Summary

This position is located at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS). The position is programmatically and professionally responsible to the Suicide Prevention Program Manager (SPPM) - Behavioral Health Service Line. The Suicide Prevention Case Manager (SPCM) provides public relations and community education regarding the VA - the Suicide Prevention Program - and suicide prevention in general - to various social services - medical - mental health - legal - housing and welfare organizations.

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

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: Social Worker - GS-9 (Entry Level) Experience - Education - and Licensure
• None beyond the basic requirements
• Demonstrated Knowledge - Skills - & Abilities
• In addition to the experience above - the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: (a) Ability to work with Veterans and family members from various socioeconomic - cultural - ethnic - educational - and other diversified backgrounds utilizing counseling skills
• (b) Ability to assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and their family members - and to formulate and implement a treatment plan - identifying the Veterans problems - strengths - weaknesses - coping skills - & assistance needed
• (c) Ability to implement treatment modalities in working with individuals - families - and groups to achieve treatment goals
• This requires judgment & skill in utilizing supportive - problem solving - or crisis intervention techniques
• (d) Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships & communicate with clients - staff - and representatives of community agencies
• (e) Fundamental knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses - disabilities - and treatment procedures
• This includes acute - chronic - and traumatic illnesses/injuries
• common medications & their effects/side effects
• and medical terminology
• GS-11 (Full Performance Level) Experience and Licensure
• Appointment to the GS-11 grade level requires completion of a minimum of one year of post-MSW experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the field of health care or other social work-related settings - (VA or non-VA experience) and licensure or certification in a state at the independent practice level
• Demonstrated Knowledge - Skills - and Abilities
• In addition to the experience above - candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: (a) Knowledge of community resources - how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services - and ability to coordinate services
• (b) Skill in independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions to a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic - cultural - ethnic - educational and other diversified backgrounds
• (c) 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
• (d) Skill in 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
• (e) Ability to provide 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
• 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-11
• The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-11
• Physical Requirements: Lifting and carrying light objects under 15 pounds using two hands is required
• Walking up to two hours is required
• Incumbent will also need to have the ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination - correctable vision - hearing with or without aid - depth perception - ability to distinguish basic colors and emotional and mental stability.

Duties

• The Suicide Prevention Case Manager responsibilities encompass multiple areas: Administrative Items - tracking and reporting - enhanced care delivery - access and referral - outreach and awareness - and education and training
• Duties include but are not limited to: Tracking and reporting on Veterans who have attempted suicide or are at high risk for suicide
• Responding to referrals from the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) - Veterans Benefit Administration - and self-referrals from other sources
• Ensuring that all VA staff members have received discipline-appropriate suicide prevention training (VA S.A.V.E
• training or equivalent)
• Collaborating with community organizations and partners to increase awareness of suicide prevention best practices and providing training to individuals who have contact with Veterans
• Providing education and training through outreach to these community partners - which may be scheduled in person in any of the 13 counties that would require travel time during or after SPCMs tour of duty
• Providing consultation to providers on available resources for suicidal individuals - as well as expertise and direction in the areas of system design to prevent deaths by suicide within their local VA medical centers
• Working with providers to ensure that monitoring and treatment is intensified for high-risk patients while making sure that those who are at elevated risk receive education and support about approaches to reduce risks
• Reporting to OMHSP on Veterans who attempted or died by suicide and sending OMHSP requested data - which is used to determine characteristics and risks associated with these groups of Veterans (i.e
• Issue Brief - BHAP - FITC)
• Making sure that providers follow up on missed appointments to ensure patient safety for high-risk patients and initiate problem-solving decisions about possible tensions or difficulties in patients' ongoing care
• Ensuring that medical centers have established a High-Risk for Suicide List (HRSL) of Veterans and a process for establishing Patient Record Flag - High Risk for Suicide (HRS-PRFs) - which includes: Exclusively controlling all HRS-PRFs and limiting their use to patients who meet the criteria for being placed on the facility HRSL
• Coordinating with facility committees that manage PRFs to incorporate the use of HRS-PRFs into overall facility flag processes
• Assessing the risk for suicide in individual patients in collaboration with their treating clinicians and ensuring that those patients receive appropriate follow up care for any missed mental health appointments
• Connecting Veterans to care - where there are no treating providers Establishing a system of reviewing HRS-PRFs at least every 90 days
• Documenting - when appropriate - the nature of the follow-up care and plans for continuing treatment in the electronic health record (EHR)
• Identifying training needs related to suicide prevention
• Maintaining communication with the facility-designated advisory groups to keep them aware of flag placements and review outcome
• Maintaining the facility HRSL determined to be at high-risk for suicide and monitor their care to ensure that enhanced-care services are being delivered by treatment team/clinical providers Maintaining awareness of suicide prevention treatment options and making recommendations to the patient's provider when new best practices become available
• Providing education and ensuring providers complete Comprehensive Suicide Risk Evaluations - Suicide Behavior and Overdose Reports - Suicide Prevention Safety Plans - and all other required documentation
• Providing training to clinical and non clinical staff in the Medical Center - CBOCs - and community about risk factors - warning signs - treatment options and resources while promoting the use of evidence-based practices and strategies for suicide prevention
• Participating in local Suicide Postvention Program and Root Cause Analyses when required
• Coordinating with Quality and Patient Safety Office when necessary Responsible for developing and maintaining of professional standards of service - coordination of suicide prevention services with other programs
• representing the suicide prevention program in contacts with the community
• Recording appropriate information in Veterans' EHR
• Responding quickly to the needs of the Veteran and staff - while implementing best practices and sound clinical judgement
• Ability to organize daily work and set priorities in order to meet short and long term goals and multiple deadlines
• Completing program required caring contacts and mail program
• Work Schedule: 8:00am-4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized Functional Statement #: GS-185-11 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: Maybe Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized