Social Worker (Program Coordinator) - Safe Haven

Summary

This position is function as SFVA Medical Center's Liaison for VA's Homeless Providers Safe Haven Program. It's responsible for monitoring and coordination of services provided by community-based programs funded under VA's Homeless Providers Safe Haven Program to ensure that Veterans in community-based funded programs are receiving quality services.

This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until July 8, 2026, or until this position is filled.

Learn more about this agency

Duties

Help

The Safe Haven Program, an essential and critical part of VHA, is vital for providing safe transitional housing and supportive services for homeless Veterans. VA medical centers must ensure that Veterans in community-based funded programs are receiving quality services. The liaison/case manager is responsible for the oversight of these services as well as the case management of the Veterans who receive them.

The incumbent provides case management at the Safe Haven Program sites as described in the Homeless Safe Haven Program rules, regulations, and directives including admissions screening, treatment planning and discharge planning. The incumbent utilizes various treatment modalities of individual and group work, casework, community organization, and community outreach activities to augment the services by the community provider in order to alleviate or remove problems that interfere with the Homeless Safe Haven participants' ability to achieve independence.

The incumbent coordinates care including serving as an advocate on behalf of the Veterans to ensure comprehensive service delivery and linking and referring Veterans to the VA Medical Center, VA Regional Offices and/or community agencies.

The incumbent engages in coordination with community agencies, organizations, and groups to learn of services or resources available for homeless Veterans as well as provides current information on services and benefits available in the VA for Safe Haven Program participants.

The incumbent develops and maintains collaborative outreach effort with the provider to chronically homeless Veterans who have difficulty accepting housing and services from traditional programs. The targeted population will be homeless Veterans with severe mental illness and substance use problems that have not responded to traditional programs.

Duty Location: 401 Third Street, San Francisco, CA 94107

Work Schedule : Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm or determine by the hiring manager

Functional Statement # : 10498F

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives : Not Authorized

EDRP: Not Authorized

Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Help

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.
• Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation
• As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you might be required to serve a 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.
• 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).

Qualifications

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 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
• Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services.
• English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

GRADE DETERMINATIONS. In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

Social Worker (Program Coordinator), GS-12

• Experience and 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.
• 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 .

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA). In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of 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 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.

Physical Requirements: The physical demands of this position involve primarily walking, sitting, talking, driving, use of the telephone, etc. Light lifting, under 15 pounds, Light carrying, under 15 pounds, Hearing (aid permitted). A valid driver's license is required, as the incumbent will be working primarily in the community.

Travel Demand: This position is required to travel up to 50% of work will be performed in a wide range of settings, including home visits, visits to community agencies, visits to care giving facilities in the community etc.

Driver's License : This position is required to possess a Current and Active California driver's license and maintain the license in a good standing

References: See Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO) website for VA specific qualification standards: VA Qualifications Standards - Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO)

Education

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

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.

Help

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.