This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/465358600. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
OUR MISSION: To fulfill President Lincoln's promise "To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan" by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's Veterans.
As a VA professional, your opportunities are endless. Not only is it the largest, most technologically advanced integrated health care system in the Nation, but we also provide many other services to Veterans through the Benefits Administration and National Cemeteries. VA professionals feel good about their careers and their ability to balance work and home life. VA offers generous paid time off and a variety of predictable and flexible scheduling opportunities. For more information on the Department of Veterans Affairs, go to http://www.vacareers.va.gov/
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 a current permanent VA employee and other federal agencies you should apply under the announcement VU-17-KFO-1924167.
Learn more about this agency03/07/2017 to 03/27/2017
$64,218 - $83,480 per year
GS 11
1 vacancy in the following location:
Not required
No
Permanent - Excepted Service Permanent
Full-time - Full Time
11
No
VU-17-KFO-1924172-BU
465358600
Readjustment Counseling Service (RCS) is a program created to provide a broad range of psycho-social services to combat Veterans and their family members to assist them in their readjustment to civilian life.
The incumbent will serve as MFT on a multidisciplinary team located in a community-based Vet Center providing Veterans with community outreach, counseling, therapy, treatment and direct services and referral to VA and community resources. Incumbent will work in cooperative collaboration with other team members and with professionals, volunteers and others in VA facilities and community agencies to help Veterans recognize and resolve their problems and needs. The counseling and therapeutic services provided by the Vet Center range from routine to complex and include suicide prevention, crisis intervention, short and long-term treatment with clients exhibiting post-traumatic stress disorder, other psychiatric disorders and/or readjustment problems. Clients encountered and problems exhibited necessitates a variety of psychological, rehabilitation, marriage and family counseling and mental health techniques including, but not limited to, individual, group, conjoint, vocational, educational, substance abuse and readjustment counseling. Incumbent must possess a high degree of clinical skills, including the unique skills needed to work with Veterans and the significant others and to supervise and to provide consultation to professionals providing clinical services. Incumbent must possess the capability to perform administrative tasks required in the community-based office of a program with a unique administrative structure and a variety of formal and informal working relationships with a wide range of VA facilities and community organizations.
Duties include but not limited to:
· Screening/Assessing (Veterans and significant others)
· Treatment Planning/Goal Setting (developing comprehensive/unique goal-directed treatment plans, to include treating PTSD)
· Clinical Counseling (individual, conjoint, family, and group therapy)
· Outreach (program-eligible Veterans and their family members)
· Crisis Intervention (stabilization and follow-up)
· Administrative responsibilities (maintaining clinical records and performing administrative tasks)
· Professional Competency/Education (staying abreast of current procedures, providing instruction/training)
· Referrals (VA and private sector)
Work Schedule: Administrative days and includes evening, weekend, and holiday hours to meet the needs of the service and clients.
Functional Statement Title/#: Marriage and Family Therapist/000000
Physical Requirements: Moderate lifting (15-44 lbs); Light carrying (under 15 lbs); Reaching above shoulder; Standing 1-2 hours; Repeated bending (1-2 hours); Operation of motor vehicle; Ability to distinguish shades of colors; Both eyes required; Able to work indoors and outdoors; working closely with others; Protracted or irregular hours of work: may include weekends, evenings, some holidays such as Veterans Day, Independence Day;
Basic Requirements:
Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States.
Education. Hold a master's degree in marriage and family therapy from a program approved by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) or have graduated from a nationally accredited program conferring a comparable mental health degree as specified in the qualification standards of those disciplines (Social Work, Psychiatric Nursing, Psychology, and Psychiatry). All additional course work taken to be accepted for MFT licensure must come from a nationally accredited program in one of the above areas.
NOTE: A doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy from a COAMFTE approved program is considered to be a comparable mental health degree.
Licensure. Persons hired or reassigned to MFT positions in the GS-101 series in VHA must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to independently practice marriage and family therapy in a State.
Loss of Licensure. Once licensed, MFTs must maintain a full, valid and unrestricted license to remain qualified for employment. Loss of licensure will result in removal from the GS-101 MFT series and may result in termination of employment.
Physical Requirements. See "Requirements" section.
English Language Proficiency. MFTs must be proficient in spoken and written English.
Preferred Experience: Experience counseling military Veterans.
Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
Grade Determinations:
Creditable Experience:
Knowledge of Current Professional Marriage and Family Therapy Practices. To be creditable, the experience must have required the use of knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with current professional marriage and family therapy practice. The experience must be post-master's degree or above. Experience satisfying this requirement must be active professional practice, which is paid/non-paid employment as a professional MFT, as defined by the appropriate state licensing board.
Quality of Experience. Experience is only creditable if it is obtained following graduation with a master's degree in marriage and family therapy or comparable degree in mental health (Social Work, Psychiatric Nursing, Psychology, and Psychiatry) from an accredited training program and includes work as a professional MFT directly related to the position to be filled. Qualifying experience must also be at a level comparable to marriage and family therapy experience at the next lower grade level. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time.
Part-Time Experience. Part-time experience as a professional MFT is creditable according to its relationship to the full-time workweek. For example, an MFT employed 20 hours a week, or on a 1/2time basis, would receive 1 full-time workweek of credit for each 2 weeks of service.
Fellowships or Post-Graduate Training. Fellowship and post-graduate training programs are typically in a specialized area of clinical practice, e.g., group or family practice. Training as a fellow or post-graduate may be substituted for creditable experience on a year-for-year basis.
Practicum in a VA Setting. A VHA practicum experience may not be substituted for experience, as the practicum (field placement) is completed prior to graduation with a master's degree in marriage and family therapy or comparable mental health degree.
In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.
GS-11 Marriage and Family Therapist (Full Performance Level)
Experience, Education and Licensure. In addition to the basic requirements, the GS-11 full performance level requires completion of a minimum of 1 year of post-master's degree experience in the field of health care marriage and family therapy work (VA or non-VA experience) and licensure in a state at the independent practice level.
OR
A doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy or comparable degree in mental health from an accredited training program (see note in paragraph 2b) may be substituted for the required 1 year of professional marriage and family therapy experience in a clinical setting. In addition, the candidate must be licensed to practice at the independent practice level.
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
1. Knowledge of human development throughout the lifespan, interventions based on research and theory, family and system interaction, formal diagnostic criteria, risk assessment, evidence-based practice and assessment tools.
2. Ability to independently assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of patients and their family members, and the knowledge to formulate, implement, and re-evaluate a treatment plan through continuous assessment identifying the patient's problems, strengths, readiness to change, external influences and current events surrounding the origins and maintenance of the presenting issue, and interactional patterns within the client system. This includes the utilization of testing measures where appropriate.
3. Ability to provide counseling and/or psychotherapy services to individuals, groups, couples and families in a culturally competent manner that facilitates change through restructuring and reorganizing of the client system. 4. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with clients, colleagues, and other professionals in collaboration throughout treatment regarding clinical, ethical and legal issues and concerns. This includes the ability to represent and educate others regarding the MFT perspective in interdisciplinary staff meetings while respecting the roles and responsibilities of other professionals working with the client.
5. Knowledge and understanding of existing relevant statutes, case law, ethical codes, and regulations affecting professional practice of marriage and family therapy. This includes the ability to assist clients in making informed decisions relevant to treatment to include limits of confidentiality.
6. Ability to provide orientation, training and consultation to new MFTs including clinical oversight of MFT graduate students, and/or provide supervision to pre-licensure MFTs.
7. Skill in the use of computer software applications for drafting documents, data management, maintaining accurate, timely and thorough clinical documentation, and tracking quality improvements.
References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/23 PART II APPENDIX G39. This can be found in the local Human Resources Office.
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: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. 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.
This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.
This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.
Your application, résumé and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.
All applicants are required to submit the following supporting document type(s):
·Other (VA Form 10-2850c)
·Resume
Applicants may also submit the following supporting document type(s),which may not be required for all applicants:
Please use this checklistto make sure you have included other documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), documentation to support Veterans Preference claims, or ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees). You will not be contacted for additional information.
Faxing Applications or Supporting Documents: You are encouraged to apply online. Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application. If you are unable to apply online or unable to upload your supporting documents to your online application, follow the directions located at the following site: Fax Options. The Vacancy ID of the job opportunity announcement is 1924172.
NOTE: If you applied online and your application is complete, do not fax the paper application (1203-FX) as this will overwrite your prior online responses and may result in you being found ineligible.
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
All applicants are encouraged to apply online.
To apply for this position, you must complete the View Occupational Questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below.
The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on Monday, March 27, 2017 to receive consideration.
1. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
2. 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.
To verify your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account, https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then select the more information link for this position. The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.
After we receive your complete application package (including all required documents), your qualifications will be reviewed and assigned an initial rating.
We will also review your application to make sure that your résumé supports the answers given in the questionnaire. If your résumé does not support your questionnaire answers, we will adjust your rating accordingly. Based on your ranking or numerical score, you may be referred to the hiring manager for further consideration and possible interview. You will be notified when your rating is determined.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/465358600. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
Learn more about
Vacancy Identification Number (VIN) 1924172