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Summary This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific eligibility requirements per VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) & eligibility period (1 to 5 years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply. Responsibilities Serves as an RCS Vet Center Advanced Marriage and Family Therapist providing direct counseling services, outreach, referral, and follow-up care coordination to eligible individuals, couples, and family members and has experience and training that reflects an ability to provide expert clinical consultation to staff on complex psychosocial conditions, relational and readjustment stress utilizing evidenced based family systems theory/therapy. In this capacity functions as a member of a small multi-disciplinary team of 4 or more members inclusive of Marriage and Family Therapists, other mental health professionals, outreach workers and office management staff, and provides clinical consultation to other clinicians. Direct Counseling Service Provision: Above full performance, the individual functions as Clinical and Site Lead at off-site locations such as an Outstation or Community Access Point (CAP) satellite outpatient clinics, where a direct supervisor is not present. Risk Assessment and Crisis Intervention: Responds to emergency events, working to resolve and mitigate high-risk situations with client and readjustment counselors experiencing crisis. Will apply risk assessment procedures at intake and periodically throughout the planned course of readjustment counseling as indicated. Care Coordination: Serves on committees, work groups, and task forces at the facility, VAMC, and Zone, District, or national level, or in the community as deemed appropriate by the VCD. Will establish and maintain a network of community care relationships, internal and external to VA, to coordinate access to readjustment counseling through community referrals to the Vet Center, and to ensure that eligible individuals and/or family members receive the full spectrum of services to support the Veteran's readjustment that are outside the scope of readjustment counseling. Outreach: The individual will actively coordinate with Vet Center Outreach Specialists to ensure seamless referral for individuals engaged in the community at outreach events that may require follow-up readjustment counseling to Vet Center services. As strategically indicated, will engage, establish, and maintain Vet Center outreach activities and education programs to promote Vet Center access for eligible individuals and their family members. Documentation/Administrative Responsibilities/Consultation: Will have the capacity to provide consultation services to other staff and community partners regarding the psychosocial needs of eligible individuals and the impact of psychosocial stressors on health care and readjustment. Screening and Assessment: Will work directly with eligible individuals to establish a therapeutic relationship sufficient for completing all required readjustment counseling intake procedures to include an assessment of risk for self-harm and psychosocial stressors. Counseling Planning/Goal Setting: Based on the outcome of the intake, will develop and periodically update an individualized readjustment counseling service plan that reflects a course of therapeutic and psychosocial interventions, inclusive of outcome measurements. Risk Assessment and Crisis Intervention: Will apply risk assessment procedures at intake and periodically throughout the planned course of readjustment counseling as indicated. For individuals assessed to be at intermediate to high risk, will work with the individual to develop a safety plan that identifies the precipitating life stressors and safety procedures identified by the individual. Clinical Supervision, Consultation, Training, Review and Evaluation: The scope of clinical consultation services will include all aspects of direct readjustment counseling service such as advising on the clinical assessment, service planning, and case coordination with community providers when the individual's needs are beyond the scope of services available at a Vet Center Other Duties: May perform other duties as assigned as appropriate for the grade and assignment and which are within the scope of practice. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00 am- 4:30 pm. Some weekends Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 323480 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact [email protected], the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized NOTE: Readjustment Counselors are multi-disciplinary and can be filled by: Social Worker, Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, and Marriage & Family Therapist. Each discipline is announced separately, and applicants must apply to the announcement for which they are qualified. Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959. Must be proficient in written and spoken English. Subject to background/security investigation. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Qualifications 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. Candidates must meet one of the following: Hold a master's degree or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy from a program approved by COAMFTE, Hold a master's degree or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy from a MFT program from a regionally accredited institution, OR, Hold a master's degree or doctoral degree in a comparable mental health degree (Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, Social Work, Psychiatric Nursing, Psychology, and Psychiatry) that meets the current VA qualification standard of that profession. Licensure. Persons hired or reassigned to MFT positions in the GS-0182 series in VHA must hold a full, current, and unrestricted MFT license to independently practice marriage and family therapy in a State. English Language Proficiency. MFTs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, paragraph 3j. Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. Marriage and Family Therapist, GS-12 (Advanced) Education, Experience and Licensure. Candidate must have successfully completed evidence based training in family therapy and must have graduated from a COAMFTE accredited program OR have passed the AMFTRE. Candidate must have at least five years of post-licensed clinical experience in delivery of family systems therapy including one-year equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. This experience must demonstrate the use of an evidence based family therapy model while exhibiting progressive professional competency and expertise. Assignments requiring responsibility for providing clinical supervision must have an AAMFT Approved Supervisor credential. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the professional KSAs listed below. Demonstrated KSAs: 1. Ability to provide specialized consultation for complex cases involving individuals, families and/or couples utilizing evidenced-based family systems theory/therapy. 2. Ability to provide crisis intervention which includes assessment, safety planning and complex treatment planning using independent clinical judgment utilizing family systems theory/therapy. 3. Ability to provide family systems therapy, which seeks to address Veterans and their family members on an individual level and deals with interpersonal interactions. 4. Ability to provide unlicensed MFT staff/trainees with systemic clinical supervision towards licensure from a family systems theory/therapy perspective. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: The work does not inherently include physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with a workplace accommodation. Education IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application. 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/. Additional Information Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status. VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.