Clarification from the agency

Open to US Citizens, Veterans Preference will apply

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NOTE: Readjustment Counselors are multi-disciplinary and can be filled by: Social Worker, Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, Marriage & Family Therapist, and Psychologist.Each discipline is announced separately and applicants must apply to the announcement for which they are qualified.

The incumbent's primary responsibility is to provide clinical and administrative leadership, management and supervision of all Vet Center staff and all other professional, paraprofessional and nonprofessional staff assigned to work at the Vet Center and to plan, develop, implement, coordinate, monitor and evaluate all treatment services of the Vet Center. Additional duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Conducts interviews and counseling with clients and provides social/psychological assessment and treatment to clients; crisis intervention and both short and long term services.
• Refers clients to other programs and professionals. Provides guidance and consultation to other team members conducting interviews, counseling, and therapy.
• Refers cases requiring outpatient or inpatient treatment to the VA Medical Center or Outpatient Clinic or appropriate referral services.
• Responsible for establishing, maintaining and conducting outreach activities with veterans, community and service organizations, business and industry, professionals and the public.
• Organizes both VA and non-VA resources and community services on behalf of veterans.
• Provides psychodiagnostic testing and psychological assessment to those clients who display clinically severe or unusual psychological disturbances.
• Personally conducts other client treatment; individual, group, conjoint and family therapy; biofeedback; relaxation training and other therapeutic intervention strategies.
• Participates in conjoint emergency treatment with medical facility mental health personnel.
• Develops and coordinates procedures and programs to facilitate optimum use of these resources and services by the hospital, by other agencies and by the individual members of the target group.
• Develops and maintains understanding and working agreements with other organizations and individuals sharing responsibility for the welfare of these citizens in the same geographical area.
• Possesses and maintains current and broad knowledge in management, program evaluation and theory and practice in delayed stress syndrome.
• Provides direct marriage and family work intervention involving serious and complicated problems frequently encountered by veterans and their families or significant others.
• Emphasizes the development of collaborative efforts among a variety of community resources in effort to resolve these problems.
• Provides indirect services to target groups through advocacy work and negotiations with other service agencies.
• Possesses and effectively implements specialized knowledge and skill in working with veterans, with their families and with their potential resources in the community.
• Maintains special responsibility for familiarity with and development of community health care (both public and private) resources within a defined geographical target area and for maximizing the efficient and effective use of these resources by the target group.
• Serves as a major resources and consultant to the hospital in regard to resources in this target area.
• Provides direct service and assistance to hospital programs in order to facilitate optimum utilization of resources in the patient's re-entry into the community.
• Participates in continuing research projects at the Vet Center and the Medical Center.
• Contributes to the general knowledge base about military combat related trauma and its treatment via program evaluation literature review and observational inquiry.

Work Schedule: 8:00am - 4:30pm Monday - Friday; Some evenings and weekends may be required to meet the needs of Veterans
Telework: Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 62238-0
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

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.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• 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

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Education: Candidates must meet one of the following:
  • Hold a master's degree or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy from a program approved by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE),
  • Hold a master's degree or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy from a MFT program from a regionally accredited institution, OR
  • Hold a master's degree or doctoral degree in a comparable mental health degree (Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, Social Work, Psychiatric Nursing, Psychology, and Psychiatry) that meets the current VA qualification standard of that profession.
• Licensure: Persons hired or reassigned to MFT positions in the GS-0101 series in VHA must hold a full, current, and unrestricted MFT license to independently practice marriage and family therapy in a State.
• English Language Proficiency. MFTs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, paragraph 3j.

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).

Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

Supervisory Marriage and Family Therapist, GS-12:

Experience, Education. In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must have successfully completed evidence based training in marriage and family therapy and must have graduated from a COAMFTE accredited program OR have passed the AMFTRBE. Candidates must have at least five (5) years of post-licensed clinical experience in delivery of family systems therapy including one-year equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. This experience must demonstrate possession of using evidence based family therapy model while demonstrating progressive professional competency and expertise.

Licensure: Candidates must possess the ability to provide clinical supervision. Assignments responsible for providing clinical supervision must have an AAMFT Approved Supervisor designation or be an AAMFT Supervisor Candidate (AAMFT Supervisor Candidates have 2 years from date of placement to obtain the designation).

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to meeting the KSAs for GS-12 grade level, the candidate must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:

1. Ability to identify professional development needs of other MFTs and guide them in current family systems theory/therapy practice guidelines.
2. Ability to collaborate with members of other disciplines and supervisors and to represent the family systems theory/therapy profession both in and outside of VHA. This includes knowledge of the roles, contributions, and interrelationships with other disciplines.
3. Ability to perform the full range of administrative and clinical supervisory duties including responsibility for work assignments, competency assessments, performance evaluations, selection of staff, and recommendation of awards, advancements, and when appropriate, disciplinary actions.
4. Ability to analyze clinical data and make recommendations for corrective actions to optimize quality, efficiency, performance, and productivity within service keeping in line with accrediting bodies and policy.

Assignment. At this level, MFTs administratively supervise professional staff which may include experienced MFTs, Advanced MFTs, MFT Program Coordinators, other Mental Health occupations and administrative staff. Duties include preparing work assignments, monitoring clinical performance, conducting performance appraisals, developing performance standards, as well as other clinical and administrative responsibilities. Interviews/recommends individuals for hire, trains, evaluates, disciplines and recommends for termination. Duties may include tracking of data to ensure that trends are analyzed and monitored, preparing appropriate administrative reports and quality assurance reviews. The supervisor at this level may be assigned to any program area. Supervisors may include coordinator responsibilities and may supervise other MFTs for licensure.

References: VA Handbook 5005/101, Part II, Appendix G44, dated April 18, 2018.

Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary. It may require some lifting (10-20 lbs.) occasionally. Reaching above shoulder; Frequent keyboarding (4-7 hours per day); Sitting (4-7 hours per day); Walking up to 6 hours per day); Standing (up to 8 hours per day); Infrequent climbing/descending of stairs; Some bending; Ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously

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, resume, 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.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

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.