The incumbent serves as Psychology Program Manager (Vet Center Director) on the multidisciplinary team that is located in a community-based Vet Center that provides Veterans, service members, and their family members with community outreach, counseling, therapy, treatment, direct services, and referral to VA and community resources and community education in the effort to address problems, needs, and to make the transition from military to civilian life successful.

Duties

Major Duties Include (But are not limited to): Supervising a multidisciplinary staff composed of clinical and administrative team members, whose primary mission is to provide direct readjustment counseling to eligible individuals in the areas of suicide prevention, crisis intervention, short-term and long-term treatment for symptoms associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and other related readjustment issues. Planning, developing, implementing, coordinating, monitoring, and evaluating professional services rendered by subordinates. Setting guidelines and establishing intervention strategies and / or treatment priorities for individual, group, conjoint, and families employing varying clinical and therapeutic modalities. Conducting Performance Based Interviews (PBI) and determining selection processes to ensure fair and equitable recruitment of qualified, high achieving, and well prepared applicants. Developing networks and working relationships external to Readjustment Counseling Service (RCS) and the Department of Veteran Affairs, with Veteran service organizations, community based agencies, and mental health organizations to enhance service delivery and develop referrals of Veteran clients to appropriate care. Serving as a Consultant and Subject Matter Expert to programs and resources external to the Vet Center on matters of the readjustment needs of Veterans. Creating, implementing, and measuring market penetration of Vet Center services through a comprehensive outreach plan for the primary service area. Ensuring fiscal / budget management, in compliance with applicable RCS and VHA policies and procedures, as an approving official for Time & Attendance reports, leases / contracts management, local staff travel, Government Purchase Card (GPC) purchases, etc. Screening and assessing of Veteran clients, treatment planning and goal setting, referral to service providers, development of a resource file, Veteran advocacy, crisis intervention, education / health promotion, coordination of non-institutional and institutional services, and individual / group counseling. Work Schedule: Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, TBD by Supervisor; candidate may be subject to working evenings, weekends, and holidays Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position Position Title / Functional Statement #: Psychology Program Manager (Vet Center Director)/ 34121A Relocation / Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade) Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year); Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66 Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health / vision / dental/term life / long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Total Rewards Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf Psychologist: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Psychology-Career-Flyer.pdf

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 01/03/2025. Basic Requirements Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States Note: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f) Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR) Degree: major or equivalent in Psychology for all specializations except Clinical Psychology and Counseling psychology. These two specializations have additional educational requirements, as stated below: Clinical Psychology: For positions at grades GS-11 and above, satisfactory completion of all the requirements for the Doctoral Degree (Ph.D. or equivalent) directly related to full professional work in clinical psychology is required. Counseling Psychology: For positions at grades GS-9 and above, satisfactory completion of 2 full academic years of graduate study directly related to professional work in Counseling Psychology, or satisfactory completion in an accredited educational institution of all the requirements for a Master's Degree directly related to Counseling Psychology is required. GS-14 Education Requirements: See 'Education' section below. Licensure: Hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice Psychology at the Doctoral Level in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia. Specialized ExperienceGS-14 Specialized Experience: For this position, you must have at least three (3) years of postdoctoral work experience (VA or Non-VA) as a professional Psychologist or through participation in a supervised postdoctoral psychology training program (i.e. fellowship or residency), with at least one year equivalent to the GS-13 grade level. Note: Training as a fellow or resident is considered to be creditable experience on a year-for-year basis. Specialized experience is: Knowledge and understanding of the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Knowledge of methods, principles and theories sufficient to intervene and stabilize combat Veterans suffering from multiple diagnoses Ability to conduct psycho-social assessments and implement treatment plans for combat Veterans and their families Ability to establish and maintain referral networks through community outreach to provide services to Veterans Experience in working with Veterans, especially combat Veterans Experience in working with Veterans who were sexually traumatized / harassed while in the military Experience in providing family counseling services to Veterans and their family Experience working with combat Veterans and their families who have PTSD or readjustment issues and the ability to make independent judgments and recommendations about a number of serious and complex cases Special knowledge and skill in the field of Veterans in community resource identification and development, in public speaking and basic principles of education, in staff recruitment and development, and in program design and management Knowledge of VA and community resources available to Veterans and their family Develops and manages a clinic's budget and program funds Working knowledge of electronic records Plans work to be accomplished by subordinates and sets guidelines for clinical, therapeutic and treatment priorities Incumbent must have possession of supervisory and management skills 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. 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/. References: VA Handbook 5005/120 Social Worker Qualification Standard Appendix G18, dated January 7, 2018 Physical Requirement: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

GS-14 Education Requirement (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED): For this position, applicants must:

• Have a Doctoral Degree in psychology from a graduate program in psychology accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS), or the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) at the time the program was completed. The specialty area of the degree must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. Note: There are no job assignments in VHA that require the skills of a school psychologist; therefore, an applicant with a degree in the specialty area of school psychology is not eligible for appointment;

-OR-

• Have a Doctoral Degree in any area of Psychology and, in addition, successfully complete a re-specialization program (including documentation of an approved internship completed as part of the re-specialization program) meeting both of the following conditions: (a) The re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited Doctoral Program; and (b) the specialty in which the applicant is retrained must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. NOTE: The applicant must provide an official transcript and / or certificate documenting the completion of the re-specialization program, which includes completion of an APA or CPA internship. [Psychologists who have successfully completed a re-specialization program as described above and who were employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs prior to the implementation of this standard are considered to have fully met the educational requirements of these qualification standards];

-OR-

• Have a Doctoral Degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.

***AND***

• Internships:
  • Have successfully completed a Professional Psychology internship training program that was accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed and that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed;

-OR-

• • New VHA Psychology internship programs that are in the process of applying for APA accreditation are acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement, provided that such programs were sanctioned by the VHA Central Office Program Director for Psychology and the VHA Office of Academic Affiliations at the time that the individual was an intern;

-OR-

• • VHA facilities that offered full-time, one-year pre-doctoral internships prior to PL 96-151 (pre-1979) are considered to be acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement;

-OR-

• • Applicants who completed an internship that was not accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed may be considered eligible for hire only if they are currently board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) in a specialty area that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. Note: Once board certified, the employee is required to maintain board certification;

-OR-

• • Applicants who have a Doctoral Degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally accredited institution with a dissertation primarily Psychological in nature may fulfill this internship requirement by having the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience in a site specifically acceptable to the candidate's Doctoral Program. If the internship experience is not noted on the applicant's official transcript, the applicant must provide a statement from the Doctoral Program verifying that the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience was completed in a site acceptable to the Doctoral Program. [Psychologists who meet the requirements of this revision and who were employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs prior to the implementation of this standard are considered to have fully met the requirements of this qualification standard].

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: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | International Affairs Office (ed.gov)

Contacts

• Address Readjustment Counseling Service 120 SE 6th Avenue, Ste. 102 Topeka, KS 66603 US
• Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
• Phone: (844)456-5208
• Email: [email protected]