Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (Program Manager) - Outpatient MH Programs

Full Job Description

Administratively responsible for clinic programs providing treatment to patients in major specialties, including: Addiction Disorder Services (ADS) in Rapid City, Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP), outpatient ADS in Fort Meade and Rapid City, the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PCT) outpatient program in Fort Meade, the outpatient Mental Health Clinics in Fort Meade and Rapid City.

The incumbent provides and manages direct patient care services in the program areas.

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.

In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English.

Education - Master's or doctoral degree in one of the following: 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 Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (LPMHC) qualification standards as Traditional Rehabilitation counseling differs from Clinical Rehabilitation counseling.

Licensure - Must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to independently practice as a Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, which includes diagnosis and treatment.

Grandfather Provision: An LPMHC employed in VHA on the effective date of the qualification standard (4/3/2018) who did not meet all the basic requirements in this standard may not be promoted beyond the full performance level (GS-11) or be newly placed in supervisory or managerial positions until meeting the full qualification requirements.

Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements stated above, the following qualification criteria must be met for each grade.

The candidate's qualifications must clearly demonstrate the level of competence required for the grade.

Grade Determinations: GS-13 LPMHC (Program Manager) Requirements: In addition to meeting the basic requirements, to qualify for the GS-13 you must possess 1 year of progressively complex LPMHC experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade which demonstrates the following Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities.

Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressively more professional competency.

Advanced knowledge of and mastery of theories and modalities used in the specialized treatment of complex mental illness.

Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment of veteran patients, including making psychosocial and psychiatric diagnoses within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.

Ability to determine priority of services needed and provide specialized treatment.

Advanced and expert skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities for Veterans with complex needs.

This includes individual, group, and/or family counseling, or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial, and/or case management interventions used in the treatment of Veterans.

Ability to coordinate the delivery of specialized psychosocial services and programs. Ability to design system changes based on data.

Ability to provide subject matter consultation to colleagues and trainees on the psychosocial treatment of patients, rendering professional opinions based on experience, expertise and role modeling effective clinical skills.

Ability to teach, mentor staff and trainees, and provide supervision for licensure or for specialty certifications.

Ability to engage in written and oral communication with leadership/staff and community stakeholders regarding policies, procedures, practice guidelines, and issues pertaining to the practice of the profession.

Ability to make judgments and decisions associated with program management. Ability to monitor program outcomes using data driven quality assurance process.

Ability to develop productivity standards appropriate to each service provided.

Ability to manage a wide range of programs which include the operation and management of key clinical, training or administrative programs.

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

Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor Qualification Standard The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13.

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. Major Duties:

Administrative Duties (90%) Responsible for supervising, hiring, organizing team and treatment planning meetings, keeping administrative minutes of all team meetings, managing outpatient consults for ADS, PCT and outpatient clinics in Rapid City and Fort Meade.

Maintains referrals to the programs and will perform monthly chart audits on ADS, PCT and outpatient patients to determine staff compliance with VBHHCS documentation standards and clinical management of Veterans.

will assist in monitoring the completion of clinical reminders, performance measures, and performance improvement projects.

Supports ongoing compliance with VABHHCS, VACO, and Joint Commission guidelines for patient care. Tracks referrals.

Provides or facilitates appropriate training for best practices including evidence-based practices.

Monitors compliance with treatment planning standards, measurement-based care standards, access standards, productivity standards, and clinic utilization standards.

Fosters telehealth and home telehealth availability from staff. Facilitates team members in both training and execution of any relevant VABHHCS patient care policies and procedures.

Clinical Responsibilities (10%) Duties include, but are not limited to, a full range of psycho-social services including assessment, and using the most appropriate, evidence-based psychotherapeutic techniques in providing quality care in the delivery of a full range of psychological and multidisciplinary services in the outpatient programs.

Proficient in tele-mental health or similar activities in order to provide service for veterans who are located a prohibitive distance from VA facilities.

Provides evidence-based therapies, including but not limited to Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

For all clinical duties, works delivering specialty services according to program requirements and provides consultation services to medical center and CBOC staff on a wide variety of patient care issues.

Provides measurement-based care, utilizes treatment planning effectively with goals and objectives that are measurable demonstrating progress, and develops effective transition planning.

Demonstrates productivity, strong clinic utilization, and effective access for Veterans. Provides ethical individual and group mental health services to eligible Veterans.

General duties also include, but are not limited to, assessment and referral services; design and preparation of diagnostic assessments, providing entry-level services for Veterans of all service eras, formulating and providing individual and group treatments, preparing initial and updated treatment plans, and planning for follow-up care after completion of treatment.

When properly credentialed and licensed, will operate independently in all areas, consulting with peers and supervisors when warranted.

The incumbent may be required to travel up to 25% of the time, which would require the incumbent to drive a government owned vehicle to travel for technical or professional training and to support remote healthcare system sites, as needed and/or directed by management.

Work Schedule: 0730-1600 Monday-Friday Telework: Ad Hoc Only Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 00000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized