Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (Program Coordinator) - PRRC

Incumbent serves as the Program Coordinator and Supervisor for the Psychosocial Rehabilitation Recovery Center (PRRC) at the NWI VA Health Care System. The PRRC provides outpatient mental health programming and services for Veterans based on the psychiatric rehabilitation recovery model. These services include 1) outpatient group and individual rehabilitation and recovery services; 2) collaboration and advocacy for Veterans and their family members; and 3) education and training of staff.

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.
• 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.j.
• 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-0183 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. NOTE: It is VHA policy that a LPMHC who does not yet have a license that allows independent practice must be supervised by a licensed independent practitioner of the same discipline who is a VA staff member and who has access to the electronic health record.

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:

Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (Program Coordinator), GS-12:

• Experience, Education, and Licensure: In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must have at least one year of progressively complex experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Experience must have been in a major specialty treatment program area such as, but not limited to, Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), mental health intensive case management (MHICM), or other areas of equivalent scope and complexity. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressively more professional competency.
• 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.

All qualifying experience you possess must be clearly described in your application package. We will not make assumptions when reviewing applications. Failure to demonstrate your experience in your resume may result in disqualification. It is strongly recommended that you write to each KSA in your application package.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

Physical Requirements: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination.

Responsibilities:

Major duties include but are not limited to the following:

• Coordinates and supervises PRRC programming including facilitating staff meetings, overseeing consult management, assigning intake assessments and case management duties, insuring patient/staff safety, and evaluating environment of care. Insures seamless transition and continuity of care between inpatient and outpatient clinics and community referrals.
• The incumbent provides administrative, clinical, and technical supervision to assigned staff. They are expected to set priorities and make assignments according to capabilities of those assigned. The incumbent evaluates subordinate's performance and offers instruction, advice, or counseling on ancillary services, and administrative matters. They are responsible for setting performance standards and reviews work to determine acceptable levels of quality and quantity.
• Incumbent manages daily operations of the PRRC; develops policies and procedures for the programs' operations; maintains data tracking utilization of mental health services by PRRC Veterans, and prepares reports and statistics when requested.
• Ensures constant readiness and compliance of the PRRC program/staff with regard to standards set forth by the Joint Commission, OIG, OHMO and any other accrediting body identified by Executive Leadership.
• The incumbent develops training plans in-line with employee's needs, and assists in addressing these needs. Develops and monitors standards of clinical practice/standards of care for PRRC staff, including procedures, care guidelines, manuals, and guides to professional practice, required to accomplish clinical care interventions and ensures that they are followed.
• The incumbent balances and distributes workload and tasks among employees in accordance with established workflow or job specialization, assuring timely accomplishment of the assigned tasks, and assuring that employees have an integral role in developing the final product.
• Ensures delivery of evidence-based interventions by the PRRC staff.
• Incumbent coordinates the facilitation of PRRC groups and makes changes and additions to group curriculum to respond to needs of PRRC Veterans.
• The incumbent maintains a current knowledge to answer questions from team members on procedures, policies, directives and to obtain needed information on decisions from the Chief, Mental Health Service on major problems and issues. He/she checks on work in progress and reviews completed work to see that instructions on work sequences, procedures, methods, and deadlines have been met.
• Oversees the provision of clinical supervision as a field instructor or preceptor, and supervises LPMHC graduate students, unlicensed LPMHC.
• The incumbent resolves employee complaints, grievances, or other related matters within the context of the local contract, policies, or procedures.
• The incumbent effectively handles disciplinary issues and counsels employees regarding performance or other situations; takes disciplinary or appropriate action when necessary.
• Incumbent contributes to ongoing development of the PRRC program. Identifies areas for program expansion and improvement, and develops initiatives to address these identified needs.
• Incumbent provides/oversees direct screening and case management services to Veterans within PRRC. Incumbent completes screening and comprehensive assessments of Veterans with severe and persistent mental illness and other mental health comorbidities.
• Incumbent completes biopsychosocial evaluations with Veterans in the PRRC and completes all relevant CPRS documentation in a timely manner as per center policies.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases.
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).
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)
Telework: Ad-hoc
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Salary : $417