Program Specialist

Summary

The position serves as a Program Specialist assigned to the Survivors Assistance and Memorial Support (SAMS) Program under the Chief, Social Work or Social Work Executive at the VA medical facility as the primary person responsible for the facility's SAMS Program.

Duties

Advise Veterans and their NOK of burial benefits. Help Veterans and NOK prearrange burial, interment, or cremation, as desired by the Veteran. Advise surviving relatives about burial benefits and other VA benefits. Review eligibility and entitlement of burial and death allowances and advise on the process for applying for those benefits. Refer surviving relatives with specific benefit inquiries to a VBA point of contact, not the toll-free telephone number. Inform Veteran, caregiver, and NOK of available supportive services within the medical facility, such as Chaplaincy and Social Work, to provide support at the end of life and immediately following death. Review daily death notifications and submit completed death certificates to the designated Funeral Director and County Registrar's Office. Ensure Veterans with no relatives (unclaimed remains) are provided with a dignified funeral and burial at VA (contract or purchase order) expense. Collaborate with VA offices to locate NOKs when NOKs are not readily known. View, as required, the deceased Veteran's unclaimed body and/or remains to confirm that VA funds are executed as intended in the burial purchase. Request that any clinical staff involved with care prior to death contact the survivor within 24 hours of the pronouncement of death. Identify, in collaboration with designated facility staff, a responsible funeral home for the unclaimed remains and prepare a purchase order and/or contract for this effect. Complete required VA authorizations to release personal effects and any remaining funds in the patient's account to NOK or designated party. Record and transcribe providers' requests for permission from the legal next of kin or other designee by law to conduct an autopsy. Coordinate with VA physician and NOK/legal designee in obtaining signed consent in the event the family is not present to sign, or the death occurred outside of normal business hours. Coordinate the release of remains with appropriate services/outside agencies in the event of autopsy, or organ/tissue/body donation. Establish and/or follow local procedures for whole body donation. Collaborate with the Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT), Pharmacy, and Prosthetics to cancel all appointments, including orders. Coordinate with Pathology Services to complete all forms and paperwork required to release the deceased's remains to the selected funeral home. Prepare and provide military information forms to the funeral home representative. Request death certificates from the County Registrar's Office for all external notifications of a Veteran's death and update records as appropriate within the VA system. Coordinate the dispositions of personal funds and effects with the Office of General Council for Veterans who have been adjudicated as incompetent. This may require the position to appear in person at county courthouses. Participate in facility initiatives relating to No Veteran Dies Alone (NVDA). Partner with staff and leadership to identify needs and opportunities throughout the facility. Provide general education, training, and resources about SAMS to staff throughout the hospital, community living centers (CLC), and the community who provide support to Veterans at end-of-life and to their family and NOK. Collaborate with the VA Center for Development and Civic Engagement to recruit, train, schedule, and oversee volunteers at the facility and CLC. Collaborate with palliative care to promote quality end-of-life care by assisting in developing action plans and process improvements related to quantitative and qualitative reporting from the Bereaved Family Survey. Implement information systems to track service activities, including visits, referrals, demographics, and outcomes. Investigate and analyze adverse quality trends or conditions and initiate corrective action. Consult with staff and managers to identify opportunities for quality improvement. Facilitate quality management plan development and implementation. Perform other related duties as assigned. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am-4:30pm Telework: This position may be authorized for telework, Ad-Hoc only. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist/PD417770 and PD417760 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/26/2026. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. This is a two grade-level position, you may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-07 SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-05 level or pay band in the Federal service that includes performing the following duties: Experience with next of kin and burial benefits; Experience communicating resources such as Chaplaincy and Social Work to provide support at end of life; Reviewing death notifications and submitting completed death certificates; Preparing purchase orders and contracts for funeral homes; Recording and transcribing providers' requests for permission from the legal next of kin or other designee by law to conduct an autopsy; Coordinating release of remains with appropriate services/outside agencies in the event of autopsy, or organ/tissue/body donation; Requesting death certificates from the County Registrar's Office; Maintaining proficiency in using local, regional and national databases; Initiating disposition of funds when deceased patient fund account balance is identified; Developing and maintaining monthly and fiscal year variance reports. OR, EDUCATION (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED): You have completed one (1) full year of graduate level education OR have a bachelor's degree with superior academic achievement. This education must have equipped you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of the position at this grade level and is in a field directly related to the position. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR, COMBINATION: EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED): You have some specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-5 grade lev