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Social Advocacy Clinical Counselor

Department of the Navy
Commander, Navy Installations
Naval District Washington
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is a fully credentialed clinical counselor located within the Counseling, Advocacy and Prevention Services Program (CAPS). The primary purpose is to provide direct service in the form of counseling individuals, couples, families, & groups on matters pertaining to family dynamics, parent-child interaction, couples communication, stress reduction, adjustment to military lifestyles, Family Advocacy Program (FAP) case management, treatment services and psycho-educational programs.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
05/01/2020 to 05/15/2020
Salary
$86,335 to - $100,727 per year
Pay scale & grade
NF 4
Location
Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, DC
1 vacancy
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
50% or less - Frequent travel is required.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
Yes—Relocation authorized.
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-Time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
04
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Announcement number
VA-20-24236
Control number
567218800

Duties

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Clinical Counseling

Provides short term, solution focused psychological counseling for individuals, couples, families, and groups of people in crisis.  Assesses individual/family needs; explores basic personality structure in relation to behavior patterns, mechanisms, and symptoms.  Receives and assesses referrals made by military and civilian agencies.  Coordinates legal, medical and social services including commands, to assist in treatment and referral.

Initiates, develop, and facilitate group treatment programs to address the needs of families.

Demonstrates effective independent clinical assessment skills by identifying crisis situations, e.g., suicide or homicide risk, danger of physical or sexual abuse to family members, and increased risk of further family violence.  Provides crisis intervention and safety planning as required.

Independently manages assigned cases, consulting with the Regional CAPS Operations Manager or Supervisor where the case is highly complex or presents with special issues.  Complies with reporting protocols involving high risk and high visibility cases.

Maintains case records, treatment plans, and statistics in accordance with Navy policies and regulations and updates Management Information System data collection programs as required.

Responsible for compliance with CAPS quality standards and Counseling Desk Guides.

Case Management

Performs Family Advocacy Case Management duties, which includes receiving initial reports of suspected child and spouse abuse from military and civilian representatives and taking all steps required under the FAP.

Provides safety planning, case management, treatment, and education services related to child abuse and spouse abuse.

Serves as designated case manager and primary FAP point of contact for spouse and child abuse cases ensuring all actions are in compliance with DOD and Navy instructions and civilian reporting requirements.

Provides timely completion of all required assessments and documentation, e.g., Family Advocacy Risk Assessment. 

Presents complete and concise case presentations to the CRC documenting results and implementing recommendations according to guidelines.

Demonstrates effective independent clinical assessment skills by identifying crisis situations, e.g., suicide or homicide risk, danger of physical or sexual abuse to family members, and increased risk of further family violence.  Provides crisis intervention and safety planning as required.

Provides ongoing case management services to assess service and family member needs, confirms follow-through with treatment recommendations, and provides additional resources referrals as warranted by the case status.

Independently manages assigned cases, consulting with the Regional CAPS Operations Manager or Supervisor where the case is highly complex or presents with special issues.  Complies with reporting protocols involving high risk and high visibility cases.

Develops and provides group and individual treatment targeting at-risk and substantiated victims and offenders of family violence.

Prepares and maintains program documentation, records and reports. 

As directed or required, incumbent facilitates FAP training and education services to ensure that active duty military and their families are aware of the problems of domestic violence and the services available to them.  Conducts briefs, workshops, and training related to family violence for clinical staff, IDC members, and Command Family Advocacy Representatives where appropriate.  Participates in development of group treatment curriculum including, where appropriate, session-specific materials, and research-based justifications.  Participates, as directed, in coordinating and/or providing in-service training to other FFSP staff.

Community Liaison

Serves as liaison, and maintains a working relationship with necessary and appropriate city, county, state, federal, and non-government agencies as well as military commands to further a comprehensive education/prevention program with regard to clinical counseling/FAP services affecting military personnel. Educates and provides case specific consultation to military and civilian agencies about counseling services, FAP, risk assessment, clinical issues, treatment, and IDC processes.

Participates in the Regional Child Sexual Abuse Response Team, as directed.

Assists the CASS in developing case management protocols and program delivery criteria and identifying gaps in existing services.

Participates in the CAPS Quality Assurance Program and peer review process a directed.

Testifies at juvenile court, family court, and any military legal hearing regarding Family Advocacy cases as appropriate.

Participates in committees and boards as directed such as CDC Quality Review Boards, Family Advocacy and Sexual Assault Victim Intervention committees.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Must have your salary sent to a financial institution of your choice by Direct Deposit/Electronic Funds Transfer
  • Must successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. Any discrepancies must be resolved as a condition of employment

Qualifications

Knowledge of the military lifestyle that furnished the employee with an understanding of the specific demands of military lifestyles, such as frequent separations, and high stress working environments that have an extensive impact on individuals and their families.

Ability to present sensitive, at times controversial information to groups of people in a clear, concise manner.

Ability to modify programs to meet the ever changing needs of the active duty military community.

Ability to recognize, identify and assess mental disorders per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Vol. IV.

Understanding of, and ability to, apply various counseling approaches such as behavior modification, client-centered, rational-emotive, family systems, brief solution-focused, and reality therapies.

Knowledge of dynamics and diagnostic skills necessary for family violence identification, risk assessment, and safety planning.

Knowledge of family violence treatment principles for victims and offenders.

Knowledge of group dynamics.

Knowledge in the areas of family systems particularly as it relates to patterns of abusive behavior and abuse response, substance abuse, human behavior, human sexuality, attention deficit disorder, and juvenile delinquency.

Ability to recognize and define personal and social problems, to independently reach accurate conclusions, and to provide appropriate solutions.

Ability to effectively interview, and clinically respond to the needs of clients including assessing suicidal and homicidal and substance abuse.

Ability to communicate orally to interview alleged offenders and victims; to maintain cooperative and professional relationships with law enforcement, Child Protective Services, medical treatment facilities, and senior personnel from commands of offenders and victims; function as a member of interdisciplinary case review committees and participate in case discussions regarding assessment; make presentations; and to exercise strong facilitation skills for individual and group counseling.

Ability to communicate in writing to develop and prepare case management memos, correspondence, and reports; to document psycho-social assessments, treatment plans, and case review committee reports; to develop lesson plans for briefing and classroom presentations.

Knowledge and ability to use a personal computer and a variety of software programs to develop multi-media presentations and to facilitate work assignments.

Education

Successful candidates for this position shall meet all qualifications as outlined below:

  • State licensure or state certification that provides legal authority to provide clinical services as an independent practitioner.
  • When the state licensing or certification requirements include a written examination, candidates must have achieved a passing score on that examination.
  • Possess at least a master’s degree in one of the following clinical fields:  Marriage and Family therapy, Social Work or Psychology from an accredited program.
  • Have engaged in 2 years (which includes at least 2000 hours) full-time, post- Masters supervised clinical experience.
  • Two (2) years of experience in assisting and providing advocacy services to victims of domestic abuse or sexual assault.

Additional information

Spouses of active duty military members of the Armed Forces may receive preference in hiring under this announcement if they are among the best qualified referred and are within reach of selection. Spouse Preference does not apply to NF 04 and NF 05 positions. Please clearly identify in your application that you are asking for spouse preference and complete the Request for Military Spouse Preference form and submit a copy of current PCS orders.  Failure to submit current PCS orders with application will prevent spousal preference from being granted.  Acceptance or declination of a regular full or part-time non-appropriated or appropriated fund position ends your ability to claim this preference. 

Some positions have special requirements.  In these cases selection is tentative pending satisfactory completion of these requirements.  Applicants may be required to provide proof of education, etc. All selections are contingent upon the obtaining of satisfactory employment reference checks.

As a condition of employment, the selected individual will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit/Electronic Fund Transfer program.

SELECTIVE SERVICE REQUIREMENT: If you are a male born after December 31, 1959 and at least 18 years of age, employment law (5 U.S.C. 3328) requires that you must register with the Selective Service System (military draft), unless you meet certain exemptions.  If applicable, failure to register will prevent you from being considered for employment.  To register, please visit the Selective Service web site at https://www.sss.gov/default.htm.

The Department of the Navy is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. All qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, political affiliation, sexual orientation, or any other non-merit factor.

The Department of the Navy provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities.  Applicants with disabilities who believe they require reasonable accommodation should contact our Human Resource Office to ensure that the Department of the Navy can consider such requests.  The decision to grant an accommodation will be made on a case by case basis.

When relocation expenses are authorized to perform a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) with the federal government, the IRS considers the majority of your entitlements to be taxable. Additional information: https://www.dfas.mil/civilianemployees/civrelo/taxableentitlements.html 

Public Trust is a type of background investigation, but it is not a security clearance. Depending on the job, you must complete either the Standard Form 85 (SF85) or 85P (SF85P) questionnaire.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

All resumes will be reviewed to determine if they meet the hiring eligibility and qualification requirements listed in this announcement, and will be rated based on the information provided in the resume to determine the level of knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) related to the job requirements. Using the qualifications of the position, a predetermined rating criterion of KSAs will be used for each resume. Best qualified applicants will be referred to the hiring manager. The selecting official may choose to conduct interviews.



Click the following link to preview the applicant questionnaire: Preview Applicant Questionnaire.

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