• Provide paraprofessional and technical assistance to licensed mental health providers to support direct patient care and clinical operations.
• Conduct structured clinical interviews, standardized assessments, and symptom inventories under provider direction to gather diagnostic data and inform treatment planning.
• Work with military service members presenting with complex clinical needs to support therapeutic engagement and continuity of care.
• Facilitate psychoeducational and skills-based groups (stress management, coping strategies, sleep hygiene) and therapeutic activities aligned with individualized treatment plans.
• Monitor patient progress, documents mental observations, and reports concerns promptly to supervising providers. Supports crisis intervention efforts through suicide risk monitoring, safety checks, and de-escalation techniques.
• Function as a provider extender under supervision by carrying a patient caseload as clinic census allows.
• Co-facilitate therapeutic groups with credentialed practitioners to reinforce treatment goals.
• Administer and score psychological assessments under the supervision of a clinical psychologist to support diagnostic clarification, treatment planning, and evaluation of intellectual, cognitive, and emotional functioning.
• Support intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization programs by assisting with patient orientation, psychoeducational sessions, and therapeutic programming.
• Provide structured activities and therapeutic engagement for complex, high-risk patients requiring higher levels of care.
• Conduct daily assessments of suicidal and homicidal risk and identifies appropriate interventions with support from licensed clinicians.
• Manage specialized data systems (e.g., Psychology Data System) to ensure accurate entry, retrieval, and reconciliation of psychological testing and clinical documentation.

Conditions of employment

• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• This position is subject to a background investigation to determine your suitability for Federal employment.
• This position has specific initial background investigation and periodic re-verification requirements since its duties require interaction with children and youth under the age of eighteen (18) years of age on a recurring basis.
• This position requires that you obtain and maintain a Basic Life Support (BLS) certification from, or in accordance with, the American Heart Association and American Red Cross. Advanced certification (e.g., ALS) does not supersede BLS.
• This position is subject to a pre-employment screening, and random drug testing, to include testing based on reasonable suspicion and testing due to direct involvement with an on-duty accident.
• This position has mandatory seasonal influenza vaccination requirements and is subject to annual seasonal influenza vaccinations unless otherwise exempted for medical or religious reasons (documentation of exemption must be provided upon hire).
• This position is required to work uncommon tours of duty hours such as, on-call, working either fixed or rotating shifts, evenings, weekends and/or holidays.
• This position has been designated Mission Essential. In the event of severe weather conditions or other such emergency type situations, the incumbent is required to report to work or remain at work as scheduled to support mission operations.
• This position has a TDY or business travel requirement of 5% of the time to various locations. This may require travel on military aircraft, ships, and vehicles.
• Required to be screened for and obtain necessary immunizations/vaccinations (hepatitis, influenza, etc.), unless exempted by a licensed physician.
• Required to lift up to 50 pounds in the regular performance of duties. Pre-employment physical required and annually thereafter.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: US Citizens

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below. 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; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document.

One year of specialized experience which includes evaluating mental health patients to determine required services; providing counseling services; and maintaining patient files. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-05).

OR

Education: A half year (i.e., 9 semester hours) of graduate level education in a field directly related to the work of the position, such as Psychology, Human Services, Child & Family Welfare, Counseling (ex. crisis, substance abuse, mental health, chemical dependence), Family and Community Services, Behavioral Science, Human Development, Social Work, Sociology, Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling.

OR

Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) by 9. Add the two percentages.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Once the announcement has closed, a review of your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) will be used to determine whether you meet the qualification requirements listed on this announcement. Please follow all instructions carefully when applying, errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience, you may lose consideration for this position.

Veterans and Military Spouses will be considered along with all other candidates.