This Chaplain (Hospice and Palliative Care) position is located in the Chaplain Service at the VA Boston Healthcare System (Jamaica Plain campus). This position is full-time at 40 hours per week.

Duties

The incumbent serves as a Chaplain professional performing clinical assignments for the Veterans Health Administration. The incumbent provides comprehensive religious, spiritual, and pastoral care to all persons that are commensurate with the needs, desires, and voluntary consent of the Veteran, caregiver, or staff. The incumbent addresses the spiritual component of health and wellness in every patient care setting to ensure that pastoral care is fully integrated into all aspects of chaplain services. Highly qualified applicants will have experience with pastoral care for geriatric and adult palliative care populations, including family care / bereavement, mental health chaplaincy, substance use disorder chaplaincy, providing group and individual pastoral care by Telehealth and/or pastoral care for relationship health (couples counseling, intimate partner violence, Warrior to Soul Mate, etc.) Duties include, but are not limited to: Serves as a Chaplain professional providing comprehensive, religious ministry services to Veteran patients according to their specific needs and desires. Carries out a ministry which is highly integrated into VHA's Chaplain program. Provides thorough guidance and advice to Chaplain Service management staff, other Chaplains, and other stakeholders. Provides extended and intensive pastoral counseling as an integral part of the treatment program with patients facing complex, ethical, moral, and spiritual issues. Ensures program effectiveness and modification of service pattern, which includes research and leadership of clinical teams. Practices typically in a specialized clinic/program area, that may include intensive and extended pastoral counseling as an integral part of the treatment program, with patients facing complex moral, ethical, or spiritual problems. Serves as a Chaplain representative and a fully recognized member of an interdisciplinary treatment team (IDT). Advises and collaborates with other members of the IDT to provide comprehensive healthcare services to Veterans. Works with a full understanding of Chaplains' relationships to the objectives of VHA to successfully integrate the work of the medical facility's staff. Collaborates with and advises the other members of the IDT in the provision of comprehensive healthcare services to Veterans. Maintains effective rapport with physicians, medical officers, psychologists, nurses, therapists, social workers, or others involved with the IDT. Provides leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs. Conducts comprehensive religious services and worship, pastoral ministry, and administration of Chaplain services. Leads various complex and sensitive projects, task groups, and assignments to obtain pertinent high-level information needed for Chaplain Service management officials. Ensures various complex assignments are carried out in a pluralistic environment, which encompasses sensitivity to the religious needs of many separate religious denominations and faith groups. Conducts rituals before groups of people, which requires effective leadership and public speaking skills. Uses sound guidance and advice to lead prayer and religious services. Addresses the religious, spiritual, moral, and ethical problems of patients and staff. Provides effective counseling services to patients and staff. Conducts regular rounds of hospital wards where patients are critically ill. Ministers to newly admitted, pre- and post-operative patients, the critically ill, and the families of concerned Veteran patients. Provides advance care planning education, information, and counsel for patients and their families. Spends minimally 70% of time in patient care. Administers ordinances, rites or sacraments. Prepares and delivers sermons. Arranges for the atmosphere and symbolism of worship. Conducts funeral services when needed. Provides pastoral care involving initial interviews, visits to the various units of the institution, and bedside ministry. Serves as a spiritual advisor on moral and religious problems for patients and their families in times of crisis. Provides crisis intervention and stabilization as required. Provides support to individual(s) for unit emergencies, natural disasters, man-made disasters, or planned special events. Conducts spiritual assessments to identify patients' strengths and needs. Creates plans for care in response to the moral injuries and spiritual distress of patients that enhance the Holistic Treatment of Veteran patients. Work Schedule: 40 hours/week, Monday-Friday (7:00am- 5:30 pm), open to negotiation Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 523-F1858 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

Qualifications

1. COVERAGE. The following are requirements for appointment as a chaplain in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). The requirements apply to all VHA chaplains employed in the General Schedule (GS)-0060 series. Chaplains provide religious, spiritual, and pastoral care to all persons that is commensurate with the needs, desires, and voluntary consent of the Veteran or caregiver or staff. Chaplains interact with healthcare professionals from many different fields to address the spiritual component of health and wellness in every patient care setting to ensure that pastoral care is fully integrated into all aspects of care. 2. CREDITABLE EXPERIENCE. To be creditable, the experience must have required the use of knowledge, skills, abilities (KSAs), and other characteristics, also referred to as core competencies; be associated with the scope of chaplain practice equivalent to at least the next lower grade level; be directly related to the position being filled; and may be paid or non-paid employment. 3. BASIC REQUIREMENTS. To qualify for appointment as a chaplain, all applicants must possess the following: a. Citizenship. Citizen of the United States (U.S.) b. Education. Applicants must possess a Master of Divinity degree or equivalent educational qualifications as evidenced by a graduate-level theological degree from a college, university or theological school accredited by a member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) or Association of Theological Schools (ATS) and recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. NOTE: For applicants who do not possess a Master of Divinity degree or equivalent educational degree, an approved educational equivalency review from a nationally recognized board certification body for chaplains is acceptable. c. Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). Applicants must have completed four units of CPE from a CPE center that is accredited by an organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. d. Ecclesiastical Endorsement. In accordance with 38 C.F.R. 17.655, ecclesiastical endorsement is a condition of employment as a VA chaplain. An individual must possess and maintain a full and active ecclesiastical endorsement to be employed as a VA chaplain. Applicants must have an ecclesiastical endorsement, dated within the past 12 months. Ecclesiastical endorsements must be from the official national endorsing authority of the applicant's/employee's faith group or denomination. Ecclesiastical endorsement is a written official statement, by the official national endorsing body of the faith group or denomination, certifying that the applicant is in good standing with the applicant's faith group or denomination; and stating that the individual is, in the opinion of the endorsing body, qualified to perform the full range of ministry required in the VA pluralistic setting. Loss of endorsement will result in removal from the GS-0060 Chaplain series and may result in termination of employment. The National Chaplain Service maintains a list of approved endorsing organizations that can be found here: https://www.patientcare.va.gov/chaplain/Employment_Information_and_Resources.asp e. Board Certification. Applicants must be a Board Certified Chaplain certified by the Board of Chaplaincy Certification Inc. (BCCI) or nationally recognized certification body that utilizes the BCCI Common Qualifications and Competencies for Professional Chaplaincy or a certifying organization that has a reciprocity agreement with BCCI. f. Loss of Endorsement or Certification. Chaplains must maintain ecclesiastical endorsement and board certification. Loss of endorsement or board certification will result in removal from the GS-0060 Chaplain occupation and may result in termination of employment. g. English Language Proficiency. Chaplains must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f). 4. GRADE REQUIREMENTS. In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates: Chaplain, GS-12 (a) Experience. The candidate must have one year of creditable experience equivalent to the journey level (GS-11) that is directly related to the position to be filled. (b) Specialty Certification. Specialty certification is demonstrated advanced practice and/or specialization in chaplaincy beyond the board certification and is required for the GS-12 grade level. Specialty certification from a professional chaplain certifying body that is directly related to the assignment is qualifying for a senior chaplain assignment. (c) Assignment. This assignment is a senior chaplain. Senior chaplain assignments may include serving at a facility in clinical settings where there is limited access to onsite supervision such as small healthcare systems, Community Based Outpatient Clinics, other Federal agencies or satellite outpatient clinics. Senior chaplains typically practice in a specialized program area, that may include intensive and extended pastoral counseling as an integral part of the treatment program, with patients facing complex moral, ethical, or spiritual problems. The senior chaplain may be assigned administrative responsibility to independently develop and implement programs and curriculum. They are accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns, which may include research and leadership of clinical teams. The senior chaplain works with full understanding of its relationship to the objectives of the institution, and to successfully integrate it with the work of the institutional staff, collaborates with and advises the other senior members of the treatment team in the provision of comprehensive healthcare services to Veterans, ensures equity of access, service, and benefits to this population, ensures the care provided is of the highest quality. The senior chaplain provides leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs for assigned chaplain staff. 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 should not be used as the full performance level of this occupation. (d) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: i. Ability to apply relevant theories and methodologies to their ministry specialty. ii. Ability to integrate specialized psychological and sociological theory with an advanced approach to spiritual care. iii. Skill to seek out primary research and research literature that informs the ministry specialty and one's spiritual care practice. iv. Skill in developing and implementing methods for measuring effectiveness of chaplain practice and services in the specialty area, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services and to design system changes. v. Ability to mediate conflict, hold various emotions and diffuse moral distress among staff and complex crisis situations. vi. Ability to provide specialized consultation, teaching and mentoring to colleagues and students on advanced spiritual care interventions in the service delivery area. vii. Ability to apply advanced clinical knowledge to write policies, procedures and/or practice guidelines pertaining to the service delivery area. References: VA Handbook 5005/135, PART II, Dated September 24, 2020, APPENDIX G67. CHAPLAIN QUALIFICATION STANDARD

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Foreign Education. To be creditable, theological or related education completed outside the U.S. must be submitted to a current affiliate agency of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) listed at https://www.naces.org/members.

Contacts

• Address VA Boston Healthcare System 940 Belmont Street Brockton, MA 02301 US
• Name: Jonathan Montgomery
• Phone: 734-905-2529
• Email: [email protected]