Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional
The Suicide Prevention Coordinator is a Senior Social Worker who will serve to facilitate implementation of suicide prevention strategies to help ensure that all appropriate measures are taken to prevent suicide in our veteran population. The primary responsibilities of the Suicide Prevention Coordinator include monitoring a list of veterans determined to be at high risk for self-harm and coordinating enhanced care when needed, providing education to all front line and clinical staff regarding risk factors and protective factors for suicide, educating clinical staff regarding safety planning with their patients, networking with community partners, and assisting with timely and accurate responses to all action items regarding the Suicide Prevention Program.
As a Senior Social Worker, the Suicide Prevention Coordinator facilitates efficient and appropriate delivery of mental health services across episodes of care within the Medical Center and Community Based Outpatient Clinics. The work of this position is
highly complex, involving a combination of mental health administrative skills and intensive clinical services in serious and complicated cases, and carries full professional responsibility for cases presenting a wide range of psychosocial and environmental
problems.
The Suicide Prevention Coordinator must have previous specialized experience providing direct care to suicidal and/or behavioral health patients and previous experience providing patient and staff education. The Suicide Prevention Coordinator is required to use a government vehicle while doing community outreach but is not required to transport Veteran's.
The Suicide Prevention Coordinator implements information systems to track services including visits, referrals, inpatient admissions, patient demographics, and patient satisfaction. The incumbent provides programmatic guidance, including technical and clinical assistance, to other staff in the Suicide Prevention Program. T he Suicide Prevention Coordinator is responsible for data collection and monthly reports on all veterans who have had a recent suicide attempt and monitors the completion of the Suicide Behavior Report by other providers.
The Suicide Prevention Coordinator is responsible for data collection, administrative record keeping, monitoring of patient or program clinical indicators, and performance measurements as further delineated by Strategic Analytics for Improvement and Learning
(SAIL).
The Suicide Prevention Coordinator, along with the rest of the provider staff, interprets and implements the philosophy and goals of the Behavioral Health Service and the program to which they are assigned to others in the work setting, functions within established guidelines and demonstrates the ability to work effectively and develop sound relationships with their patients, other caregivers, professional staff and supportive personnel who provide patient care.
Duties are continued in the Education Section.
Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8 AM - 4:45 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 the EDRP Coordinator at [email protected] 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 experience.
Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.
Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
Telework: Ad-Hoc Telework is available.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 56104-F
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
- 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.
- Must have a valid driver's license
- Must pass a pre-placement examination to operate a government vehicle.
- Subject to background/security investigation.
- Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
- Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
- Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.
As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:
- your performance and conduct;
- the needs and interests of the agency;
- whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
- whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.
Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.
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: You must possess 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. Note: A doctoral degree in Social Work may NOT be substituted for the master's degree in Social Work.'
- Independent License or Certification* - You must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level.
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:
Senior Social Worker, GS-0185-12
Advanced Practice Licensure Requirement: You 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 must be able to provide supervision for licensure.
Advanced practice levelsocial workers must be licensed or certified by a state at the advanced practice level which includes 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. All states except California use a series of licensure exams administered by the
ASWB. Information can be found at https://www.aswb.org/.
Experience Requirement: You must possess at least
two years of experience post advanced practice clinical licensure and should be in a specialized area of social work practice of which, one year must be equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Examples of specialized experience 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. Applicable experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment.
In addition to the experience above, you must demonstrate the following
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- Skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities used in specialty treatment programs or with special patient populations. This includes individual, group, and/or family counseling or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial and/or case management.
- Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
- Knowledge in developing and implementing methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services in the specialty area, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services and to design system changes.
- Ability to provide specialized consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients in the service delivery area, as well as role modeling effective social work practice skills.
- Ability to expand clinical knowledge in the social work profession, and to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines pertaining to the service delivery area.
Preferred Experience:
- Experience with evidence based treatment
- Experience working with veterans in crisis and conducting risk assessments
- At least one year Experience with developing and implementing large scale outreach events
- A minimum of 1 year experience working with a VA suicide prevention program and VHA policies and directives
- Experience completing Issue Briefs At least 1 year experience writing press releases and very comfortable providing media interviews
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 GS-12
Physical Requirements:
Individuals who are required to operate a government owned or leased vehicle to successfully carry out their assigned duties must be medically cleared prior to appointment. Assessment must be made for any acute or chronic medical/physical condition or medication use which interferes with the ability operate the appropriate Government-owned or -leased vehicle safely and without undue risk to themselves or others. The following requirements must be met:
- distant vision 20/40 in one eye with or without correction,
- field of vision 70 degrees,
- ability to distinguish red, green and amber,
- whispered voice at five feet, or average hearing loss of not greater than 40 dbs. at 500, 1000 and 2,000 Hz.
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/.
You must possess 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. Note: A doctoral degree in Social Work may NOT be substituted for the master's degree in Social Work.'
NOTE: If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.
NOTE: If your school was accredited by CSWE at the time of graduation but is no longer listed on the CSWE website, you must provide documentation of accreditation with your application packet.
Duties Continued:
In addition, the Suicide Prevention Coordinator is an integral part of the Suicide
Prevention Team and provides the following functions:
- Responds to consults from the National Suicide Prevention Hotline and coordinates the follow-up care for these veterans and families per the required timeframes delineated in VHA Directive 1503 (2), Operations of the Veterans Crisis Line Center.
- Reviews all veterans whose charts have been flagged due to being at risk for suicide.
- Assures that all veterans on the facility tracking list are being followed closely by the appropriate provider on a regular basis as determined by the coordinator and the provider.
- Works with community resources such as VSOs and other community groups to assure that they are aware of how to recognize Veterans at risk for suicide and their options for getting these Veterans assistance.
- Develops and implements an ongoing education plan for providers, veterans, families, and members of the community on risk factors and warning signs for suicide, and treatment options.
- Assures that all of these veterans have a 24-hour resource number to call and ways to get assistance if an immediate crisis should occur.
- Assists with the assessment and case coordination of Veterans who present for same day behavioral health services as needed or assigned. This care coordination can include and is not limited to suicide risk evaluations, provision of
VA/community resources, submitting consults for VA care, and psychiatric hospitalization.
- Provides referrals to VA medical and Behavioral health treatment and to other VA services including VA benefits, as well as community-based social services or other non-VA entitlement programs.
- Assesses high risk factors, acuity, and the need for services. The Suicide Prevention Coordinator has the ability to serve veterans who tend to have frequent and severe crises, or an inadequate community support network, those that frequently fail to adhere to instructions and treatment or have significant deficits in coping and require continuing professional psychosocial support.
- Participates in the assignment of veterans to treatment teams and programs.
- Consults with other specialists in planning treatment for veterans and with co-morbidities.
- Develops working relationships with other organizations having responsibility for the same patient population. Maintains a current and productive network of referral resources.
- Monitors veterans' progress, and maintains comprehensive documentation, ensures expert diagnosis and treatment of clinical disorders and shows competent discretion in decision to adjust treatment.
- Makes recommendations for and changes to treatment plans with coordination from other providers and programs.
- Provides Direct Clinical Care using the full range of psychotherapy services including individual, group, and couples treatment interventions, biopsychosocial assessments, development of treatment plans, and other evidence-based practices.
- Provides orientation and on-going training for interdisciplinary team members and conducts staff development programs for Behavioral Health Service and takes responsibility for providing opportunities to help staff update their behavioral health professional practice skills and acquire new knowledge in contemporary treatment modalities.
- Evaluates his/her practice on an on-going basis through participation in professional peer review, case conference, or other organized means. Is active in and accepts responsibility for the development and maintenance of professional standards of treatment.
- Serves as a mentor to other Social Workers, particularly those at the entry level and to Social Work graduate students.
- Is viewed by Social Workers and Behavioral Health staff as a senior clinician with advanced practice skills and expertise.
Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.
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.
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.
Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Review our benefits
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.
Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.
It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.
Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.
To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:
Special Note for Applications: To complete your application, please use the following link https://vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Resume.docx to download the standard Clinical Resume Document. This one-page document does not need to be modified and must be uploaded into the two-page restricted 'Resume' document upload field.
Your full resume/CV may be uploaded without page limitation into the 'Other' document upload field.
The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please ensure you have included all documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), etc.
- Cover Letter
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DD-214/ Statement of Service
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Disability Letter (Schedule A)
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Disability Letter (VA)
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License
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Resume/CV
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Other (2)
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PCS Orders
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Performance Appraisal
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Professional Certification
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Resume
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Separation Notice (RIF)
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SF-15
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SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
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Transcript
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
