Job opening: Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor- HUD-VASH
Salary: $88 860 - 115 518 per year
Published at: Sep 13 2023
Employment Type: Full-time
Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) is an intensive case management program for Veterans who struggle with housing and employment instability due to complex psychiatric and medical diagnoses that may include Substance Use Disorders. HUD-VASH resources are targeted for chronically homeless and other vulnerable homeless Veterans with case management needs.
Duties
The duties of this position include, but are not limited to:
Expertise in making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnosis within their scope of practice and works with Veterans to develop measurable treatment plans to address diagnosis and identified problems.
Provides community based intensive case management services.
Provides evidence-based practice treatment to Veterans that is consistent with Housing First and effectively uses motivational interviewing techniques to help Veteran move forward on identified goals. Specialized interventions will include individual, group, and family counseling or psychotherapy and advanced practice case management that addresses complex problems associated with homelessness.
Works with HUD-VASH Leadership to assist with interventions and strategies to increase housing retention, in addition to, working directly with the multidisciplinary Enhanced Team to help identify Veterans at risk of eviction and instability and will design interventions to improve outcomes.
Expert at Homeless Operation Management Evaluation Systems (HOMES) system and makes improvements and adjustments as needed to ensure medical center performance meets or exceeds expectations.
Assists the HUD-VASH team with clinical case staffing to help determine interventions and community resources for supporting housing retention.
Provides input into needed system changes and may help write policy, procedures or practice guidelines for the treatment of homelessness and make recommendations to leadership.
Provides clinical supervision to LPMHC staff and to MSW student trainees on the psychosocial treatment of patients treated for homelessness providing expertise and role modeling.
Provides expert case management services that help Veterans maximize health and function. The incumbent is an expert on VA and community resources associated with homelessness, mental health treatment, and substance use disorder treatment.
Assists Veterans in linking to supportive environments in the areas in which they live.
Completes comprehensive assessments and collaborative safety plans when clinically indicated, providing follow-up contacts or appointments for all Veterans upon initiation of the "High Risk for Potential Suicide List" or other at-risk Veteran populations, in compliance with VA policy
Develops and implements methods for measuring effectiveness of counseling practice and services, utilizing outcome evaluations and use of evidence-based treatment modalities that are effective with Veterans who struggle with homelessness, substance use disorders, along with medically and psychiatrically complex diagnoses.
Provides specialized assessments and treatment planning, as well as, consultation to other team members to provide interventions and strategies for engagement for difficult to engage clients.
Work Schedule: Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm
Compressed/Flexible:Not Available
Telework: AD HOC onlly
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
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.
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. Additional information may be obtained from http://www.cacrep.org/directory/. NOTE: Traditional Rehabilitation counseling programs 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-0101 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 in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j
Grade Determinations:
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.
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:
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.
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.
Ability to coordinate the delivery of specialized psychosocial services and programs. Ability to design system changes based on data.
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.
Ability to teach, mentor staff and trainees, and provide supervision for licensure or for specialty certifications.
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.
Preferred Experience: Experience working with people who suffer from substance abuse disorders. Experience working with people with complex medical and mental health issues.
References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/106 PART II APPENDIX G43
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.
Contacts
- Address VA Portland Health Care System
3710 Southwest US Veterans Hospital Road
Portland, OR 97239
US
- Name: Laurie Johnson
- Phone: (503) 220-8262 X51488
- Email: [email protected]