Psychology Program Manager

Summary

The PCMHI Program Manager serves within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), VISN 7, at the VA Augusta Health Care System (VAAHCS), providing leadership and operational oversight for the Primary Care-Mental Health Integration (PCMHI) Program within the Mental Health Service (MHS). The incumbent is responsible for comprehensive program management that ensures PCMHI functions effectively within an integrated, team-based primary care environment.

Duties

• Responsible for strategic planning to ensure the provision of high-quality services to meet the needs of the Veterans being served and planning and developing and implementing short- and long-term goals and objectives consistent with the program's strategic plan. Responsible for monitoring outcomes using data-driven quality assurance processes and ensures timely completion of all program evaluations or other documentation required by the Medical Center, VISN, and VACO, ensuring compliance with relevant regulations or requested actions items. Ensures efficient operation of work unit through close collaboration and partnership with interdisciplinary PACT leaders and stakeholders; attends interdisciplinary leadership meetings, engages in PACT strategic planning, and promotes routine, high quality communication to optimize care and identify solutions to operational challenges; acts as liaison between MHS and interdisciplinary PACT leadership. Directly supervises Psychologists, Licensed Clinical Social Workers, and Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselors, including performance appraisals, time and attendance, disciplinary actions, and other personnel management activities. Works closely with Chief of Mental Health, Director of Outpatient Mental Health, and Administrative Officer on adherence to Office of Mental Health Operations (OHMO) guidelines and initiatives. Independently provides a full range of PCMHI clinical services, including functional assessments, brief interventions, measurement-based care, and population-based, collaborative practice as part of PACT Interviews Veterans and their family members/significant others to establish facts about the Veteran's situation, presenting problems and their causes, and the impact of such problems on the Veteran's functioning and health as part of a comprehensive psychosocial assessment. Interprets and explains VA's treatment and benefit programs. Independently evaluates the client's situation, including the Veteran's reaction and ability to deal with it, and arrives at a reasoned conclusion. Based on the psychosocial assessment, professional judgment and advanced practice skills, the incumbent incorporates 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. Develops treatment plans in coordination with interdisciplinary team members, including goals for psychosocial clinical treatment. Using known available resources and the initial assessment of the Veteran's likelihood to accept differing types of assistance, make initial and continuing decisions regarding use of VA and non-VA services and referrals. Provides clinical services to Veterans and family members/significant others in support of the Veteran's treatment. Gives guidance, emotional support, and other assistance. Provides individual and group counseling services, including psychotherapy in the setting in which they are assigned. Assists and encourages Veterans and significant others in facing problems, thinking them through, evaluating the situation realistically, considering alternative courses of action, and arriving at plans for using resources to resolve problems. VA Careers - Psychologist: https://youtube.com/embed/77qHlLw9Xck Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Work Schedule: 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM, Monday- Friday Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact LaKita.Bush@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more 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) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave…

Qualifications

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: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Education For VA qualification purposes, acceptable doctoral psychology degrees must come from programs accredited by APA, PCSAS, or CPA. These accrediting bodies cover clinical, counseling, or general professional psychology training. School psychology programs are not eligible because VHA does not have assignments requiring that specialty. Aside from excluding school psychology, VHA does not differentiate between accredited specialty areas when determining eligibility for appointment as a psychologist. OR 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. For the purpose of meeting this requirement, the term "specialty area" refers to the specific specialty areas recognized by 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 (3) Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature AND Internships (a) 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 (b) 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 (c) 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 (d) 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 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 (e) 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…

Education

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/. This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.