Senior Social Worker - Medical Foster Home, Program Coordinator

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Beckley, West Virginia

Salary Range: $92604 - $120390 Per Year

Job Summary: The Medical Foster Home (MFH) Program Coordinator is a senior social worker who is capable of practicing at the advanced level and has specialized knowledge of practice typically related to dementias, chronic illnesses, traumatic brain injuries and care for the older adult and caregiver. Incumbent should have at least 2 years' experience in an area of specialized social work practice and licensed or hold certification in a state at the independent practice level.

Major Duties:

Duties include but are not limited to: The incumbent is responsible for maximizing psychosocial quality of life issues in order to assist veterans to remain in their home or in a less restrictive level of care other than a nursing home and avoid hospitalization as often as possible. The incumbent serves veterans who tend to have serious, frequent, and severe crises, lack family or an adequate community support network, have poor self-monitoring and advocacy skills; inability to understand and follow instructions and treatments; have significant deficits in coping skills and require continuing psychosocial and medical support. The overall function of the Medical Foster Home Program at the Beckley VAMC, the incumbent oversees program development, recruitment, and development of the foster homes, recruitment and admission of veteran residents, case management, development of policies and care processes, and coordination with HBPC interdisciplinary treatment teams. Marketing the model of care and reaches out to community groups and agencies to promote the foster care program. Works closely with VHA Public Affairs Office to market the program internally and externally. Incumbent serves as a mentor to other VA MFH program coordinators, social workers, and other interested health care providers. Utilizes national Directive, application forms, and inspection tools to screen and assess Caregiver applicants wishing to become a MFH Caregiver which includes approving and disapproving MFH Caregivers in coordination with the approving official. Providing oversight during monthly unannounced visits to the MFH and addressing concerns of Veterans and caregivers that supports the MFH model of care. Establish intake processes and oversight responsibilities and maintains a record-keeping system for the program. Providing training to caregivers, students, residents, interns, and fellows from other disciplines regarding the advantages and disadvantages of a medical foster home. Topics include but are not limited to caregiver and family issues and the impact of psychosocial issues and problems of the veteran in a medical foster home. Have extensive knowledge of medical center policies and procedures, VHA and VBA regulations. The work may require assisting veterans. Day-to-day work involves sitting, walking, standing and carrying light objects, such as medical records. Work is typically performed in a clinical setting that exposes the incumbent to the communicable diseases common of the client population. Work is also performed outside the medical center campus, where the environment cannot be controlled. Reporting data on monthly reports to the national program office and providing local and VISN leadership. Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized. Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized. 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: Not Available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 540-23065-F Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized.

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: Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g this part). English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). 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/. Grade Determinations: In addition to meeting the basic requirements Senior social workers must have: Experience/Education. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. 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. (Example of GS-11 Experience: This is the full performance level. Social workers at this level are licensed or certified to independently practice social work. Incumbents are assigned to all program areas, including but not limited to: inpatient or outpatient medicine, surgery, mental health, neurology, rehabilitation medicine, and geriatrics. Employees provide professional, independent social work services in the assigned area. Duties 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 and knowledge to maintain Veteran privacy and confidentiality per policies, handbooks or directives; and acts as an advocate with appropriate VA and community service providers and agencies when it serves the best interest of the Veteran and family members/caregiver.) 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. Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to meeting the experience requirements for this grade level, the candidate must fully demonstrate the following KSAs: Knowledge of program coordination and administration which includes consultation, negotiation, and monitoring. Knowledge and ability to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines for the program. Ability to supervise multidisciplinary staff assigned to the program. Skill in organizing work, setting priorities, meeting multiple deadlines, and evaluating assigned program area(s). Ability to provide training, orientation, and guidance within clinical practice. 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. Physical Requirements: The physical demands of this position involve active listening, reading, observing and evaluating verbal and nonverbal behavior, walking, speaking, bending, carrying light items such as paper, books, small parts, writing reports, writing clinical notes, using office equipment such as computers, telephones, fax machines, photocopy machines, and possibly driving an automobile.

How to Apply: All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the full questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 11/10/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12825452. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.

Application Deadline: 2025-11-10