Clarification from the agency

This position is ONLY open to current, permanent Sheridan Health Care System Employees, VA Employees Nationwide, and all other Federal Employees. *** If you are not a current, Permanent Federal Employee please apply to the Public Announcement CBSU-12580436-25-MR***

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• Provides individual, group & family psychotherapy & advanced level case management interventions.
• Develops & implements methods for measuring effectiveness of counseling practice & services in specialty areas, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services.
• Acts as a community & family liaison by initiating & maintaining necessary contact with the patient, his/her family, VAMC service programs & personnel, human resource agencies, mental health agencies, & other related resource agencies.
• Reviews all data, subjective & objective, & makes a clinical assessment, identifying needs & strengths.
• Ability to serve veterans who tend to have serious frequent & severe crises, lack family or an adequate community support network, be poor at self-monitoring, frequently fail to comply with instructions & treatment.
• Independently evaluates the client's situation, including the veteran's reaction to it & ability to deal with it, & arrives at a reasoned conclusion.
• On an inpatient/outpatient basis, finds a suitable means of treatment to help veterans and/or significant others cope with stressful situations.
• Develops psychosocial treatment plans actively involving the veteran & their family or significant other based on the psychosocial assessment including goals for clinical treatment.
• Adjusts the psychosocial treatment plan & interventions based on changing needs & response to interventions.
• Organizes community services on behalf of beneficiaries, developing & coordinating procedures.
• Professional judgment, including knowledge of normal & abnormal behavior, is an inherent competency applied in daily interactions with veterans.
• Demonstrates acceptance, interest, encouragement & selective use of questioning, explanation, & guidance in working with veterans to help them explore their problems.
• Receives & completes consults requesting services from interdisciplinary team members & from other clinicians.
• Establishes a continuing relationship with the veteran, evaluating progress towards goals & adjusting the treatment plan.
• Documents independently in the clinical records utilizing paper and/or electronic formats, including psychosocial assessments, diagnostics, treatment, progress notes, follow up & referral.
• Serves as a mentor to other mental health clinicians, particularly those at the entry level.
• Offers patient & family/significant other educational services.
• Serves as medical center's primary point of contact for the National IND/VASH Program, Office of Mental Health Services, VACO.
• Conducts & participates in outreach activities including field interviews, assessments & referrals for homeless veterans contacted in the community, shelters, & "on the streets,".
• Evaluates the veteran's situation, abilities, & capabilities, & arrives at a reasoned conclusion including an assessment of vulnerability & prioritization for admission.
• Provides referral to VA medical & mental health inpatient & outpatient treatment & to other VA services.
• Establishes procedures & coordinates the screening & admission process for the HUD/VASH program by developing & maintaining criteria that recognizes program eligibility, prioritization for program acceptance, & requirements of the PHAs.
• Assists veterans in maintaining appointments at VA medical centers & other community agencies.
• Has regular contact with staff from other VHA facilities, the VISN office & VA Central Office.
• Requires an advanced level of knowledge & understanding of the services & benefits available for community, state & federal agencies.
• Performs specialized treatment of complex physical and/or mental illness in two CBOC environments.
• Develops & implements methods for measuring effectiveness of mental health practice & services in specialty areas, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services.
• Offers consultation to colleagues & students on the psychosocial treatment of patients treated in specialty areas.
• May provide clinical supervision to various disciplines & levels of training, including trainees seeking licensure.
• Serves as a consultant to other medical center staff & trainees & assists in their formulation of the psychological characteristics & appropriate.
• Serves on Medical Center or Healthcare System, VISN, and/or National VA committees or task forces.
• Represents the Medical Center or Healthcare System at professional/program community group/events & committees.
• Due to the position requiring incumbent to be off station a valid driver's license is required.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:30 am to 4 pm
Telework: AD-HOC Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 53854-O
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive.Contact Linda.orchard@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more
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.
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).

Qualifications

"Pursuant to Executive Order 14251, "Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs," the VA has determined that the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) is no longer subject to the provisions of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute. As a result, VA no longer engages in collective bargaining with the American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO (AFGE); National Association of Government Employees (NAGE); National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE); National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU); and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and existing collective bargaining agreements with those unions are no longer in effect"

***This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until December 31, 2024. The initial cut-off date for referral of eligible applications will be November 4th, 2024 with subsequent cut-off dates on the 1st of each month. Eligible applications received after that date will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as-needed basis until positions are filled.***

BASIC REQUIREMENTS.

Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g this part).

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.

English Language Proficiency. LPMHCs must be proficient in spoken and written English

Grade Determinations.
In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, GS-12 Experience, Education, and Licensure. In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must have at least one year of progressively complex LPMHC experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Senior LPMHCs must have five years of post-licensed experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressive professional competency and expertise and be licensed to provide clinical supervision to trainees or unlicensed LPMHCs.

GS 12 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. Advanced knowledge of and mastery of theories and modalities used in the specialized treatment of complex mental illness. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment of veteran patients, including making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnoses within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. Ability to determine priority of services needed and provide specialized treatment.
2. Advanced and expert skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities for Veterans with complex needs. This includes individual, group, and/or family counseling, or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial, and/or case management interventions used in the treatment of Veterans.
3. Ability to coordinate the delivery of specialized psychosocial services and programs. Ability to design system changes based on data.
4. Ability to provide subject matter consultation to colleagues and trainees on the psychosocial treatment of patients, rendering professional opinions based on experience, expertise and role modeling effective clinical skills.
5. Ability to teach, mentor staff and trainees, and provide supervision for licensure or for specialty certifications.
6. Ability to engage in written and oral communication with leadership/staff and community stakeholders regarding policies, procedures, practice guidelines, and issues pertaining to the practice of the profession.

Assignments: Senior LPMHCs provide treatment to patients with complex needs including multiple mental health diagnoses, and numerous psychosocial issues, using independent judgment. LPMHCs at this level provide clinical consultation to less experienced staff which may include coordinating crisis situations. Senior LPMHCs will provide clinical supervision to LPMHC staff and/or LPMHC trainees, and may serve as the subject matter expert for the discipline. Senior LPMHCs develop behavioral health related training curriculum and often conduct trainings for clinical staff. LPMHCs model ethical and professional behaviors and standards to include multicultural awareness. Senior LPMHCs meet routinely with inter- professional team members and leadership to communicate about program and patient issues for in depth problem solving. Senior LPMHCs collaborate with internal and external stakeholders and frequently serve as a liaison. This assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management. This assignment must represent substantial additional responsibility over and above that required at the full performance grade level and cannot be used as the full performance level of this occupation.

References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/106 PART II APPENDIX G43

Preferred Experience: LCSW 2 year post licenses as LCSW; LPC 5 year post licenses as LPC

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 permitted), keen hearing, 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.