Staff Psychologist - Home Based Primary Care

Summary

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.

Duties

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The Staff Psychologist functions as the primary mental health provider of the HBPC team, providing mental health prevention, assessment, treatment, management, & professional consultation services. Specific duties include:

• Conducts comprehensive psychological assessments & formulates diagnostic impressions using standardized & clinically appropriate methods.
• Delivers evidence-based & evidence-informed psychotherapy for mental health, substance use, behavioral, & psychosocial concerns within granted clinical privileges.
• Completes all required clinical documentation & charting in accordance with healthcare system timelines, quality standards, & accreditation requirements.
• Provides clinical supervision to unlicensed staff & trainees, guidance & education to assigned staff in psychological service delivery.
• Serves as a resource to other professional personnel by offering consultation regarding psychological services & treatment planning.
• Offers education to patients, patients' family members, professional staff, & trainees on mental health conditions & treatment approaches.
• Performs risk assessments for self-harm or harm to others & implements suicide prevention & crisis management procedures.
• Functions as a contributing member of multidisciplinary medical & mental health teams in inpatient, outpatient, or specialty care settings.
• Participates in performance improvement & quality assurance activities relevant to psychological services & clinical programs assigned.
• Providing screening, assessment, diagnosis, & treatment of depressive & anxiety-related disorders, as well as other Axis I conditions, with an emphasis on the application of time-limited, evidence-based approaches.
• Assessing & providing treatments for subclinical symptoms of dysphoria & anxiety, adjustment difficulties, & excessive use or misuse of alcohol or other drugs.
• Providing psychological prevention services to patients at significant risk for psychological problems.
• Providing services to the families of veterans with dementia being served by HBPC, when such care is directly related to the overall treatment plan for the veteran & will allow better care for the veteran & allow the family to sustain the veteran in the home environment.
• Primarily providing clinical services in the homes of HBPC veterans, & when appropriate, through the use of telehealth &/or VVC.
• Providing screening for cognitive deficits to address specific functional questions or to determine if a referral for a complete neuropsychological evaluation or dementia assessment is needed.
• Performing capacity/competency assessments when there are questions about a patient's ability to make medical decisions, perform other specific functions, or live independently.
• Assessing patients' understanding of advance directives & other forms of consent & assisting staff in determining how to present treatment options & other such material to patients in a format they can understand.
• Providing individual & group interventions to support patients that are coping with feelings of grief & loss associated with disability & other life transitions.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm

Compressed/Flexible:Available at the supervisors discretion.

Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not available.

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized.

EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact [redacted], the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more

Pay: Competitive salary & regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).

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 accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.

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) & 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: Not available.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 99256 / 99255 / 99253

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• 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 identification 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

*** This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until January 4, 2027 or until the position is filled. The initial cutoff date for referral of eligible applications will be November 17, 2026. Eligible applications received after that date will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as needed basis until positions are filled. ***

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.

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

Education

• 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.

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.

OR

• Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.

Internships.

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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 having the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience in a site specifically acceptable to the candidate's doctoral program.

Licensure. Hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice psychology at the doctoral level in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia.

• Exception. Non-licensed applicants who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements may be given a temporary appointment as a "graduate psychologist" at the GS-11 or GS- 12 grade under the authority of 38 U.S.C. a7 7405 [(c)(2)(B)] for a period not to exceed two years from the date of employment on the condition that such a psychologist provide care only under the supervision of a psychologist who is licensed. Failure to obtain licensure during that period is justification for termination of the temporary appointment.

Board Certification. Persons hired to psychology positions in the VHA who completed an internship that was not accredited at the time the program was completed must be 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. The board certificate must be current and the applicant must abide by the certifying body's requirement for continuing education.

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

Staff Psychologist, GS-11 (Entry Level)

Experience. None beyond the basic requirements.

Staff Psychologist, GS-12 (Developmental Level)

Experience. At least one year of experience as a professional psychologist equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-11). Psychologists who are not licensed must practice under the supervision of a licensed psychologist but with less intense supervision than at the GS-11 grade level.

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

1. Knowledge of and ability to apply a wide range of professional psychological treatments or assessment methods to a variety of patient populations.
2. Ability to design and implement effective treatment strategies.
3. Ability to incorporate new clinical procedures.
4. Ability to conduct research activities, such as designing