Clarification from the agency

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

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Rehabilitation Counselors utilize various professional counseling and clinical modalities to promote and support optimal functioning, independence, personal adjustment, adaptation to disability, community reintegration, and recovery. Rehabilitation Counselors work with an interdisciplinary team to provide and coordinate a wide range of rehabilitation counseling services to Veterans with disabilities, including assessment, counseling and case management services, development of rehabilitation plans, and assistance in attaining and maintaining employment, independent living, and attaining personal goals.

The major duties and responsibilities of the position include but are not limited to:

• Assists Veterans in Obtaining and Maintaining Employment.
• Utilizes evidence-informed and evidence-based modalities and professional counseling practices to aid Veterans with severe disabilities in achieving competitive employment and educational and independent living goals.
• Provides a variety of professional rehabilitation counseling services such as personal adjustment counseling, therapeutic rehabilitation interventions and case coordination services.
• Uses rehabilitation counseling theory, medical and psychiatric terminology, and symptomology and signs of suicidal and homicidal ideations to provide effective services.
• Conduct biopsychosocial assessments using medical records, pertinent disability documentation, observation and interviews with Veterans and their support systems to generate personal, vocational, and educational histories. Synthesize assessment information to identify barriers to employment and their vocational implications.
• Selects, administers, and interprets vocational and other psychometric instruments to evaluate abilities, transferrable skills, functional capacity, labor market analyses, aptitudes, interests, values, preferences, and overall work resilience and synthesize into an interpretive data report.
• Helps the Veteran determine vocational goals and objectives and develops Veteran-centered treatment plans utilizing Specific, Measurable, Agreed upon, Realistic, and Time-based (SMART) goals and provides ongoing assessment of Veteran's progress.
• Consult and participate in meetings with interdisciplinary teams to enhance coordination of care, ensure medical clearance, and provide for optimal timing of further interventions.
• Customizes vocational exploration activities to identify self-determined rehabilitation needs and goals.
• Administers Measurement Based Care instrument to track progress throughout treatment and adjust goals and services as needed.
• Assesses the Veteran's training needs in order to meet their vocational goals and objectives.
• Assists Veterans in making contact with employers.
• Supports Veterans in all work-related tasks, including but not limited to: transportation, on the job training, dealing with co-workers and supervisors, ongoing and follow along supports, and compliance with specifications of appropriate clinical support(s).
• Provides job development, customized employment, job carving, job coaching, job accommodation, advocacy, and adaptation services to both Veterans with severe disabilities and to educate and support employers.
• Provide psychoeducational and/or psychotherapeutic groups to facilitate effective job search skills, employer-desired soft skills, work and life skills fostering independence and recovery.
• Collects and organizes data on Veterans served as required by the Northeast Program Evaluation Center (NEPEC) and Behavioral Health Care Line Management.
• Completes various quality assurance and improvement activities to improve services provided. Advises Veterans, particularly combat Veterans, who are returning to the community and transitioning from the military to civilian occupations within community-based work.

Develop & Maintain Employer & Community Relationships

• Develops, maintains, and nurtures employer relationships.
• Networks in the local community with businesses and employers to locate suitable employment opportunities for Veterans served, monitors placements, and promotes successful work adjustment.
• Establishes and maintains a liaison between the Medical Center and organizations within the community which provide competitive employment opportunities for Veterans.
• Devises solutions to reduce and/or eliminate barriers and meet Veterans' placement needs which may require substantial modification to environmental or functional demands within a work setting.
• Coordinates with various resources to locate vocational training programs in the community that will be suitable from the standpoint of the particular needs and problems of the Veteran.
• Performs other duties assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday: 08:00-16:30
Telework: Not available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #:21M01-A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized
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.
• 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).
• 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:
  • (1) A master's degree in rehabilitation counseling or clinical rehabilitation counseling from a rehabilitation counseling program accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). If the applicant's degree was granted prior to July 1, 2017, the program must be accredited by the Council on Rehabilitation Education. OR
  • (2) A master's degree in counseling or clinical rehabilitation counseling from a college or university accredited by a national or regional accrediting body accredited by Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). OR
  • (3) A master's or doctoral degree in a related field of study with course content that emphasized rehabilitation, counseling, disability, therapy, health, employment, wellness, or human development from a college or university accredited by a national or regional accrediting body accredited by CHEA. OR
  • (4) Foreign graduates with a degree acceptable by the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC). 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).
• Certification: Current, full and unrestricted certification as a certified rehabilitation counselor (CRC) from the CRCC to practice vocational rehabilitation counseling.
• English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f).

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.

Rehabilitation Counselor, GS-09

1. Experience. None beyond the basic requirements.
2. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to meeting the experience or educational requirements for this grade level, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
   • (a) Knowledge of human development and behavior, medical, psychosocial, and vocational aspects of disability and differential influences of environmental factors to assist persons with disabilities in determining suitable vocational goals.
   • (b) Knowledge of history, philosophy and disability rights legislation in the field of rehabilitation to apply in the practice of rehabilitation counseling.
   • (c) Ability to synthesize assessment and diagnosis information in conjunction with labor market trends and community/educational resources to develop an effective individual service delivery plan.
   • (d) Knowledge of caseload management strategies to maximize an individual's independent functioning from assessment through provision of post-employment services.
   • (e) Ability to employ person-centered job development strategies to facilitate successful job placement.
   • (f) Knowledge of assessment tools and methods, functional capacity evaluations and specific vocational preparation to evaluate transferrable skills, residual capacities and needs for accommodations and assistive technology.
   3. Assignments. Employees at this level serve as entry level RCs. Provide vocational and personal adjustment counseling, case management and transferrable skills analyses to aid Veterans with severe disabilities in pursuit of their self-determined employment, educational and independent living goals.

Rehabilitation Counselor, GS-11

1. Experience. Completion of one year of professional experience equivalent to the next lower grade level directly related to the position being filled. OR
2. Education. A doctoral degree in rehabilitation counselor education or related field (e.g. rehabilitation psychology) from a CACREP accredited institution or from an institution accredited by a national or regional accrediting body accredited by CHEA.
3. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

• (a) Knowledge of physical and psychological disabilities, appropriate accommodations and assistive technology principles to mitigate and reduce or eliminate barriers to integrate into the community.
  • (b) Knowledge of counseling theory, medical and psychiatric terminology and signs and symptomology of suicidal and homicidal ideations, to communicate appropriately with community health care professionals to provide useful input to other team members and employers in relation to the Veteran and/or his/her family's psychosocial needs and to recommend and help implement suitable treatment plans.
  • (c) Ability to use evidence-based and evidence informed vocational and professional counseling practices to include individual placement and support (IPS), customized employment and supported employment models and motivational interviewing skills to promote self-awareness, adjustment to disability, enhanced job retention and successful integration to the community.
  • (d) Knowledge of career development processes and job analysis methodology to determine essential functions of jobs, worksite modifications and/or alternative vocational goals given the work history and residual functional capacities of individuals with disabilities.
  • (e) Ability to administer and interpret a wide variety of assessment methods including transferrable skills and labor market analyses to evaluate for individual interests, aptitudes and abilities and to identify suitable vocational goals for the development of an effective individual service delivery plan.
  • (f) Knowledge of marketing strategies to develop collaborative partnerships/Memorandums of Agreement within VA and local business community to enhance employment and/or work opportunities.
  • (g) Knowledge of military lifestyle, specific factors, and dynamics associated with Veterans, particularly combat Veterans, to assist those who are returning to community and community based-work.

4. Assignment. This is the journey level for this assignment. Provide personal adjustment counseling, therapeutic rehabilitation interventions and case coordination services, utilizing evidence-informed and evidence-based modalities to aid Veterans with severe disabilities in achieving competitive employment and educational and independent living goals. Conduct biopsychosocial assessments using medical records, pertinent disability documentation, observation and interviews with Veterans and their support systems to generate personal, vocational, and educational histories.

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

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-09 to GS-11.

Physical Requirements: Work is sedentary but also demands standing, walking, bending, twisting, and carrying light items. The incumbent operates a government vehicle as part of their job and could be required to transport Veterans in a government vehicle. A valid state issued driver's license and successful completion of a physical fitness exam for motor vehicle operators by the VA Employee Health Office is required.

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.