Clarification from the agency

All qualified candidates encouraged to apply. Open to U.S. Citizens but non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens.

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The psychologist for whom this functional statement applies is assigned to Primary Care Mental Health Integration (PCMHI) within the Behavioral Health Service Line. In addition to providing direct patient care in Primary Care settings, this psychologist does have limited administrative/managerial duties, as described below. He/she works closely with Patient Aligned Care Teams (PACTs) to provide clinical services consistent with accepted standards of ethical and professional behavioral health treatment and with high fidelity to best practices in PCMHI. This position includes face-to-face and virtual care responsibilities.

Clinical Responsibilities:

• Provides PCMHI-specific psychological assessment, especially in the areas of general psychological evaluation of emotional and behavioral problems and suicide assessment to Veterans that are enrolled PACT care. When clinically appropriate and as needed, provides wide range of psycho-diagnostic and evaluation services for Veterans, inclusive of brief cognitive assessments and examination of clinical capacity.
• Provides a full range of psychological interventions consistent with training and expertise, with emphasis on brief and evidenced-based interventions.
• Provides triage and referral services when Veteran require higher level of care.
• Develops, implements, and documents the psychotherapeutic treatment plan for an assigned caseload of patients, including prompt completion of clinical reminders.
• Facilitates patient and family education appropriate to presenting behavioral health issues.
• Supports and contributes to existing behavioral health programs and clinical initiatives as indicated.
• Provides consultation services to support decision-making, building on primary care staff interventions and improving Veteran-staff working relationships.
• Provides interventions and specialty health psychology assessment/intervention, with a focus on allowing Veterans to maintain consistent care to the extent that this is clinically appropriate.
• Completes all documentation for clinical work as required by VA Policies, Directives, and Procedures meeting all accreditation standards.

Academic/Teaching/Training:

• Assists the PCMHI Program Supervisor with the design, development and implementation of psychological services and programs within PCMHI and coordinates these services with the assigned team or treatment providers along with coordinating and training of PhD. Interns regarding these services.
• Adheres to operational policies and procedures for the treatment team, established by the affiliated contract under which PCMHI operates.
• Oversees development of training activities for PhD interns, and master level interns, both within PC/MHI and other BH areas, as appropriate.
• Develops Didactic trainings to be presented to PhD. Intern and master level interns at the Erie VA.
• Provides guidance to PhD interns within the PC/MHI program and reviews work done.
• Attends and participates in administrative and informational meetings as required by the Behavioral Health Service Line Chief, Assistant Chief, COS and Facility Director.
• Attends monthly Psychology Clinical Training Committee meetings and intern supervisory staff meetings as required, upon acceptance of invitation to join the CTC.
• Participates and complies with Psychology peer review procedures, including serving on the Peer Review Subcommittee Review Board as needed or required.
• Other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday - Thursday 7:00am - 5:30pm
Compressed/Flexible:Available
Recruitment/Relocation Incentive: Authorized
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact VHAVISN04HREDRP@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases
Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)
Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.
Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
Telework: This is not a telework position.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
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.
• You may be required to serve a trial period.
• 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).

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:

• 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 3.g, this part.)
• Education. You must have a doctoral degree in psychology from a graduate program in psychology accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS), or the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) at the time the program was completed. The specialty area of the degree must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. OR,
• Have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, in addition, successfully completed a re-specialization program meeting both of the following conditions: a) the re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; and b) the specialty in which the applicant is retrained must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. OR,
• Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.
• Internship Requirement. You must have successfully completed a professional psychology internship training program that was accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed and that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. OR,
• New VHA psychology internship programs that are in the process of applying for APA accreditation are acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement, provided that such programs were sanctioned by the VHA Central Office Program Director for Psychology and the VHA Office of Academic Affiliations at the time that the individual was an intern; OR,
• VHA facilities that offered full-time, one-year pre-doctoral internships prior to PL 96-151 (pre-1979) are considered to be acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement; OR,
• Applicants who completed an internship that was not accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed may be considered eligible for hire only if they are currently board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in a specialty area that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. (NOTE: Once board certified, the employee is required to maintain board certification). OR,
• Applicants who have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature may fulfill this internship requirement by having the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience in a site specifically acceptable to the candidate's doctoral program. If the internship experience is not noted on the applicant's official transcript, the applicant must provide a statement from the doctoral program verifying that the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience was completed in a site acceptable to the doctoral program.
• Licensure. Candidates must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice psychology at the doctoral level in a State, Territory or Commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia.
  • Exception: Non-licensed applicants who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements may be given a temporary appointment as a "graduate psychologist" at the GS-11 or GS-12 grade under the authority of 38 U.S.C. 7405 (c)(2)(B) for a period not to exceed two years from the date of employment on the condition that such a psychologist provide care only under the supervision of a psychologist who is licensed. Failure to obtain licensure during that period is justification for termination of the temporary appointment.
• English Language Proficiency - Psychologists must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j.

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:

• Staff Psychologist, GS-11 (Entry Level):
  • Education. No beyond the basic requirements.
• Staff Psychologist, GS-12 (Developmental Level):
  • Experience. At least one year of experience as a professional psychologist equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-11). Psychologists who are not licensed must practice under the supervision of a licensed psychologist but with less intense supervision than at the GS-11 grade level.
  • Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
    • Knowledge of and ability to apply a wide range of professional psychological treatments or assessment methods to a variety of patient populations.
    • Ability to design and implement effective treatment strategies.
    • Ability to incorporate new clinical procedures.
    • Ability to conduct research activities, such as designing and implementing clinical research projects (staff psychologists with specified research job duties).
    • Ability to perform basic research tasks of scholarship and research execution within the context of an established research team, including research participant relations, research documentation, data acquisition, maintenance, and collaboration.
• Staff Psychologist, GS-13 (Full Performance Level)
  • Experience. At least two years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 grade level.
  • Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
    • Knowledge of, and ability to apply, professional psychological treatments to a full range of patient populations.
    • Ability to provide professional advice and consultation in areas related to professional psychology and behavioral health.
    • Knowledge of clinical research literature.

Preferred Experience: Certification and utilization of brief evidence based practices

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-13. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-11 to GS-13.

Physical Requirements: See VA Handbook 5019

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.