Clarification from the agency

This is an internal announcement open to current, permanent Federal employees only. All other applicants must apply under the external announcement CBTC-12894220-26-DMD to receive consideration.

Videos

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.

The Psychologist Program Coordinator (PPC) has responsibility for the day-to-day operations of Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Programs serving Veterans with Substance Use Disorders
(SUDs) and those dually diagnosed with serious mental illness (SMI), Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP), and traditional outpatient services. These programs provide specialized clinical care to Veterans with a wide range of SUDs, many with other co-occurring mental health and/or medical conditions.

Provision of substance use services is complex, with Veterans moving between varied levels of care as clinically appropriate. The PPC ensures Veterans receive individual, case management, and group interventions from multidisciplinary team members. The PPC ensures multidisciplinary team members implement and facilitate educational and therapeutic group interventions each week for the purpose of providing comprehensive, recovery focused clinical interventions for the purpose of treating Veterans.

The PPC has clinical and administrative responsibility of the daily operations of the Psychosocial Residential Recovery Treatment Program, PRRTP, and Substance Abuse Treatment Team (SATT) outpatient programs. Outpatient and residential programs both utilize the services of a multi-disciplinary staff to provide coordinated, integrated, rehabilitative, and recovery-oriented medical and mental health care to Veterans whose care needs are complex in nature, across multiple locations, some requiring supervision twenty-four (24) hours per day, seven days per week. The PPC has responsibility of leading a multidisciplinary team including Psychologists, Psychiatrists, APRN's, RN's, Social Workers, Addiction Therapists, Peer Specialists, Registered Dietitian, Vocational Rehabilitative Specialist, Pharmacist, Program Assistants, Nursing Service staff and clinical trainees.

Duties may include but are not limited to:

• The PPC is responsible for the development of program policy and procedures and is responsible for implementing and maintaining policy and procedures for the treatment and coordination of Veterans that meet VA, Joint Commission and Committee on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) standards for SUD programs.
• The PPC will have advanced knowledge and mastery of theories and modalities used in the specialized treatment of SUDs, including complex mental illness and the ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnoses and treatment of Veteran patients, including making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnoses within the scope of practice.
• The PPC is responsible for coordinating interdisciplinary staffing and work assignments to
  accomplish the work of the SATT and SUD Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Programs (RRTP).
  

Work Schedule:Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact V8_EDRP_NFSG@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). Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.
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: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: PD51936F

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

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.
• Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation.
• 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

To qualify for this position, you must meet the basic requirements as well as the grade requirements listed in the job announcement. Applicants pending the completion of training or license requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship - Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g.
• 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.
• 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. -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. -OR-
  • Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.
• 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.
• Licensure: 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.

Applicants may qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Psychologist Qualification Standard - GS-0180 (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria). Please see the referenced qualification standard for specific details regarding this Grandfathering Provision.

GRADE REQUIREMENTS: In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements stated above, the following qualifications criteria must be met to qualify at the following Grade Level:

• 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 (KSAs) - 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.
  • 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.

PLEASE NOTE: Psychological work experience (paid or non-paid employment) must have occurred AFTER the doctoral degree was obtained and must have required the use of KSA's and other characteristics associated with current professional psychology practice.

Preferred Experience: Experience treating substance use disorders.

References: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/ and access the VA Psychologist Qualification Standard - GS-0180.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-14. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-14.

Physical Requirements: Physical Requirements: Physical demands are generally minor, and the work is primarily sedentary in nature and usually occurs within climate controlled clinical and administrative settings. There may be occasional light lifting/carrying (15 pounds or less) requirements to relocate boxed materials from one area to another, equipment and room set-up, and ambulation related to physical inspections of facilities. The incumbent will be expected to successfully negotiate various functional requirements (i.e., lifting, ambulating, reaching above their shoulder(s), the use of hands or fingers, sitting, standing, repeated bending, using stairs or elevators, functional vision, clear speech, hearing, and emotional stability) and environmental factors (i.e., working independently and at times closely with others, moving about the campus for appointments and/or meetings) for the position, with or without adaptive devices, technology, or reasonable accommodations that are more thoroughly evaluated in the current version of Certificate of Medical Examination, U.S. Office of Personnel Management Optional Form 178 (OF178). Use of fingers may be required to operate computers.

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' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees.