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

The Veterans Comprehensive Prevention, Access to Care, and Treatment Act of 2020 (COMPACT) Act, Section 201 expands the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)'s ability to furnish and pay for treatment of eligible individuals in acute suicidal crisis. The Licensed Practical Mental Health Counselor (LPMHC) Program Coordinator serves as the COMPACT Act Coordinator and has responsibility as the primary navigator for Veterans receiving care under COMPACT Act. This includes coordinating transitions in care for Veterans receiving acute suicide care under COMPACT Act between varying venues of care, types of care (medical and mental health) and location of care (direct care and community care) in collaboration with assigned care coordinators at each step of the Veteran journey. The LPMHC Program Coordinator will be instrumental in providing connection and referral to assist with proper evaluation for eligibility in other programs and is the facility subject matter expert on the COMPACT Act. LPMHC Program Coordinators in the GS-12 assignment provide complex care in a highly specialized, complex area and may be the sole practitioner in the program. The are responsible for daily operations of the program area and are responsible for, or contribute to, the all aspects of clinical and administrative programming. They provide leadership direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development and continuing education for assigned staff. The LPMHC Program Coordinator is responsible for the implementation, coordination and monitoring of the COMPACT Act at the facility. Assigned duties include but not limited to: Utilize program coordination skills to develop and monitor administrative and clinical plans for Veterans receiving COMPACT Act services Oversees daily operations of the program and provides reports and metrics to facility, VISN and VACO as requested Captures and analyses local data trends to inform program development and improvement Collaborate with local facility revenue and finance departments Advocate for Veteran, ensuring they do not receive bills for COMPACT related care Provide education and training on COMPACT Act to internal and external stakeholders as the facility subject matter expert Reviews and develops policies, standard operating procedures, practice guidelines for the program Coordination between health care providers and care managers in direct care and community care Collaborate with inter professional teams within the VA healthcare system and community to navigate complex care coordination Consultation and negotiation across program areas to ensure appropriate resources are secure in a clinically relevant and timely manner Coordinate with local Patient Advocate Tracking System - Replacement (PATS-R) COMPACT clinical review teams Coordinates with local facility Office of Integrated Veteran Care (IVC) Care Coordinators Provides training, education, orientation and guidance on clinical program area Provides clinical assessment, intervention, treatment and follow-up, using a social determinant of health framework Assists with navigation between varying levels of care and conducts comprehensive transition planning Utilizes designated COMPACT Act templates and coding requirements when documenting in the medical record Skill in organizing work, setting priorities, meeting multiple deadlines, and evaluating assigned program area Ability to supervise multidisciplinary staff {where appropriate} Other duties as assigned Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm Telework: Available, with supervisor approval Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. 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. Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, paragraph 3.g.) 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. CACREP defines the date when graduates are considered to have graduated from a CACREP accredited program. Additional information may be obtained from http://www.cacrep.org/directory. NOTE: Traditional Rehabilitation counseling programs that are accredited by CACREP 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-0183 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. Loss of Licensure. Once licensed, LPMHCs must maintain a full, valid, and unrestricted license to independently practice mental health counseling, which includes diagnosis and treatment. Loss of licensure will result in removal from the GS-0183 LPMHC occupation and may result in termination of employment. Grandfather Provision. All persons employed in VHA in as LPMHC on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade held, including positive education and licensure/certification/registration that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements required 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 in an occupation that requires a licensure, may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance level, or demoted within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the full performance level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions. (2) Such employees in an occupation that requires a licensure/certification/registration only at higher grade levels must meet the licensure/certification/registration requirement before they can be promoted to those higher grade levels. (3) Employees 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. (4) If an employee who was retained (grandfathered) under this provision leaves that occupation, the employee loses protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation. (5) Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration that meet all the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation. Grade Determinations: Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (Program Coordinator), GS-12 Experience, Education, and Licensure. In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must have at least one year of progressively complex experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Experience must have been in a major specialty treatment program area such as, but not limited to, Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), mental health intensive case management (MHICM), or other areas of equivalent scope and complexity. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressively more professional competency. Assignments. LPMHC Program Coordinators are administratively responsible for a clinical program and provide treatment to patients in a major specialty. They manage the daily operations of the program, develop policies and procedures, and prepare reports and statistics for facility, VISN, and national use. They may supervise unlicensed graduate LPMHCs and may administratively manage any employees assigned to their program. 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: 1. In depth knowledge of the program coordinated, and demonstrated knowledge and ability to write policies procedures and or practice guidelines for the program. 2. Ability to make key decisions in the hiring and identification of top candidates. 3. Ability to provide leadership in facilitating the process of coordinating program consults, assessments, admissions, care assignments and discharges. 4. Ability to provide subject matter consultation to other colleagues and trainees within the field of counseling working on an interdisciplinary team 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). References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/106 PART II APPENDIX G43 The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is the GS12. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019

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

Contacts

• Address Cincinnati VA Medical Center 3200 Vine Street Cincinnati, OH 45220 US
• Name: Rhonda McCubbin
• Email: [email protected]