Marriage and Family Therapist Program Coordinator - Suicide Prevention

The Suicide Prevention Program Coordinator is aligned under the Mental Health Service Line. This interdisciplinary team consists of professional staff who work full-time managing the suicide prevention program for the SVAHCS. Veteran care includes careful monitoring for suicide risk. At-risk veterans are identified as high risk and are flagged, supported, and tracked. Highly involved in clinical care, typically responding to Veterans in mental health crises that involve some aspect of safety.Provides consultative services to other clinical/administrative staff and to VA programs, focused on any aspect of suicide prevention. Provides supportive counseling in the development and utilization of community resources. Maintains a patient list of those determined to be currently high-risk for suicide and monitors their care to ensure that needed services are being received. Consults/collaborates with providers of high-risk patients for purposes ofeducation and facilitating best practice. May be required to provide direct patient care for the same purpose. Provides training to all staff throughout the SVAHCS and community about risk factors, warning signs, treatment options, and resources. Promotes the use of evidence-based interventions and strategies for suicide prevention in the health care system. Participates and may co-chair with the Patient Safety Officer the RCA (Root Cause Analysis) by performing individual case reviews, assisting with the preparation of quarterly aggregate summaries, and facilitating recommended system improvements. Receives and processes consults from the Veteran's Crisis Line and contacts Veterans to engage them in treatment and reports back to the Hotline Staff about the results of interventions. Facilitates the completion of suicide assessments in the facility by training staff, updating policies, and occasionally direct provision of assessments, according to the VACO assessment guidelines. Facilitates the implementation of reporting high-risk patients through the use of the Suicide Behavior Report. Facilitates the implementation of Level II Flags per Central Office Directives. Provides tracking reports to the Center of Excellence for data compilation monthly. Works closely with the Multidisciplinary Team to ensure that all Veterans on the facility tracking list are being followed closely by the appropriate provider. Tracks any no-show appointments by these patients and follows up with the patient as soon as possible to reschedule the appointment. Maintains awareness of suicide treatment options and makes recommendations to the patient's provider when new options become available. Obtains any relevant HIPAA clearances to allow transmittal of facility data on suicide attempts and individuals at risk to the VISN 19 MIRECC for trending and quality assurance purposes, and transmitting the data following cybersecurityrequirements as applicable for this sensitive data. Ensures that all flagged patients have a 24-hour resource