Social Worker (Program Coordinator) - Substance Use Disorder Treatment Program

Summary

The Fargo VA Health Care System is recruiting for 1 full-time Program Coordinator for the Substance Use Disorder Treatment Program. This vacancy will be filled by a Social Worker (Program Coordinator), Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (Program Coordinator), Addiction Therapist (Licensed Master's) Program Coordinator, or a Psychology Program Manager.

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP).

Duties

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VA Careers - Licensed Clinical Social Worker :

The incumbent serves as the Program Coordinator for the Substance Use Disorder Treatment Program (SUD) for the Fargo VA Health Care System within the Mental Health Integrated Care Community (MH ICC) which provides a state-of-the-art continuum of clinical services and education to veterans with complex needs in a large, highly rural catchment area. The Mental Health ICC provides services to veterans in all of North Dakota, 17 counties in Minnesota and one county in South Dakota, most of the service area is highly rural.

The SUD Team provides specialized outpatient mental health programming and services for Veterans with Substance Use Disorders (SUD). The incumbent provides leadership, coordination, oversight, and integration to ensure efficient and effective provision of services. Incumbent is responsible for the development and maintenance of policies and procedures and establishing appropriate methods for review and control of these program activities with expertise in ensuring staff safety, attaining and maintaining all measurement goals, and maintaining continuous service throughout the region.

The SUD is customer-service oriented, meeting a variety of emotional, psychological, behavioral, interpersonal, and social needs of patients with SUD. These specialized and highly professional services contribute significantly to the level of health care provided by this agency. The position exists to provide administrative leadership to plan, develop, implement and oversee clinical services and programs for Veterans that have a high degree of clinical complexity. The incumbent has full supervisory responsibility for all therapists and administrative staff within the SUD. Supervisory responsibilities include performance evaluations, time and leave, and hiring and disciplinary decisions. The SUD Coordinator may also have assist with training and education to include residents, interns, and practicum students in psychology and social work.

The incumbent is also responsible for the adoption of evidence based treatment for SUD and other related mental health conditions within the SUD and oversees the training and development of EBPs for staff and trainees within the program. The incumbent may also be asked to take on leadership roles within the VISN such as SUD leadership responsibilities. Incumbent is responsible for tracking and implementing actions plans to meet National, VISN, Hospital and MH ICC performance improvement measures.

Clinical Responsibilities : Provides a full range of evidence-based therapeutic interventions including : individual therapy, group therapy, and psychodiagnostic evaluations as program needs dictate.

Program Coordination : Day-to-day management and operational aspects of the SUD Treatment Program. The incumbent provides leadership, guidance, and coordination of staff following the mission / vision of the Fargo VA Health Care System (Fargo VA HCS) and program direction of the Mental Health ICC.

Supervisory Responsibilities : Provides administrative and technical supervision necessary for accomplishing the work of the programs providing all orientation and program training to new staff and generally throughout the facility as needed.

Work Schedule : Monday - Friday, 8 : 00 a.m. - 4 : 30 p.m.

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus) : Not authorized

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance) : Not authorized

EDRP Authorized : Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Learn more

Pay : Competitive salary and regular salary increases.

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)

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

Virtual : This is not a virtual position.

Permanent Change of Station (PCS) : Not authorized

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• 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.
• 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 (). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification 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 :

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.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements :

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

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.

Education

IMPORTANT : A transcript must be submitted with your application.

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 : 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 :

Additional information

The VA Midwest Health Care Network advocates for a Whole Health System of care in each of the Medical Centers. This is an approach to healthcare that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their lives to the fullest. As an employee operating in a Whole Health System of care, you will operate in a model with three core elements, seeking to create a personalized health plan for each Veteran. This is done in the context of healing relationships and healing environments and a connection back to the Veteran's community. This aligns with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Mission Statement to Honor America's Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being.

This is an OPEN CONTINOUS ANNOUNCEMENT. Qualified applications will be referred every two weeks from the opening date of this announcement until the closing date, or until the position is filled, whichever is sooner.

Receiving Service Credit or 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.

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