Mental Health Administration Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Summary
The Fargo VA Health Care System is recruiting for 1 full-time Mental Health Counselor. This vacancy will be filled by a Social Worker, Marriage and Family Therapist, Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, or Staff psychologist.
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Duties
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The VA Midwest Health Care Network advocates for a Whole Health System of care in each of the Medical Centers. This is an approach to healthcare that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their lives to the fullest. As an employee operating in a Whole Health System of care, you will operate in a model with three core elements, seeking to create a personalized health plan for each Veteran. This is done in the context of healing relationships and healing environments and a connection back to the Veteran's community. This aligns with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Mission Statement to Honor America's Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being.
The professional mental health counselor provides professional counseling and mental health services grounded in professional counseling theory and evidence-based practices. Core responsibilities include delivering direct clinical care to patients, developing and implementing treatment plans, completing clinical evaluations, and contributing to the education of staff and trainees as appropriate.
The professional mental health counselor is responsible for their clinical assessment findings, patient care decisions, and documentation, ensuring adherence to all documentation procedures, including timely entries and proper patient check-out processes. They are fully accountable for their practice, which includes recording visit details, measuring intervention outcomes, and meeting productivity standards. The professional mental health counselor promotes the highest standards of professional and ethical practice across the interdisciplinary team and actively participates in administrative and informational meetings, including those of the Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (LPMHC) Service, Mental Health, and Medical Staff, as well as relevant program-specific meetings.
The professional mental health counselor must demonstrate a high degree of independent action. They engage in program development, outcomes evaluation, and performance monitoring to address and monitor the population-based needs of individuals. The LPMHC serves various committees, task forces, or rotations at the LPMHC, Mental Health Integrated Care Community (MH ICC), medical center, Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN), and/or national VA levels, as assigned. They participate in the full range of treatment programming and may provide leadership and professional assistance to their junior and peer colleagues as appropriate. They may provide clinical supervision over the clinical practice of an unlicensed professional mental health counselor or trainee, as well as providing clinical supervision to aspiring professionals of other disciplines.
Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Provide professional evaluations, decisions, and recommendations for treatment planning and implementation.
• Deliver comprehensive, evidence-based therapeutic interventions through both in-person and telehealth services.
• Provide therapeutic services through individual therapy, couples/family therapy, and psychoeducational groups.
• Develop treatment plans and set achievable treatment goals in collaboration with the patient. The treatment plan will be completed no later than the end of the patient's third visit for mental health services and updated as required by the Mental Health Integrated Care Community (MH ICC), or more frequently if there is a change in the patient's condition or needs.
• Evaluate service delivery and outcomes by consistently using measurement-based care to guide interventions and treatment.
• Conduct crisis screening and assessment, developing crisis management plans for the appropriate level of care. In the event of a medical or psychiatric emergency, follow the protocol of the Mental Health Clinic at the VA Medical Center.
• Provide consultation to professional staff within the Fargo VA Healthcare System and to community providers regarding patient diagnosis and treatment, as well as the delivery of care.
• Provide formal or informal supervision and/or training for professional mental health counseling trainees and unlicensed colleagues, as assigned.
• Ensure that the practice of professional mental health counseling is consistent with the professional practice standards and ethics of National Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselors, as guided by the NBCC Code of Ethics, and with the established policies and procedures of the Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (LPMHC) Service, Fargo VA, State Licensing Board, and the Veterans Health Administration.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Telework: Available (Ad-hoc)
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized
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.
• 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
Health Professional Trainee (HPT) 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. 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-0101 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.
  
  • Exception. VHA may waive the licensure requirement for persons who are otherwise qualified, pending completion of state prerequisites for licensure. This exception only applies up to the full performance level. For grade levels at or above the full performance level, the candidate must be licensed.
• 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.

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:
GS-9 (Entry Level)
Experience, Education, and Licensure. The GS-9 grade level is the entry grade level for LPMHCs with less than one year of experience(post-master's degree) or for LPMHCs at the master's or doctoral level) who are graduates not yet licensed at the independent practice level. Unlicensed LPMHCs at the GS-9 grade level have completed the required education listed in paragraph 3.b., and are working toward completion of prerequisites for licensure. In addition, the candidates must demonstrate the KSAs in subparagraph (c) below.
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the basic requirements, the candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:
1. Ability to engage in intake and assessment, problem identification, diagnosis, treatment planning and implementation, continuum of care, evaluation and follow-up.
2. Knowledge of current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of Mental Disorders in formulation of treatment goals and application of appropriate clinical interventions using professional counseling practices.
3. Basic knowledge of professional counseling practice with emphasis on human development principles through cognitive, affective, behavioral or systemic interventions, and strategies that address high risk behaviors, wellness, personal growth, and career development across the life span.
4. Ability to use a wide variety of individual, group, or family counseling interventions.
5. Ability to serve on an interdisciplinary team with focus on the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and relational functioning of individuals, groups and families and on the counseling approaches, strategies, and techniques that will best help patients function effectively.
6. Basic skill in the use of computer software applications for drafting documents, data management, maintaining accurate, timely and thorough clinical documentation and delivery of services, such as Telehealth.
7. Ability to learn and utilize software programs in use by VHA.
8. Knowledge and understanding of existing relevant statutes, case laws, ethical codes, and regulations affecting professional practice of counseling.
9. Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, with people from varied backgrounds.
GS-11 (Full Performance Level)
Experience, Education, and Licensure. In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must have at least one year of post-master's or post- doctoral degree mental health counseling experience (VA or non-VA experience) and must be licensed to practice at the independent practice level and demonstrate the KSAs in subparagraph (c) below. LPMHCs may provide clinical supervision over the clinical practice of an unlicensed LPMHC or LPMHC trainee. Some state licenses do not license an individual to provide clinical supervision to trainees or unlicensed LPMHCs. Please refer to specific state licensing laws regarding the requirements for providing clinical supervision.
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to meeting the KSAs for the GS-9 grade level, the candidate must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:
1. Ability to make professional evaluations, decisions, and recommendation for treatment planning and implementation.
2. Advanced knowledge and mastery of the fundamentals of the counseling process which includes defining patient/family problems and maintaining an effective counseling relationship.
3. Ability to provide subject matter consultation to colleagues and trainees on the counseling process within various specialty areas, build on the foundation of competence through regular meetings and discussions to explain assignments, review progress of cases and confer about the counseling perspectives and orientation.
4. Ability to provide complex crisis intervention and stabilization to patients who are in psychological distress. Requires independent judgment and skill.
5. Ability to establish goals/treatment through a collaborative process with the patient utilizing advanced counseling skills, including evidenced- based practices, screening, and psychosocial assessment.
6. Ability to use a wide variety of individual, group, or family counseling interventions.
7. Ability to fully utilize the current DSM in making diagnoses and formulation of treatment goals and application of appropriate clinical intervention using professional counseling practices.
8. Ability to develop and facilitate psychotherapy and psycho- education groups that include life skills, family support, and community integration. This may include evidence based psychotherapy.
All qualifying experience you possess must be clearly described in your application package. We will not make assumptions w