This position is located at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center (CVAMC). The Medical Center is comprised of an affiliated General Medical, Surgical, Mental Health, long-term care treatment and six Community Based Outpatient clinics (CBOCs) situated around Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. The position is programmatically and professionally responsible to the Suicide Prevention Coordinator, Assessment and Intensive Treatment Division, Mental Health Care Line.

Duties

The Suicide Prevention Coordinator is a very complex assignment, working in the facility and community, to provide advocacy, training, and clinical consultation for the most vulnerable, high-risk patients. Identifies veterans at risk for suicide, tracking appointments and coordinating enhanced care as needed; educates providers, veterans, families, and members of the community about risk factors and warning signs for suicide, and identifying treatment options. Duties include but are not limited to: Maintains a list of patients determined to be at high-risk for suicide and monitor their care to ensure that enhanced-care services are being delivered by treatment team/clinical providers. Tracking any no-show appointments by these patients and following up with the patient as soon as possible to reschedule the appointment. Maintaining awareness of suicide treatment options and making recommendations to the patient's provider when new options become available. Consults/collaborates with providers of high-risk patients for purposes of education and facilitating best practice. May optionally provide direct patient care for same purpose. Facilitates the implementation of Level I Patient Record Flags and completion of Suicide Behavior Report, Suicide Safety Plan, and all other required documentation. Responds to consults from the Suicide Prevention Hotline and contacts veterans to engage them in treatment and reports back to the Hotline Staff about the results of interventions Provides training to clinical and non-clinical staff in the Medical Center, Community Based Outreach Clinics (CBOC's) and community about risk factors, warning signs, treatment options and resources. Promotes the use of evidence-based interventions and strategies for suicide prevention in the Medical Center. Responsible for participation in the facility Aggregated Reviews related to suicidal behaviors and serves as a team member or consultant to the Patient Safety Office for individual RCA's related to suicidal behaviors as needed. Works closely with VA and community resources such as VSO's and other community groups to assure that they are aware of how to recognize Veterans at risk for suicide and their options for getting these Veterans assistance. Responsible for development and maintenance of professional standards of service, coordination of suicide prevention services with other programs, represents the program in contacts with the community and has substantial accountability for program effectiveness and evaluation. Other duties as assigned: Interviews patients, family, and significant others to obtain pertinent clinical crisis/triage information. Reviews and summarizes pertinent Psycho-social information, records appropriate information in veterans' chart. Functions with a high degree of independent judgment, responding quickly to the needs of the patient and utilizes innovative and carefully controlled Psycho-social assistance in emergency situations. Provides psychiatric crisis/triage services under the supervision of a privileged Mental Health clinician. Provides supportive counseling in the development and utilization of community resources. Responsible for completing Issue Briefs related to suicidal behavior and submitting IBs to the Director's Office for notification to the VISN and V ACO. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 92650-0 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

Qualifications

BASIC REQUIREMENTS. The basic requirements for employment as a LPMHC are prescribed by statute in 38 U.S.C. §7402(b)(11). To qualify for appointment as a LPMHC all applicants must: 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.).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). 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-0101 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 GS0101 LPMHC occupation and may result in termination of employment Senior Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, GS-12 Experience, Education, and Licensure. In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must have at least one year of progressively complex LPMHC experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Senior LPMHCs must have five years of post-licensed experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressive professional competency and expertise and be licensed to provide clinical supervision to trainees or unlicensed LPMHCs. Assignments. Senior LPMHCs provide treatment to patients with complex needs including multiple mental health diagnoses, and numerous psychosocial issues, using independent judgment. LPMHCs at this level provide clinical consultation to less experienced staff which may include coordinating crisis situations. Senior LPMHCs will provide clinical supervision to LPMHC staff and/or LPMHC trainees, and may serve as the subject matter expert for the discipline. Senior LPMHCs develop behavioral health related training curriculum and often conduct trainings for clinical staff. LPMHCs model ethical and professional behaviors and standards to include multicultural awareness. Senior LPMHCs meet routinely with inter professional team members and leadership to communicate about program and patient issues for in depth problem solving. Senior LPMHCs collaborate with internal and external stakeholders and frequently serve as a liaison. This assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management. This assignment must represent substantial additional responsibility over and above that required at the full performance grade level and cannot be used as the full performance level of this occupation. 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: In depth knowledge of the program coordinated, and demonstrated knowledge and ability to write policies procedures and or practice guidelines for the program. Ability to make key decisions in the hiring and identification of top candidates. Ability to provide leadership in facilitating the process of coordinating program consults, assessments, admissions, care assignments and discharges. Ability to provide subject matter consultation to other colleagues and trainees within the field of counseling working on an interdisciplinary team. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/106 PART II APPENDIX G43 Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019. English Language Proficiency. LPMHCs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3.

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]