Clarification from the agency

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below. This position is ONLY open to current, permanent federal employees. *** If you are NOT a current federal employee, please apply to the Public Announcement CBSU-12989547-26-CC. ***

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• Provides consultative services to other clinical/administrative staff and to VA programs, focused on any aspect of suicide prevention.
• Provides supportive counseling in the development and utilization of community resources.
• Maintains a patient list of those determined to be currently high-risk for suicide and monitors their care to ensure that needed services are being received.
• Consults/collaborates with providers of high-risk patients for purposes of education and facilitating best practice. May be required to provide direct patient care for the same purpose.
• Provides training to all staff throughout the SVAHCS and community about risk factors, warning signs, treatment options, and resources.
• Promotes the use of evidence-based interventions and strategies for suicide prevention in the health care system.
• Participates and may co-chair with the Patient Safety Officer the RCA (Root Cause Analysis) by performing individual case reviews, assisting with the preparation of quarterly aggregate summaries, and facilitating recommended system improvements.
• Receives and processes consults from the Veteran's Crisis Line and contacts Veterans to engage them in treatment and reports back to the Hotline Staff about the results of interventions.
• Facilitates the completion of suicide assessments in the facility by training staff, updating policies, and occasionally direct provision of assessments, according to the VACO assessment guidelines.
• Facilitates the implementation of reporting high-risk patients through the use of the Suicide Behavior Report.
• Facilitates the implementation of Level II Flags per Central Office Directives.
• Provides tracking reports to the Center of Excellence for data compilation monthly.
• Works closely with the Multidisciplinary Team to ensure that all Veterans on the facility tracking list are being followed closely by the appropriate provider.
• Tracks any no-show appointments by these patients and follows up with the patient as soon as possible to reschedule the appointment.
• Maintains awareness of suicide treatment options and makes recommendations to the patient's provider when new options become available.
• Obtains any relevant HIPAA clearances to allow transmittal of facility data on suicide attempts and individuals at risk to the VISN 19 MIRECC for trending and quality assurance purposes, and transmitting the data following cybersecurity requirements as applicable for this sensitive data.
• Ensures that all flagged patients have a 24-hour resource number to call and ways to get assistance if an immediate crisis should occur.
• Assists in providing crisis intervention as part of the Same Day Access Team, including evaluation, assessment, triage, and disposition of patients experiencing behavioral health emergencies.
• Interviews patients, family, and significant others to obtain pertinent clinical crisis/triage information.
• Reviews and summarizes pertinent psychosocial information for the Mental Health Team.
• Provides psychiatric crisis/triage services under the supervision of a privileged Mental Health clinician.
• Provides supportive counseling in the development and utilization of community resources.
• Participates in activities that obtain feedback from clients and work to enhance services as needed.
• Assists MHSL and the facility in the design, development, and implementation of clinical programs as needed.
• Adheres to operational policies and procedures for the treatment team.
• Facilitates liaisons with other health care programs to effectively coordinate services.
• Complies with national and local performance measures and clinical reminders, including timely health care screening and completion of clinical reminders for all patients.
• Complies with all CPRS documentation procedures, including timeliness standards for documentation and proper patient check-out procedures (e.g., entering diagnostic and procedure codes).
• Establishes and maintains positive working relationships with employees, volunteers, consumers, and stakeholders within the VA and outside community agencies.
• Attends all appropriate meetings (interdisciplinary treatment team meetings, staff meetings, departmental/section staff meetings, other committees as appropriate, etc.)
• Serves on Interdisciplinary Treatment Team(s).
• Conducts and/or participates in research and/or program evaluation as appropriate.
• Serves on committees, work groups, and/or task forces at the facility, VISN, and/or VA Central Office levels.

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.
• 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 identification 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.

• 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.

Qualifications

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
Hold a master's or doctoral degree in: Clinical Mental Health Counseling; Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling; Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling; or a related field, from a program accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). Examples of related mental health counseling fields include, but are not limited to Addiction Counseling; Community Counseling; Gerontology Counseling; Marital, Couple, and Family Counseling. CACREP defines the date when graduates are considered to have graduated from a CACREP accredited program. Additional information may be obtained from http://www.cacrep.org/directory/. NOTE: Traditional Rehabilitation counseling programs that are accredited by CACREP do not meet the LPMHC qualification standards as Traditional Rehabilitation counseling differs from Clinical Rehabilitation counseling.

Licensure
Persons hired or reassigned to LPMHC positions in the GS-0183 series in VHA must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to independently practice as a Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, which includes diagnosis and treatment.

Grade Determinations:

Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (Program Coordinator), GS-12

Experience, Education, and Licensure
In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must have at least one year of progressively complex experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Experience must have been in a major specialty treatment program area such as, but not limited to, Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), mental health intensive case management (MHICM), or other areas of equivalent scope and complexity. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressively more professional competency.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
In addition to meeting the KSAs for the GS-11 grade level, the candidate must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:

1. In depth knowledge of the program coordinated, and demonstrated knowledge and ability to write policies procedures and or practice guidelines for the program.
2. Ability to make key decisions in the hiring and identification of top candidates.
3. Ability to provide leadership in facilitating the process of coordinating program consults, assessments, admissions, care assignments and discharges. 4. Ability to provide subject matter consultation to other colleagues and trainees within the field of counseling working on an interdisciplinary team.

GS-11 KSAs:
1. Ability to make professional evaluations, decisions, and recommendation for treatment planning and implementation.
2. Advanced knowledge and mastery of the fundamentals of the counseling process which includes defining patient/family problems and maintaining an effective counseling relationship.
3. Ability to provide subject matter consultation to colleagues and trainees on the counseling process within various specialty areas, build on the foundation of competence through regular meetings and discussions to explain assignments, review progress of cases and confer about the counseling perspectives and orientation.
4. Ability to provide complex crisis intervention and stabilization to patients who are in psychological distress. Requires independent judgment and skill. 5. Ability to establish goals/treatment through a collaborative process with the patient utilizing advanced counseling skills, including evidenced- based practices, screening, and psychosocial assessment.
6. Ability to use a wide variety of individual, group, or family counseling interventions.
7. Ability to fully utilize the current DSM in making diagnoses and formulation of treatment goals and application of appropriate clinical intervention using professional counseling practices.
8. Ability to develop and facilitate psychotherapy and psycho- education groups that include life skills, family support, and community integration. This may include evidence based psychotherapy.

Preferred Experience: Extensive experience in individual and group therapies working with Suicide Prevention and MH Crisis intervention and education. Applicant should be well-versed in Evidence-Based Protocols (EBPs). Applicant should be able to present in public speaking and community engagement events, as well as VA Staff. Skilled in working within interdisciplinary teams, including medical providers, psychiatrists, nursing staff, and case managers Proficient in Suicide Prevention and capable in Mental Health Crisis Care Capable in Program Management and building professional relationships both within and outside of the VA System. Capable of engaging audiences in public speaking and presentations VA Systems experience Experience with Suicide Prevention and education of Suicide Prevention.

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

Physical Requirements: This position provides direct services to patients and their families through casework. Incumbents must be physically and mentally able to efficiently perform the essential functions of the position without hazard to themselves or others. Normal work of the position requires visual acuity (with the ability to read typewritten characters without strain, corrective lenses are permitted), keen hearing (aid permitted), clear, distinctive speech, and manual dexterity. This position requires potentially moderate levels of lifting and carrying (15-44 pounds). The incumbent may occasionally be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium, dementia, or psychiatric disorders. The incumbent must be a mature, flexible, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations, able to shift priorities based on patient needs. Must complete annual Employee Health requirements, such as annual TB screening or testing, as a condition of employment.

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.