Clarification from the agency

This is an INTERNAL ANNOUNCEMENT and is limited to current permanent employees of the Iowa City VA Health Care System and current permanent VA Nationwide employees. Current permanent employees of the Iowa City VA Health Care System will receive first consideration.

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The incumbent serves as the Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery Center (PRRC) Program Manager for the Mental Health Service Line at the Iowa City VA Healthcare System. The incumbent has very broad supervisory and program management responsibilities. The incumbent has responsibility for overall planning, organizing, directing, and evaluating the services of the recovery services within mental health. In addition, the incumbent serves as supervisor for the Local Recovery Coordinator, overseeing development and implementation of recovery programs and services within the service line and the overall hospital setting.

Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Helps in developing and implementing policies and procedures relating to recovery services.
• Monitors accomplishment of programs' clinical goals and objectives, periodically evaluates them, and when necessary modifies such goals and objectives to meet needs of recovery services.
• Provides day-to-day-program operational management to PRRC and oversees local recovery coordinator recovery services development and implementation.
• Delegates tasks appropriately to other team members and ensures compliance with local and system-wide program policy manuals and directives.
• Reviews all electronic consults received by the PRRC as the direct PRRC Program Manager, assigns them to appropriate clinicians based on Veterans' needs, and ensures timely access to outpatient services.
• Oversees administrative and programmatic resources aimed to improve the service line's performance on a variety of metrics relevant to patient care, but specifically to the SMI population spread out throughout the predominately large and rural catchment area.
• Has direct administrative and professional supervision of PRRC program staff and the Local Recovery Coordinator position.
• Conducts ongoing intensive reviews and appraisals to ensure the accomplishment of objectives and adherence to standards set by governing bodies. Prepares and facilitates PRRC for CARF surveys. Develops and implements 5 CARF plans annually.
• Serves as a staff psychologist and provides the full range of services, such as essential diagnostic, treatment, and assessment services.
• Provides clinical services including individual and group therapy with a focus on evidence-based and recovery-oriented practices.
• Leads the Mental Health Service Line's Performance Improvement Workgroup.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/31/2022

BASIC REQUIREMENTS:
(a) United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.

(b) English Language Proficiency: 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.

(c) Education Requirement - You must have a doctoral degree in psychology from a graduate program in psychology accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS), or the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) at the time the program was completed. The specialty area of the degree must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed; OR, have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, in addition, successfully completed a re-specialization program meeting both of the following conditions: a) the re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; and b) the specialty in which you were retrained is consistent with the assignment you are applying for; OR, have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.

(d) Internship Requirement - You must have successfully completed a professional psychology internship training program that was accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed and that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed; OR, New VHA psychology internship programs that are in the process of applying for APA accreditation are acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement, provided that such programs were sanctioned by the VHA Central Office Program Director for Psychology and the VHA Office of Academic Affiliations at the time that the individual was an intern; OR, VHA facilities that offered full-time, one-year pre-doctoral internships prior to PL 96-151 (pre-1979) are considered to be acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement; OR, Applicants who completed an internship that was not accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed may be considered eligible for hire only if they are currently board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in a specialty area that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. (NOTE: Once board certified, the employee is required to maintain board certification; OR, Applicants who have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature may fulfill this internship requirement by having the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience in a site specifically acceptable to the candidate's doctoral program. If the internship experience is not noted on the applicant's official transcript, the applicant must provide a statement from the doctoral program verifying that the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience was completed in a site acceptable to the doctoral program.

(e) Licensure: Candidates must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice psychology at the doctoral level in a State, Territory or Commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia.

GRADE DETERMINATIONS:

GS-14 Psychologist Psychology Program Manager:
(a) Experience. At least three years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-13 grade level.
(b) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities. n addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

1. Ability to organize work, set priorities, delegate tasks, and meet multiple deadlines.
2. Knowledge of and ability to utilize evidence based practices and clinical practice guidelines appropriately and ability to guide staff in using these tools.
3. Ability to deal effectively with individuals or groups representing widely divergent backgrounds, interests, and points of view.
4. Skill in managing and directing the work of others to accomplish program goals and objectives.
5. Ability to translate management goals and objectives into well-coordinated and controlled work operations.
6. Ability to establish and monitor production and performance priorities and standards.
7. Ability to analyze organizational and operational problems and to develop and implement solutions that result in sound operation of the program.

How you will be evaluated

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, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

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.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.