As a member of the New York Healthcare System, VA Medical Center Mental Health Services, the VITAL HSS is located within the Mental Health Care Line. The VITAL HSS will partner with local colleges as an ambassador for Veterans on campus. The HSS serves as a provider and educator to faculty, staff and student groups about military culture and the unique needs of Veterans.

Duties

The incumbent will: -Provided on site mental health services to student veterans to promote academic achievement. -Offer individual, couples, and group psychotherapy services utilizing evidence-based approaches. -Facilitate psychoeducation groups regarding post-deployment readjustment and adaptive coping strategies, focusing on resiliency. -Coordinate the transfer of mental health follow up services to the NYHHS-VAMC campus or Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) when indicated, including tele-mental health and Homeless services. -Assist in establishing primary health medical care services with the NYHHS-VAMC or Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) when indicated. -Refer veterans and family members to appropriate long-term psychotherapy services when indicated (NYHSS-VAMC including CBOC's, Vet Center, community mental health services). -Develop a telehealth clinic to connect NYHSS to the college campuses to allow student veterans the option of receiving mental heath services directly on campus. -Develop and give presentations to departmental and faculty meetings to educate their staff on the basics of military culture, sensitize them to the unique needs of veterans. These presentations will include information about normal post deployment adjustment reactions, complicated post deployment reactions and warning signs that a veteran is at risk for suicide. -Consult faculty and staff regarding working effectively with returning veterans who appear to be having difficulty emotionally or academically. -Refer and work with university disability services to request and facilitate academic accommodations, as well as support and obtaining and using assistive technology devices such as hearing aids and screen reader software. -Teach student veterans to translate these skills into fighting the problems of readjustment. Build upon the Resiliency Training and Vet2Vet models in these efforts, emphasizing reduction of stigma in asking for assistance. -Train student counseling center staff about the unique needs of student veterans and how to best assist with their readjustment and mental health problems. -Other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Health Science Specialist/PD012940 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized. Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized. Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/20/2023. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience and education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-12 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. You must have a doctoral degree in psychology from APA Accredited Graduate Program in clinical or counseling psychology. Internship in professional psychology. Professional Psychology Licensure: A psychologist must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice psychology at the doctoral level in a state, territory commonwealth of the US or the District of Columbia. For GS 13, there must be two or more years of clinical experience comparable to what one would get in a VA setting, either by post-doctoral employment or two years of employment as a psychologist. A psychologist must be licensed at the GS 13 level. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: CommunicationTeaches OthersTechnical CompetenceTechnology Management 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. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: This position involves considerable activity required for local travel to various campuses. May be required to operate a motor vehicle for travel. Typically, the employee may sit comfortably to perform portions of the work. However, there is periodic walking; bending; carrying of light items such as medical records. No special physical demands are required to perform the work. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address VA NY Harbor Healthcare System 423 East 23rd Street New York, NY 10010 US
• Name: Susan Malecki
• Phone: (716) 862-3293
• Email: [email protected]