Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open to VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System Employees, VA Employees Nationwide, current and former VA Trainees. This position is also open to Social Workers, CBSU-12709262-25-DAP.

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Major Duties Include, but are not limited to:

• Provides broad program management responsibilities of a clinical care team, including leadership in the development, implementation, evaluation, and oversight of a program responsible for highly complex clinical care of Veterans across sites and programs with in ECHCS.
• Responsible for the development, implementation, and oversight of operational policies and procedures for the treatment team, with the approval of the affiliated Program Director and/or Service Line Leader.
• Responsible for strategic planning to ensure the provision of high quality services to meet the needs of Veterans identified at risk for suicide across ECHCS. The incumbent will monitor work performance to ensure that requirements are satisfied; and interpret and process a wide
  variety of data related to program planning in the specialized needs of the veterans.
• Conducts ongoing program evaluation and data-driven quality improvement projects that monitor the effectiveness of clinical operations and policy implementation for suicide prevention initiatives across ECHCS.
• Monitors ECHCS adherence with standards for key Performance Metrics, including relevant SAIL metrics or other performance measures related to suicide risk assessment and mitigation.
• Responsible for Office of Inspector General (OIG) visits related to ECHCS compliance with the suicide prevention program requirements.
• Responsible for addressing the Joint Commission Behavioral Health Standards related to suicide risk assessment and management.
• Supports subject matter expert interviews with organizations and committees surveying the facility for quality of services or regulatory compliance (Institute of Medicine, CARF, VISN, OMH, OSP)
• Prepares for the Healthcare System Director's signature after appropriate intermediate review, Congressional and other controlled correspondence including responses to Office of Investigative General, General Accountability Office, Congressional Budget Office, and other recommendations relevant to supporting suicide prevention programs/initiatives across the healthcare system.
• Maintains the ECHCS list of patients at high-risk for suicide and reporting requirements to the National Suicide Prevention Office through the Suicide Prevention Applications Network (SPAN).
• Responsible for the educational program training ECHCS providers, Veterans, families, and members of the community on risk factors and warning signs for suicide, and treatment options.
• Organizes and leads interdisciplinary team meetings in order to facilitate case disposition, care management, effective delivery of clinical interventions, and the adherence to administrative demands.
• Monitors and distributes provider-specific workload reports to team members and ensures provider
  adherence to workload standards and effectively shapes provider practice patterns to improve standing on performance measures.
• Plans work to be accomplished by team members, including establishing priorities, timelines for completion, and necessary adjustments therein.
• Ensures timely access to care of patients assigned to the team, in accordance with local and national policies.
• Initiates and maintains liaisons with associated VA health care programs and community health care systems in order to effectively coordinate services.
• Provides clinical supervision, as appropriate, to assigned team members regarding adherence to VA ECHCS medical-legal standards and policies, documentation of CPRS procedures, and the clinical management of difficult, complex, and dangerous patients.
• Attends and participates in administrative and informational meetings as required and assigned.
• Attends Mental Health Executive Committee and other ECHCS Committees as assigned.
• Ensures that ECHCS staff are appropriately trained to support the VA National Suicide Prevention Program's suicide surveillance mission.
• Serves as liaison for: local, state, federal and national officials; community based special interest groups; community-based agencies and other health care providers; and representatives of affiliate institution of higher learning (e.g., professional schools of medicine, nursing, psychology, social work, etc.)
• Manages REACH VET Program for ECHCS to ensure the use of evidence based predictive analytics in the ongoing surveillance of suicide risk across care settings.
• Leads the Suicide Postvention Team in developing a coordinated response for Veterans, families, and staff impacted by suicide deaths.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 7:30am - 4:00pm.
Telework: Not Authorized
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 554-54162-0
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• 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:

• Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States.
• English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed.
• Education. 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. For the purpose of meeting this requirement, the term "specialty area" refers to the specific specialty areas recognized by the accrediting body and not to specific job duties that might require special skills. Currently, APA accredits doctoral programs in the specialty areas of clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology, or combinations of two or more of those areas. PCSAS accredits doctoral programs in psychological clinical science. CPA accredits doctoral programs in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, clinical neuropsychology, and school psychology. There are no job assignments in VHA that require the skills of a school psychologist; therefore, an applicant with a degree in the specialty area of school psychology is not eligible for appointment. Strictly for the purpose of determining eligibility for appointment as a psychologist in VHA, there is no distinction between the specialty areas (with the exception of school psychology).

OR
Have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, in addition, successfully complete a re- specialization program (including documentation of an approved internship completed as part of the 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 the applicant is retrained must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. NOTE: The applicant must provide an official transcript and/or certificate documenting the completion of the re-specialization program, which includes completion of an APA or CPA internship. [Psychologists who have successfully completed a re-specialization program as described above and who were employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs prior to the implementation of this standard are considered to have fully met the educational requirements of these qualification standards.]
OR
Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.] AND
Internships
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.
GS-14

• Experience.. At least three years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-13 grade level.
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
  • Ability to organize work, set priorities, delegate tasks, and meet multiple deadlines.
  • Knowledge of and ability to utilize evidence based practices and clinical practice guidelines appropriately and ability to guide staff in using these tools.
  • Ability to deal effectively with individuals or groups representing widely divergent backgrounds, interests, and points of view.
  • Skill in managing and directing the work of others to accomplish program goals and objectives.
  • Ability to translate management goals and objectives into well-coordinated and controlled work operations.
  • Ability to establish and monitor production and performance priorities and standards.
  • Ability to analyze organizational and operational problems and to develop and implement solutions that result in sound operation of the program.

Preferred Experiences:

• Suicide Prevention Experience
• Supervisory Experience
• Administrative and Clinical Operations Experience
• Community Partnership Experience

Physical Requirements: Physical demands of the work are generally minor, as the position requires sitting, standing and walking. Some travel is required as the incumbent is required to conducted monthly active outreach in the community which may require traveling long distances. The emotional demands can be stressful in working with high-risk for suicide veteran population and their families. A high level of self-awareness
is essential. Work, divided between office and clinical settings, is primarily sedentary. May require prolonged standing, moderate walking, and manual dexterity. Requires carrying light items, such as books, files, or laptop computer.

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.

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.