Clarification from the agency

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below. Open to U.S. Citizens.

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Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Major duties include, but are not limited to:

- Provides program management and oversight with specific focus on a BHIP Team in the CVVAMC MHSL for Main hospital and CBOC.
- Maintains administrative supervisory responsibility of the following program(s): BHIP Program. Current FTEE: 1.0 GS-13 Psychologists, 2.0 GS
0185-13 Social Worker
- Reviews Community Care psychological testing consults.
- Oversees the implementation of general outpatient psychotherapy services.
- Leads the development of psychotherapy initiatives.
- Oversees the implementation of Joint Commission requirements, particularly treatment planning and measurement-based care.
- Oversees psychological testing throughout the CVVAMC.
- Develops and maintains high-quality Mental Health team functioning and processes while meeting all Environment of Care and programmatic requirements.
- Works closely with the Chief of Mental Health, the Deputy Associate Chief of Staff, other Mental Health program leadership, along with Clinical Services Lines within the CVVAMC (i.e. Pharmacy, Nursing, and Primary Care).
- Fosters a cohesive interdisciplinary team environment.
- Oversees quality control issues and performance measures in collaboration with the Chief of Mental Health Service Line.
- Assists the Chief and Deputy Chief in overseeing compliance with the successful execution of Mental Health Performance Measures, SAIL, workload, VERA capture, Veteran patient satisfaction, and quality assurance.
- Utilizes the service recovery model with Veteran patients who express dissatisfaction or concerns regarding their mental health care as requested; provides consultation for all mental health clinicians in-regard-to the clinical care of complex cases.
- Provides overarching supervision, including annual performance ratings for the following BHIP and telehealth disciplines: psychologists, social worker, and professional counselors.
- Clearly communicates established guidelines and performance expectations for staff through the formal employee performance management system.
- Develops functional statements and performance standards.
- Observes workers' performance, demonstrates and conducts work performance critiques.
- Provides informal feedback and periodically evaluates employee performance.
- Identifies training needs of employees and arranges training as appropriate.
- Works to resolve informal complaints and grievances; develops work improvement plans recommending personnel actions as necessary.
- Uses sound judgement in the interpretation of trends and patterns; provides application of guidelines and the recommendations for the purposes of general outpatient mental health enhancements.
- Performs work related to the review, monitoring, analysis, planning, and assessment of the outpatient mental health services and related projects and annual deliverables.
- Facilitates daily BHIP staff meetings and monthly mental health meetings regarding administrative and staff development issues, as well as team-based clinical care.
- Fosters a high profile of the VA Occupational Safety and Health Program by assuring employee awareness of potential safety hazards, promptly reporting all injuries and effecting corrective actions necessary to eliminate safety and health hazards in the work area.
- Performs other related duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: 8:00am-4:30pm, Monday-Friday.
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact VHA.ELRSProgramSupport@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).
Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)
Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.
Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
Telework: Ad-hoc
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 59855F
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

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.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

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: 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 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:
• • The re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; and,
  • the specialty in which the applicant is retrained must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed.
• Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.

AND,

• Internship: 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. NOTE: Psychologists who meet the requirements of this revision and who were employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs prior to the implementation of this standard are considered to have fully met the requirements of this qualification standard.
  
• Licensure: Holds 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.
  .
• English Language Proficiency: Psychologists 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:

Creditable Experience:

• Quality of Experience: Experience is only creditable if it is post-doctoral experience as a professional psychologist directly related to the duties to be performed. Qualifying experience must also be at a level comparable to or exceeding professional psychology experience at the next lower level.

• Part-time Experience: Part-time experience is creditable according to its relationship to a full- time workweek. For example, a psychologist employed 20 hours per week, or on a half time basis, would receive one full-time workweek of credit for each two weeks of service.

• Post-Doctoral Degree Fellowships: Postdoctoral fellowships or residencies are training programs in an advanced area of clinical practice. Training as a fellow or resident is creditable experience on a year-for-year basis.

Psychology Program Manager, GS-14 (Above the Full Performance Level)

Experience. At least three years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-13 grade level.

AND,

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.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

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.