This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.

Duties

Recruitment and relocation incentives are authorized for this position. The Senior Psychologist (Service Chief) serves as Chief of Mental Health Service Line (MHSL) and is responsible for administrative management and operation of Mental Health personnel and programs and achieving and maintaining facility adherence to VHA standards, as well as those of accrediting agencies such as The Joint Commission (TJC) and Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). Major duties of this position include, but are not limited to: Plan, organize, develop, implement, control, and refine all aspects of comprehensive patient care, clinical support functions, and administrative programs. Provide technical counsel to meet clinical, procedural, legal, and administrative standards relating to care and treatment of inpatients and outpatients to achieve maximum utilization of mental health patient care resources in a cost-effective, efficient, and timely manner. Ensure services provided meet standards set by accrediting agencies which govern quality of care. Work to assure issues and deficiencies are corrected according to standards. Implement VHA Central Office Directives and regulations. Provide active leadership and decision making for organization and responsible for strategic planning and budget processes, improvement of performance coordination and implementation, and for coordinating facility wide activities pertaining to mental health. Maintain collaborative relationship with other facility mental health leaders to ensure full support and coordination among mental health programs. Full authority for physical, fiscal, and human resource allocations within Mental Health service. Continually monitor professional performance of service staff, recommend staffing levels and coordinate recruitment of qualified and competent staff. Serve on VHA, VISN and Medical Center committees and workgroups. Participate in conferences/meetings with higher-ranking managers, supervisors, and staff from other disciplines or work units, and/or, as needed, with representatives of local public interest groups, congressional district offices, and employees of State and local governments. Provide full range of psychosocial services to include psychosocial assessment, diagnostic, and evidence-based treatment services. Familiar with full range of DSM-5 clinical presentations and treat acute and long-term inpatients and outpatients within mental health setting. Consult and train professional staff regarding mental health treatment and programs, as well as suicide prevention. Work Schedule: Typical tour of duty is expected to be 7:30am to 4:00pm, Monday - Friday (Weekend and evening hours may occur when Veterans needs arise). Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 0000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized for highly qualified candidate. EDRP Authorized: Contact Eva Gennara, [email protected], the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more Permanent Change of Station (PCS): May be authorized for highly qualified candidate Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

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: 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. For the purpose of meeting this requirement, the term "specialty area" refers to the specific specialty areas recognized by the accrediting body and not to specific job duties that might require special skills. Currently, APA accredits doctoral programs in the specialty areas of clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology, or combinations of two or more of those areas. PCSAS accredits doctoral programs in psychological clinical science. CPA accredits doctoral programs in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, clinical neuropsychology, and school psychology. There are no job assignments in VHA that require the skills of a school psychologist; therefore, an applicant with a degree in the specialty area of school psychology is not eligible for appointment. Strictly for the purpose of determining eligibility for appointment as a psychologist in VHA, there is no distinction between the specialty areas (with the exception of school psychology). OR Have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, in addition, successfully complete a re-specialization program (including documentation of an approved internship completed as part of the 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. NOTE: Applicants must provide an official transcript and/or certificate documenting completion of the re-specialization program, which includes completion of an APA or CPA internship. Psychologists who have successfully completed a re-specialization program as described above and who were employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs prior to implementation of this standard are considered to have fully met the educational requirements of these qualification standards. OR Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature. Internship: Have successfully completed a professional psychology internship training program that was accredited by APA or CPA at 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: Applicants must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice psychology at doctoral level in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia. 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). Board Certification and Loss of Credential (1) Board Certification. Persons hired to psychology positions in VHA who completed an internship that was not accredited at the time the program was completed must be 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. Board certificate must be current, and applicant must abide by the certifying body's requirement for continuing education. (2) Loss of Credential. Once board certified, psychologist must maintain a full, valid and unrestricted board certification to remain qualified for employment. A psychologist who fails to maintain required board certification must be removed from the occupation, which may result in termination of employment. At the discretion of the appointing official, an employee may be reassigned to another occupation if qualified and if a placement opportunity exists. Grade Determinations: In addition to meeting basic requirements stated above, the following qualifications criteria must be met in determining the appropriate grade assignment of candidates. Senior Psychologist (Service Chief) GS-15 Experience: At least 4 years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-14 grade level. AND Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: Ability to supervise and manage a large group of professional staff effectively. Skill in interpersonal relationships, including conflict resolution and ability to work collaboratively with supervisors from other units. Ability to accurately apply the qualification standards, assesses the potential of current and prospective employees, and promotes their professional development. Ability to develop appropriate productivity standards for professional staff, often across multiple program lines. Knowledge of the goals and objectives of the medical center and VISN and ability to communicate these to subordinates. Preferred Experience: Minimum of 5 years post residency experience. Proven administrative experience is highly desirable. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-15. Physical Requirements: Much of work occurs within typical office setting and requires time walking, sitting, and standing. May be occasional risk of physical harm, which requires special precautions and training and may be exposed to infectious diseases and medical/psychiatric emergencies.

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 Edward Hines Junior Hospital 5000 South 5th Avenue Hines, IL 60141 US
• Name: Patricia Reynolds
• Phone: 727-710-2678
• Email: [email protected]