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 counseling services for Veterans including individual and group therapy,
• family/relationship counseling, and psychoeducation.
• Provides consultation to providers in the area of evidenced 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.
• Lead 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 consultants, 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 #: 586-02170-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: LPMHCs must be proficient in spoken and written English.
• 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 3 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.

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:
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. Examples of experience at the GS-11 level include: Ability to make professional evaluations, decisions, and recommendation for treatment planning and implementation; Advanced knowledge and mastery of the fundamentals of the counseling process which includes defining patient/family problems and maintaining an effective counseling relationship; 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; Ability to provide complex crisis intervention and stabilization to patients who are in psychological distress. Requires independent judgment and skill; Ability to establish goals/treatment through a collaborative process with the patient utilizing advanced counseling skills, including evidenced- based practices, screening, and psychosocial assessment; Ability to use a wide variety of individual, group, or family counseling interventions; 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; and 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.

And,

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:

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

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.