Social Worker (Program Coordinator) (Survivor's Assistance & Memorial Support)

Social Worker (Program Coordinator) (Survivor's Assistance & Memorial Support)

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): El Paso, Texas

Salary Range: $97987 - $127386 Per Year

Job Summary: The Survivors Assistance and Memorial Support (SAMS) Program provides personalized, supportive services to Veterans, families, caregivers, and survivors at the end of a Veteran's life and after a Veteran dies, while also ensuring Veterans without identified family receive dignified interments that honor their service. The SAMS Program includes a Survivors Assistance component and a Memorial Support component.

Major Duties:

• Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional The SAMS Program establishes and standardizes a customer-centric program that includes clinical and business operations to support Veterans, their family, caregivers, and survivors before, during, and after a Veteran's death. The SAMS Social Work (Program Coordinator) is responsible for all aspects of the SAMS Program across the El Paso VA Health Care System (ELVAHCS), including, but not limited to, the medical center, affiliated Community-Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs), and community settings. The SAMS Program Coordinator practices at the advanced practice level and has specialized knowledge in the field of end-of-life and death care, bereavement care, and survivors' assistance. Functions Include but are not limited to: The SAMS Social Worker (Program Coordinator) develops and implements the SAMS Program across all areas of the medical center/healthcare system, ensuring compliance and collaboration with the National SAMS Implementation Team and the National Social Work Program Office. The incumbent ensures compliance with local policy and procedures pertaining to patients who expire while receiving Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)-authorized care in a medical center, hospital, nursing home or domiciliary care setting. The incumbent is administratively responsible for ensuring program development, operations, and compliance with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veteran Benefits Administration (VBA), Veterans Healthcare Administration (VHA), National Cemetery Administration (NCA), Care Management and Social Work (CMSW), and National SAMS Program requirements, guidance documents, and state and federal legislative authorities. Supports health care management officials by analyzing, evaluating, advising, and coordinating health care delivery systems and operations as it pertains to activities necessary to support high-quality SAMS Program processes and products. Independently prioritizes and accomplishes assigned and delegated responsibilities. The position works closely with the Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) point of contact (POC), National SAMS Program, senior management officials and others to implement and evaluate policies, plans, and internal operational systems. Manages and controls the use of data related to day-to-day functioning and program evaluation. The incumbent provides supervision to SAMS Program staff, providing leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development and education regarding the SAMS program. In conjunction with the Service Chief or designee, the incumbent plans, organizes and directs administrative, operational, patient and personnel activities for SAMS Program. A substantial portion of the workload directed by this position is carried out at one or more locations that are physically removed from the main facility under conditions that make day-to-day supervision difficult to administer. Work Schedule: Fulltime, Monday thru Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. (45 minute lunch) 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 existing pay, 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: Ad-hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: Social Worker (Program Coordinator) (Survivor's Assistance & Memorial Support) Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

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. English Language Proficiency Requirement - Per VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, Paragraph 3j: No person will be appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C., chapter 73 or 74, to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA who is not proficient in written and spoken English. 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. Independent Practice 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/. Advanced Practice Licensure: Persons hired or reassigned to social worker positions in the GS-0185 series at the GS-12 level or higher in VHA must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the advanced practice level. Current state requirements may be found by going to http://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/. 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). Preferred Experience: Knowledge of the SAMS (Survivors Assistance & Memorial Support) program, Ability to work independently using sound clinical judgement, Ability to work collaboratively with VA and non-VA entities. GS-12: Social Worker (Program Coordinator) (1) 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. (2) 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. (3) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of 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. (4) 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 can be found at the VA Qualification Repository, VA Qualifications Standards - Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO) GS-0185, Social Worker Qualification Standard, dated 9/10/2019. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: A pre-placement examination will be required to be able to determine if the incumbent is able to safely operate a government vehicle. The following requirements must be met: distant vision 20/40 in one eye with or without correction, field of vision 70 degrees, ability to distinguish red, green and amber, whispered voice at five feet, or average hearing loss of not greater than 40 dbs. at 500, 1000 and 2,000 Hz.

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 03/06/2026 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12898776. 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: 2026-03-06