Senior Social Worker (Suicide Prevention Coordinator)

Senior Social Worker - Suicide Prevention Coordinator

Duties of the Senior Social Worker - Suicide Prevention Coordinator include, but are not limited to:

• Ensures that enhanced care and services, including intensified treatment, safety planning, and follow-up care for missed appointments, are provided for high-risk veterans.
• Collaborates with treating clinicians to assess risk and provide guidance about criteria for Patient Record Flags Category I - High Risk for Suicide (HRS-PRF) placements and ensures that high-risk veterans are receiving appropriate care following their HRS-PRF placements. This may include making personal contact with identified high-risk veterans (e.g., letters, face-to-face, telephone)
• Offers consultations to treating clinicians to assist them with managing veterans at high risk for suicide.
• Responds to referrals from staff members, the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL), and other touch points to ensure that at-risk veterans immediately receive care and services.
• Performs mandated outreach and awareness activities as a member of the SPT to increase awareness of suicide prevention best practices and to improve the public's understanding and knowledge of suicide risk factors, military culture, lethal means safety and the accessibility of available resources, such as VCL.
• Fosters awareness of suicide prevention, interventions, and postvention through promoting safe messaging in partnership with the public affairs office through interviews and public events.
• Builds relationships and collaborating with state and local governments, health care systems, community organizations, and other public and private institutions, stakeholders, and partners for the enhancement of suicide prevention among veterans, their families, and communities.
• Engages in educational activities including, but not limited to, dissemination of clinical practice guidelines, educational materials related to suicide prevention, training both clinical and nonclinical staff within VA to identify and respond to veterans who are at increased risk for suicide and providing training to community organizations and staff who have contact with veterans.
• Instructs VA health care providers how to report veteran suicidal self-directed violence behaviors, including attempts, interrupted attempts, preparatory behaviors, deaths, and all self-directed violence behavior events of undetermined suicidal intent that occurred within 12 months of the date of notification.
• Serves as a facility subject matter expert (SME) and point of contact (POC) for matters related to suicide, including prevention, intervention, postvention efforts, education and outreach, and suicide behavior and death reporting; collaborate with other SPCs and VA at-large to share best practices through multiple touch points; and accurately document services rendered to improve the SPP overall.
• Ensures reporting mechanisms are implemented for all suicidal behaviors occurring within facility catchment areas; manage the Patient Record Flag Category 1 - High Risk for Suicide (HRS-PRF) process for all veterans determined to be at a high risk for suicide; and review the nature of care provided using a combination of tracking and reporting tools.
• Telework is ad-hoc only

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm, subject to change based on the needs of the facility.

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. Contact vhafavhrsbu@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 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: Telework available.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 564-00674-F

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized