Marriage and Family Therapist

Description:

The Marriage & Family Therapist (Clinical Program Coordinator) position is located in the Peer Support Outreach Center (PSOC), Veterans Crisis Line (VCL). This position provides clinical oversight to the PSOC staff. VCL is a 24-hour, 7-days-a-week, 365-days-a-year service aimed at connecting callers worldwide to a caring, qualified VA employee. VCL's mission is to provide 24/7, world-class suicide prevention and crisis intervention services to Veterans, Service Members and their family members.

Requirements:

**NOTE: This position is multi-disciplinary and can be filled by: Staff Psychologis t (CBZY-12875505-26-TW) or Marriage and Family Therapist (CBZY-12875506-26-TW ) or Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (CBZY-12875507-26-SG) or Social Worker (CBZY-12875508-26-SG) . Each discipline is announced separately, and applicants must apply to the announcement for which they are qualified.

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. The basic requirements for employment as a VHA MFT are prescribed by statute in 38 U.S.C. § 7402(b)(10), as amended by section 239 of Public Law 114- 223, enacted Sept 29, 2016. To qualify for appointment as an MFT in VHA, all applicants must:

United States Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States. Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.

English Language Proficiency: Must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j.

Education: You must meet one of the following:

1. Hold a master's degree or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy from a program approved by COAMFTE; - OR-
2. Hold a master's degree or doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy from a MFT program from a regionally accredited institution; - OR-
3. 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: Hold a full, current, and unrestricted MFT license to independently practice marriage and family therapy in a State.

Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates:

• Experience: At least one year of progressively responsible assignments and experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level which demonstrates knowledge, skills, and abilities that are directly related to the specific assignment.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

• Ability to organize work, set priorities, meet multiple deadlines, delegate tasks and facilitate team building.
• Ability to manage and direct the work of others to accomplish program goals and objectives.
• Ability to devise innovative ways to adapt work operations to new and changing programs, to develop staffing and budget requirements, and to translate management goals and objectives into well- coordinated and 11 controlled work operations and ensure compliance with pertinent VHA policies.
• Ability to establish and monitor performance priorities according to standards and program evaluation criteria.
• Knowledge of family systems theory/therapy in coordination of family programs

Physical Requirements: The work is performed in an office setting. The position requires some standing, bending, and carrying items such as training material.

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).

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