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 job is open to current permanent Department of Veteran Affairs employees, current permanent Federal employees of other agencies and all US Citizens.

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Duties include, but not limited to:

Clinical Responsibilities.

• Use telemental health modalities to provide a wide range of assessment and diagnostic services for Veterans with a wide range of psychiatric disorders.
• Provides motivational enhancement activities to prepare Veterans to participate in clinically appropriate care.
• Provides expert evidence-based psychotherapy services for Veterans including individual and group therapy,
• family/relationship counseling, and psychoeducation.
• Provides consultation to providers in the area of evidence­-based interventions.
• Promotes communication/interactions between medical team members, Veterans, and their families to facilitate the medical treatment process.

Administrative, Supervisory and other Significant Responsibilities.

• Develop and coordinates services offered to Veterans and their families enrolled in the telemental health program. Services include assessment, medication management, crisis intervention, educational, individual, family, and group treatment, case management and measurement-based care.
• Formulates, interprets, and implements policies and procedures pertaining to quality mental health care to assure compliance with internal and external performance standards.
• Directs and guides various disciplines within the mental health service to assure efficiency, including the scheduling of activities, the redesign of workloads, daily monitoring of the operations of the program, and feedback to other Coordinators about staff performance.
• Evaluates current program services in a systematic manner, including the collection, tabulation, and presentation of program statistics, trends, and outcome measures.
• Interfaces with other program Coordinators, the Mental Health Leadership, and VA personnel regarding relevant programmatic issues with recommendations for improvement in service delivery and budgetary requests.
• Serve as a member of the Mental Health Total Quality Improvement Team.
• Maintains productive working relationships with internal and external stakeholders including but not limited to: VHA, VISN, Medical Center staff, labor partners, Veterans, and state organizations.
• Adjust staffing levels or work procedures within the telemental health program to accommodate resource allocation decisions.
• Leads regularly scheduled meetings (e.g., weekly) of the telemental health team to address issues and facilitate program planning.
• Oversee the daily operation of the telemental health team (e.g., facilitate closing of encounters, processing of consults, facilitate communication with Health Administration Services (HAS) regarding pulling of scheduling of appointments, documentation and re­scheduling of missed appointments).

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:30 am - 4:00 pm. Subject to change based on the needs of the facility.
Telework: Not Available.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 586-02169-F.
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.
• 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.

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

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.
• English Language Proficiency: MFTs must be proficient in spoken and written English.
• Education. Candidates must meet one of the following:
  • (1) Hold a master's degree or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy from a program approved by COAMFTE,
  • (2) Hold a master's degree or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy from a MFT program from a regionally accredited institution, OR,
  • (3) Hold a master's degree or doctoral degree in a comparable mental health degree (Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, Social Work, Psychiatric Nursing, Psychology, and Psychiatry) that meets the current VA qualification standard of that profession.
• Licensure. Persons hired or reassigned to MFT positions in the GS-0182 series in VHA must hold a full, current, and unrestricted MFT license to independently practice marriage and family therapy in a State.

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:
Marriage and Family Therapist, GS-12 (Program Coordinator).
Experience, Education, and Licensure. In addition to the basic requirements, completion of one year of progressively responsible assignments and experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level which demonstrates knowledge, skills, and abilities that are directly related to the specific assignment. MFT program coordinators of family programs must be trained in family systems therapy/theory. If the assignment is responsible for providing systemic clinical supervision for licensure the individual must have an AAMFT Approved Supervisor credential. Examples of experience at the GS-11 level include: 1. Skill to independently assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and their family members; 2. Ability to provide counseling and, or psychotherapy services to individuals, groups, couples and families that facilitates change through restructuring and reorganizing the client system; 3. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with Veterans and their families, colleagues, and other professionals in collaboration throughout treatment regarding clinical, ethical and legal issues and concerns; 4. Knowledge and understanding of existing relevant statutes, case law, ethical codes, regulations and VA policies affecting the practice of marriage and family therapy. This includes the ability to assist Veterans and their families in making informed decisions relevant to treatment to include limits of confidentiality; 5. Ability to provide orientation, training and consultation to new MFTs including clinical oversight of MFT graduate students, and/or provide clinical supervision to pre-licensure MFTs; 6. Skill in the use of computer software applications for drafting documents, data management, maintaining accurate, timely and thorough clinical documentation, and tracking quality improvements.

And,

Demonstrated KSAs. In addition to meeting the KSAs for GS-12 grade level, the candidate must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:

• Ability to organize work, set priorities, meet multiple deadlines, delegate tasks and facilitate team building.
• Ability to manage and direct the work of others to accomplish program goals and objectives.
• Ability to devise innovative ways to adapt work operations to new and changing programs, to develop staffing and budget requirements, and to translate management goals and objectives into well- coordinated and 11 controlled work operations and ensure compliance with pertinent VHA policies.
• Ability to establish and monitor performance priorities according to standards and program evaluation criteria.
• Knowledge of family systems theory/therapy in coordination of family programs.

Preferred Experience:

• Experience working as a leader or member of a multidisciplinary team.
• Experience analyzing data, identifying trends, and preparing reports for leaders and interdisciplinary teams.
• Experience coaching and educating teams at multiple levels of the organization.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.

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-12.

Physical Requirements: Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation, see Duties section for essential job duties of the position. May require standing, lifting, carrying, sitting, stooping, bending, pulling, and pushing. May be required to wear personal protective equipment and undergo annual TB screening or testing as conditions of employment.

Work Environment: Work is performed in an office/clinic setting with minimal risks that requires normal safety precautions; the area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated. However, the work environment requires someone with the ability to handle several tasks at once in sometimes stressful situations.

How you will be evaluated

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

Area of Consideration - Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order:
Current permanent VA employees of the G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery VA Medical Center.
All other VA employees.
Current Permanent Federal employees of other agencies.
All other applicants.

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.