Social Worker (Program Coordinator)

Summary

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.

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Duties

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The Social Work Program Coordinator serves as the coordinator of a multidisciplinary team and is administrative responsibility for clinical program development, accountable for clinical program effectiveness and program facilitation. These positions provide support to the National Center for Warrior Independence within the Food Hub Program within Whole Health and the Peer Center within Community Reengagement Reintegration Service.at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System in Los Angeles, California.

VA Careers - Social Work :

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Job duties include, but are not limited to:

Food Hub:

• Ensures treatment plan goals regarding food security and nutrition needs as are being met and documented appropriately.
• Offers staff, Veterans, families, and caregivers education, guidance, and assistance relevant to food resources, nutrition, and healthy eating practices.
• Collaborates with facility and clinical leaders to determine priorities and clarify strategic direction and goals for the Food Hub program.
• Coordinates same-day Veteran visits to the Food Hub, ensuring timely access to pantry services, nutrition consultation, and warm hand-off referrals.
• Acts as a coach to Veterans, families, and caregivers to support healthy nutrition practices and helps identify and encourage Veterans to meet treatment plan goals related to food security and overall wellness.
• Collaborates closely with Nutrition and Food Service, Homeless Program staff, and other clinical leads to ensure care coordination.
• Uses standard data collection instruments to gather and analyze qualitative and quantitative feedback from Food Hub users.
• Engages in outreach planning and activities to improve access to food security services and programming, including mobile food distribution events as applicable
• Provides a full range of social work services within commonly accepted standards of social work practice, including case work, psychosocial assessments, individual, family and group counseling, treatment planning, discharge planning, addressing Advance Directives, and other services as appropriate.
• Is responsible for maintaining Food Hub inventory, ordering, and pantry operations, and adapting processes as program needs evolve in collaboration with the Food Hub dietitian.
• Works with VA Medical Center multi-disciplinary teams and community agencies.
• Provides clinical supervision for unlicensed social workers and may serve as a field instructor to trainees.

Peer Center:

• Ensures walk-in peer support, resource navigation, and use of the Peer Center for social and recreational purposes are being met and documented appropriately.
• Offers staff, Veterans, families, caregivers' education, training, and assistance relevant to peer support and resource navigation.
• Collaborates with facility and clinical leaders to determine priorities and clarify strategic direction and goals.
• Acts as a liaison between VA and community partners to support the Peer Center's growth and development, including additional programs and events.
• Engages in outreach planning and activities to improve access to healthcare services via continual training of staff and programming.
• Provides a full range of social work services within commonly accepted standards of social work practice which includes case work, psychosocial assessments, individual, family and group counseling treatment planning, discharge planning, address Advance Directives, and other services as appropriate.
• Completes statistical and other reports in accordance with VA Medical Center and respective professional discipline service policies.
• Works with VA Medical Center multi-disciplinary teams and community agencies.
• Provides clinical supervision for unlicensed social workers and may serve as a field instructor to trainees.

Announcement may close earlier than October 2nd, 2026 depending on applicant count.

Work Schedule : Various tours of duty based on the needs of the service.

Compressed/Flexible :May be available based on the needs of the service.

Recruitment/Relocation Incentive: May be approved for highly qualified applicants.

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases.

EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact View email address on click.appcast.io, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance.

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)

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. This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement # : 000000

Permanent Change of Station: 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 identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation.
• 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:

• 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.

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 :

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• 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 to verify that the social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a masters of social work. [Transcripts must be submitted at time of application. Conferral of degree(s) must be stated on transcript(s). Unofficial transcripts(s) are acceptable]
• Licensure. 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 [ Copies of licensure/certification must be submitted with application packet ]

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 : In addition to the basic requirements listed above for employment, the following criteria must be met:

Social Worker (Program Coordinator), GS-12

Experience and Education: Applicants must have at least one (1) 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: In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate 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.

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.

Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on 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 for 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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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.

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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.