This is a Rehabilitation Counselor with Mental Health Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Programs vacancy within VA Pittsburgh Health Care. Rehabilitation Counselors work with persons who experience functional impairments and disabilities associated with mental health, physical, and/or psychosocial challenges affecting employment, independent living, or personal adjustment.

Duties

GS-9 duties include but are not limited to the following: Serves as a developmental Rehabilitation Counselor (RC) providing vocational and personal adjustment counseling, therapeutic rehabilitation interventions, and case coordination services. Serves, receives guidance and advice from supervisor and senior staff as needed. Provides developmental vocational rehabilitation services to Veterans with a wide array of psychiatric and physical disabilities and psychosocial conditions that present a myriad of barriers, to achieve competitive employment and educational and independent living goals. Ensures fidelity to evidence-based and evidence-informed vocational and professional counseling practices. Evaluates Veteran's abilities and disabilities; monitors and records Veteran's progress to ensure goals and objectives are met. Serves as a consultant to an interdisciplinary treatment team or other clinical staff as it relates to the Veteran's vocational rehabilitation needs. Conducts biopsychosocial assessments using medical records, pertinent disability documentation, and observation. Selects, administers, and interprets psychometric assessments and vocational instruments to evaluate abilities, transferrable skills, aptitudes, interests, values, preferences, and overall work resilience. Determines clinical need for and capacity to benefit from therapeutic and rehabilitation services. Vocational programming benefits may include work restoration/resilience treatment, transitional work placement and compensation, financial benefits counseling, potential benefits protections, supported employment, and assistive technology. Develops patient-centered treatment plans, using Specific, Measurable, Agreed upon, Realistic, and Time-based (SMART) goals, and provides regular, ongoing assessment of Veteran's progress. Complete clinical charting and participate in professional peer reviews. Provides job development, job placement, job coaching, job accommodation, adaptation, retention, and education services to both Veterans with disabilities and for those employers who employ these Veterans. Conducts a job analysis to identify essential functions and develop reasonable accommodations. Facilitate job placement for Veterans by teaching valuable job search skills, resume/application development, interview skills and basic computer skills. Coordinate job search clubs for Veterans to improve in self-directed job search activities. GS-11 duties include but are not limited to the following: Perform the majority or all the following major duties and responsibilities in this standard FS. The incumbent serves as a journey level Rehabilitation Counselor providing personal adjustment counseling, therapeutic rehabilitation interventions, and case coordination services. Provide a variety of professional rehabilitation counseling services such as personal adjustment counseling, therapeutic rehabilitation interventions and case coordination services, utilizing evidence-informed and evidence-based modalities and professional counseling practices to aid Veterans with severe disabilities in achieving competitive employment and educational and independent living goals. Spends 65 percent of the time in the community in activities such as engaging Veterans in job explorations, job developing, job coaching and networking. Selects, administers, and interprets vocational and other psychometric instruments to evaluate abilities, transferrable skills, functional capacity, labor market analyses, aptitudes, interests, values, preferences, and overall work resilience and synthesize into an interpretive data report. Determine clinical need for and capacity to benefit from therapeutic and rehabilitation services to include work restoration/resilience treatment, transitional work placement and/or competitive employment, assistive technology, financial benefits counseling and potential benefits protections. Develop patient-centered treatment plans utilizing Specific, Measurable, Agreed upon, Realistic, and Time-based (SMART) goals and provides ongoing assessment of Veteran's progress. Procures and manages transitional work agreements from community, state, and federal agencies. Monitors worksite compliance with agreements to ensure Veterans are appropriately trained and evaluated consistent with industry standards. Provides supervision to graduate level rehabilitation counseling students from an accredited affiliated educational institution, including educational experiences, and in-service education for trainees, rehabilitation staff, and other disciplines. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 02719A 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. Education. (1) A master's degree in rehabilitation counseling or clinical rehabilitation counseling from a rehabilitation counseling program accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). If the applicant's degree was granted prior to July 1, 2017, the program must be accredited by the Council on Rehabilitation Education. Or (2) A master's degree in counseling or clinical rehabilitation counseling from a college or university accredited by a national or regional accrediting body accredited by Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Or (3) A master's or doctoral degree in a related field of study with course content that emphasized rehabilitation, counseling, disability, therapy, health, employment, wellness, or human development from a college or university accredited by a national or regional accrediting body accredited by CHEA. Or (4) Foreign graduates with a degree acceptable by the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification. Certification. Current, full and unrestricted certification as a certified rehabilitation counselor (CRC) from the CRCC to practice vocational rehabilitation counseling. Exceptions for Graduate RCs: RC graduates from an approved counseling or rehabilitation counseling program who otherwise meet the basic qualification requirements and the additional degree requirements for CRC certification by the CRCC, but do not possess the required certification, may be appointed, pending certification, as a graduate RC on a full-time temporary appointment not-to-exceed two years under the authority of 38 U.S.C. 7405(a)(1)(D). Graduate RCs may only be appointed at the entry grade level and may not be promoted/converted until certification is obtained. Temporary graduate RC appointments may not be extended beyond two years or converted to a new temporary appointment. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed. 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). Grade Determinations: Rehabilitation Counselor, GS-0101-9 Experience. None beyond basic requirements. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to meeting the experience or educational requirements for the GS-9 grade level, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: Knowledge of human development and behavior, medical, psychosocial, and vocational aspects of disability and differential influences of environmental and cultural factors to assist persons with disabilities in determining suitable vocational goals. Knowledge of history, philosophy and disability rights legislation in the field of rehabilitation to apply in the practice of rehabilitation counseling. Ability to synthesize assessment and diagnosis information in conjunction with labor market trends and community/educational resources to develop an effective individual service delivery plan. Knowledge of caseload management strategies to maximize an individual's independent functioning from assessment through provision of post-employment services. Ability to employ person-centered job development strategies to facilitate successful job placement. Knowledge of assessment tools and methods, functional capacity evaluations and specific vocational preparation to evaluate transferrable skills, residual capacities and needs for accommodations and assistive technology. Rehabilitation Counselor, GS-0101-11 Experience. Completion of one year of professional experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level. Or Education. A doctoral degree in rehabilitation counselor education or related field (e.g. rehabilitation psychology) from a CACREP accredited institution or from an institution accredited by a national or regional accrediting body accredited by CHEA. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to meeting the experience or educational requirements for the GS-11 grade level, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: Knowledge of physical and psychological disabilities, appropriate accommodations and assistive technology principles to mitigate and reduce or eliminate barriers to integrate into the community. Knowledge of counseling theory, medical and psychiatric terminology and signs and symptomology of suicidal and homicidal ideations, to communicate appropriately with community health care professionals to provide useful input to other team members and employers in relation to the Veteran and/or his/her family's psychosocial needs and to recommend and help implement suitable treatment plans. Ability to use evidence-based and evidence informed vocational and professional counseling practices to include individual placement and support (IPS), customized employment and supported employment models and motivational interviewing skills to promote self-awareness, adjustment to disability, enhanced job retention and successful integration to the community. Knowledge of career development processes and job analysis methodology to determine essential functions of jobs, worksite modifications and/or alternative vocational goals given the work history and residual functional capacities of individuals with disabilities. Ability to administer and interpret a wide variety of assessment methods including transferrable skills and labor market analyses to evaluate for individual interests, aptitudes and abilities and to identify suitable vocational goals for the development of an effective individual service delivery plan. Knowledge of marketing strategies to develop collaborative partnerships/Memorandums of Agreement within VA and local business community to enhance employment and/or work opportunities. Knowledge of military culture and specific factors and dynamics associated with Veterans, particularly combat Veterans, to assist those who are returning to community and community based-work. Preferred Experience: Minimum 1 year experience providing recovery-oriented clinical vocational rehabilitation services such as vocational, educational, training, employment, and therapeutic work services preferred. References: VA Handbook 5005/133 Part II Appendix G62 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-9 to G-11. Physical Requirements: Pre-placement physical examination to determine the physical, cognitive and emotional fitness of applicants for appointment in VA is required. Position requires the operation of a government-owned or leased motor vehicle in order to properly carry out duties. Valid state driver license required.

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 Pittsburgh VA Medical Center 1010 Delafield Road Pittsburgh, PA 15215 US
• Name: Lisa Campos
• Phone: (414) 384-2000 X47744
• Email: [email protected]