Clarification from the agency

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below. Marriage and Family Therapist are on the FY2026 Annual Determination of Staffing Shortages and therefore, Veterans' Preference is not applicable for this position. However, all qualified Veterans will receive due consideration.

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The Marriage and Family Therapist, Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program functions as a member of the VASNHS Behavioral Health Service and provides outpatient mental health services to Veterans and their families. The Marriage and Family Therapist may be located at the VA Medical Center, an outlying Primary Care Clinic, or the Pahrump Community Based Outpatient Clinic. Participates as a member of the Behavioral health Interdisciplinary Program (BHIP) within the VASNHS Behavioral Health Service and provides outpatient mental health services to Veterans.

Duties may include but are not limited to:

• Provides clinical services including direct care to Veterans enrolled in BHIP. Review all data, subjective and objective, and make a clinical assessment, identifying needs and strengths.
• Establishes, implements, and maintains referrals and screening procedures. They develop screening procedures that involve a multidisciplinary team approach.
• Assesses at risk factors and develops a preliminary disposition plan, involving the Veteran and the family/significant other.
• Develops comprehensive treatment plans in coordination with interdisciplinary team members, including goals, objectives and interventions for psychosocial clinical treatment.
• Participates in the assignment of Veterans to treatment teams and programs. Consults with other specialists in planning treatment for Veterans with co-morbidities.
• Provides individual, family and group therapy services in accordance with the needs identified in the Veteran's treatment assessment and treatment plan.
• Ultimately responsible for all entries in the Veteran's medical record and timely completion thereof, including discharge summaries and patient encounters.
• Responsible for completion of all assigned clinical reminders for patients under their care, and performance measures assigned to the Care Line.
• Responsible for completion of all assigned clinical reminders for Veterans under their care.
• Participates fully in peer review, assessing the quality of professional practice standards provided in the organization.
• Accountable for practice, including Veteran visits, measuring outcomes to interventions, and meeting productivity standards.
• Responsible for identification of patient problems requiring consultation with other multi-disciplinary medical center staff and making appropriate referrals.
• Participates in education/CME lectures, research, specialty care programs, and/or clinics as assigned by the BHIP Program Manager, Deputy, Associate Chief of Staff, BHS, or their designee.in Performance Improvement activities.
• Participates in local, VISN, and national committees/community networking activities as requested by the BHIP Program Manager, Deputy Associate, Chief of Staff, BHS, or their designee.
• Participates in research as appropriate through case finding and referral of Veterans to clinical investigators engaged in research or through participating in research studies.
• May be involved training of social work interns, marriage and family therapy interns, psychiatric residents, medical students, and nursing students.

Work Schedule: Full-Time, Tour of duty to be determined upon selection
Compressed/Flexible:Authorized
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact susan.bringel@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).
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)
Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.
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: Authorized (Ad hoc).
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 00750F
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 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).
• 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

Total of two positions open at this time: VAMC and VA Northwest Primary Care Clinic

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. 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.
• Physical Requirements. In accordance with VA Handbook and Directive 5019
• English Language Proficiency. MFTs must be proficient in spoken and written

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).

Grandfathering Provision. All persons employed in VHA as a Marriage and Family Therapist on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade held, including positive education that is part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply:
(1) Such employees may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level, demoted, but may not be promoted beyond the journeyman level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions. (2) MFTs who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.

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

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS11.

GS-11

• Experience, Education and Licensure. In addition to the basic requirements, the GS-11 full performance level requires completion of a minimum of one year of post-master's degree experience in the field of marriage and family therapy work (VA or non-VA experience) and licensure in a State at an independent practice level. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the KSAs in subparagraph (b) below. OR, In addition to the basic requirements, a doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy or comparable degree in mental health that meets the current VA qualification standard of that profession (Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, Social Work, Psychiatric Nursing, Psychology, and Psychiatry) may be substituted for the required one year of marriage and family therapy experience in a clinical setting. AND the candidate must be licensed to practice at the independent practice level, and they must demonstrate the following KSA.
• Demonstrated KSAs. In addition to meeting the KSAs for GS-11 grade level, the candidate must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:
  • Skills to independently assess the psychosocial functioning and needs of Veterans and their family members.
  • Ability to provide counseling and/or psychotherapy services to individuals, groups, couples and families in a culturally competent manner that facilitates change through restructuring and reorganizing the client system.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Skill in the use of computer software applications for drafting documents, data management, maintaining accurate, timely and thorough clinical documentation, and tracking quality improvements.
• Assignments. MFTs at the full performance level are licensed to independently practice marriage and family therapy. MFTs can provide general mental health services to Veterans within the ethics and guidelines of professional standards.
• MFTs at this level formulate, implement, and re- evaluate treatment plans through continuous assessment identifying the Veteran's challenges, strengths, readiness to change, external influences and current events surrounding the origins and maintenance of the presenting issue, and interactional patterns within the client system. In the event that Advanced or Supervisory level assignments are not established/supportable, the incumbents at this level can be responsible for clinical supervision for licensing purposes only, provided they have an AAMFT approved supervisor credential.

Preferred Experience: EBP experience; Outpatient Therapy; Time Limited Treatments

Physical Requirements: In accordance with VA Directive and 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.

Recommended: Even though we do not require a specific resume format, your resume must be clear so that we are able to fully evaluate your qualifications. To ensure you receive appropriate consideration, please list the duties you performed under each individual job title. If we are unable to match your experiences with the positions held, you may lose consideration for this vacancy. We cannot make assumptions regarding your qualifications. Do not include a photograph or video of yourself, or any sensitive information (age, date of birth, marital status, protected health information, religious affiliation, social security number, etc.) on your resume or cover letter. We will not access web pages or encrypted, and digitally signed documents linked on your resume or cover letter to determine your qualifications.

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.