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.

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)

Duties

• 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

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the largest integrated health care system in the United States, providing care at 1,321 health care facilities, including 172 VA Medical Centers and 1,138 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity (VHA outpatient clinics) to over 9 million Veterans enrolled in the VA health care program. VHA Medical Centers provide a wide range of services including traditional hospital-based services such as surgery, critical care, mental health, orthopedics, pharmacy, radiology and physical therapy. In addition, most of our medical centers offer additional medical and surgical specialty services including audiology & speech pathology, dermatology, dental, geriatrics, neurology, oncology, podiatry, prosthetics, urology, and vision care. Some medical centers also offer advanced services such as organ transplants and plastic surgery.