The Rehabilitation Technician position is located at the Lebanon, PA VAMC and is responsible for providing therapeutic and care management services within the Residential Rehabilitation Center. The mission of the RRC is to provide the full range of therapeutic care to Veterans who need the intensity of residential services.

Duties

The position is located in the Lebanon Medical Center's Behavioral Health and Sciences (BH&S) Care Line reporting to the Residential Rehabilitation Center (RRC) Chief. The incumbent's chief responsibilities are within the service line, which provides inpatient and outpatient mental health services and comprehensive rehabilitation services to enrolled patients. New initiatives are often in the development and early stages of implementation, requiring coordinated support services. The incumbent serves as a Rehabilitation Technician (RT) in the General Domiciliary Treatment Program, known locally as the RRC. Duties are divided into two primary areas, residential rehabilitation and after care. Major duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to: Conducts individual counseling sessions with each assigned resident and documents this information in their electronic chart. Facilitates group therapy sessions on substance abuse issues and recovery topics and subjects (AA/NA, guilt, anger, shame, etc.). Identifies major substance abuse problems from the psychosocial assessment and makes recommendations, in conjunction with the resident and the treatment team concerning interventions, treatment goals and objectives. Provides couples and/or family counseling sessions as needed and formulates in conjunction with the resident and the treatment team an aftercare treatment plan. Works with the social workers and the resident to find safe living arrangements or further treatment. Refers residents to local treatment programs and recovery supports to aide in the residents' ongoing recovery and aftercare. Plans and administers mental health and/or substance abuse related therapy as the employee responsible for Veterans on their assigned clinical team. For example, plans and carries out the treatment of domiciliary patients via individual and group counseling; determines interventions and schedules for therapy consistent with clinical needs and treatment objectives for assigned patients; selects and adapts treatment activities to needs and abilities of individual patients; modifies treatment procedures and treatment approaches to enable patient to overcome limitations and progress. The incumbent is provided regular clinical supervision, by the Program Manager, but must be able to function independently in management of individual and group care, as well as weekend coverage. Will be responsible for the development and delivery of specialized recovery-oriented group treatments. Responsible to assess increase in risk, regarding resumed use or suicidal/homicidal ideation, and communicate with the Inter Disciplinary Team. Responsible to participation in IDT meetings and share clinical impressions/concerns regarding ongoing treatment and discharge. Will complete and review a Recovery Plan for each Veteran assigned to their IDT upon discharge of the Veteran. Performs other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Split tour: Sunday - Thursday, 8:00am - 4:30pm; Monday - Friday, 12:00pm - 8:30pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Rehabilitation Technician (Alcoholism and Drug Dependence) / PD02165A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized 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, 03/01/2024. 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-7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-6. 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 as described below: General Experience: General Experience is experience involved in dealing with others which has demonstrated the applicant's aptitude for acquiring the skills and knowledges needed for medical rehabilitation work. For example, experience that demonstrated ability to establish and maintain effective person-to-person relationships, skill in oral and written communication, ability to inspire confidence and motivate individuals, and capacity for leadership is qualifying as general experience. This experience may have been gained in positions concerned with health care, counseling, social service, teaching, business, or other similar fields. (2-years of General Experience is Required). Specialized Experience: Specialized Experience is experience which has demonstrated the knowledge, skill and ability: to assist professional personnel in effective operation of a rehabilitation treatment program for alcohol or drug-dependent patients; to act as a liaison and intermediary between patients and professional personnel; to understand and cope with the physical and psychological needs of these patients; and to guide and assist patients in following a prescribed treatment program. This experience must also have demonstrated that the applicant possesses knowledges, skills and abilities which enable the applicant to understand the problems, actions, reactions and symptoms of alcohol or drug-dependent persons and is able to relate to, empathize with, communicate with, motivate, and influence changes in behavior patterns of alcohol or drug-dependent patients. (3-years of Specialized Experience is Required). You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Clinical Data Collection/DocumentationMedical InformationPatient CarePsychologyTeaching Others 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: The work is primarily sedentary. However, there may be periods of sitting, standing, walking, lifting, accessing transportation and driving a government car or van. Driver's License Requirement: A Pennsylvania driver's license is required. The work usually takes place in an office, group room, community setting, as well as other locations agreed upon by the Veteran and the staff person delivering services. The requirements of the position will require the RT to be in the community to facilitate aftercare/outpatient services, meet with and network with other agencies and community stakeholders (Do NOT include a copy of your Driver License with your application; we cannot accept photographs as part of your application). 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

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Contacts

• Address Lebanon VA Medical Center 1700 South Lincoln Avenue Lebanon, PA 17042 US
• Name: Evan Lynch
• Phone: 3152439074
• Email: [email protected]