention techniques
• The social worker is responsible for developing a treatment plan - and setting achievable treatment goals with the veteran/family in collaboration with the primary care interdisciplinary treatment team members when indicated
• Incumbent demonstrates basic knowledge of medical and mental diagnoses - disabilities - and treatment procedures to include acute - chronic and traumatic illnesses/injuries
• common medications and their effects/side/effects
• and basic medical terminology
• Therapy - Social worker may provide the veterans and their caregivers with ongoing psychotherapy (group and/or individual) and/or supportive counseling when appropriate
• Incumbent is able to demonstrate the ability to utilize the DSM-V to ensure appropriate treatment recommendations
• Referral to service providers - Throughout the course of treatment the social worker is the subject matter expert on VA and/or community resources
• The social worker will collaborate with other service providers in reassessing the veteran's needs for VA and community resources and entitlements
• The social worker is responsible for educating the veteran and/or caregiver of the available services and assisting them in establishing the appropriate referrals based on the veteran's preference or that of his/her surrogate decision-maker
• Resource Development - The social worker is responsible for developing a resource file of VA and community social service programs and will refer the veteran to needed services
• Advocacy - Social worker understands the intimidation of bureaucracy and will act as an advocate when it serves the best interest of the veteran/family
• Work Schedule: 7:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m
• or 8:00 a.m
• - 4:30 p.m
• Telework: Ad-hoc only Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized
• Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized.