Supervisory Rehabilitation Counselor

Rehabilitation Counselors in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) work with persons who experience functional impairments and disabilities associated with mental health, physical, and/or psychosocial challenges affecting employment, independent living, or personal adjustment. Working with an interdisciplinary team to provide and coordinate a wide range of rehabilitation counseling services to Veterans with disabilities.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:

• Citizenship. Citizen of the United States.
• Certification. Applicants must hold a current, full and unrestricted certification as a certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) from the CRCC to practice vocational rehabilitation counseling
• Education. Applicant must have a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling or clinical rehabilitation counseling from a rehabilitation counseling program accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). If the applicant's degree was granted prior to July 1, 2017, the program must be accredited by the Council on Rehabilitation Education. OR Have a master's degree in counseling or clinical rehabilitation counseling from a college or university accredited by a national or regional accrediting body accredited by Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). OR Have a master's or doctoral degree in a related field of study with course content that emphasized rehabilitation, counseling, disability, therapy, health, employment wellness, or human development from a college or university accredited by a national or regional accrediting body accredited by CHEA.OR is aforeign graduate with a degree acceptable by the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC).

Grade Determinations:

• GS-13 Experience: Applicants must have at least 1 year of experience as a professional Rehabilitation Counselor, equivalent to the GS-12 level. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:
  1. Skill in leading others, assessing employee strengths, opportunities for growth and qualifications to accomplish program goals, adapt work operations and guide staff..
  2. Knowledge of labor/management agreements and how to follow their provisions to effectively manage issues and concerns.
  3. Knowledge of applicable accreditation bodies and their standards to ensure continuous compliance and successful maintenance of program accreditations.
  4. Ability to use both qualitative and quantitative methods for the development and implementation of meaningful program evaluation tools, study of program trends and program improvement.
  5. Knowledge of business administration practices such as managing payroll, accounting, budget planning, marketing, workforce development and customer service to successfully operate a rehabilitation program.
• Assignment: For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity(difficulty) and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Supervisory RCs typically supervise a significant number of professional staff at the SE/Mentor Trainer and RC (Coordinator) level and below as well as other equivalent clinical staff. Lead, coordinate and manage all aspects of a clinical rehabilitation service delivery system within an organization. Supervise daily operations to include coordinating interdisciplinary staffing, treatment services, work assignments, budget, staff schedules, safety in the community, training requirements and conducts meetings. Determine which programs/projects should be initiated, expanded, revised or replaced through systematic analyses, program evaluations and accountability measures. Develop and revise comprehensive policies, risk management and strategic plans based on feedback from stakeholders, accrediting bodies and program evaluation data. Allocate program resources to improve quality and delivery of care provided to Veterans while considering staff talents and achieving program mission. Establish staff performance expectations and conduct staff work performance reviews. Effect disciplinary measures as appropriate based on the authority delegated to this area. Write position descriptions and/or functional statements and recommend or select for positions, career ladder promotions, within-grade increases, status changes, awards, staff travel and overtime. Maintain effective labor/management relationships and manage personnel in accordance with applicable laws, policies, directives and labor/management agreements. Resolve formal and informal complaints and grievances. Project budget based on historical and anticipated workload taking into consideration the production capability of the unit to make justified requests or proposals. Oversee the maintenance of billings, payroll, pay records, specific to the CWT-TW program and the accuracy of all financial reports connected with the program which are submitted to VACO. Maintain oversight of the administrative and programmatic resource allocations (e.g., budgets, purchasing, labor mapping) within the VHA Vocational Rehabilitation (VHA VR) programs, including oversight for Memorandum of Agreements (MOA) related to CWT-TW. Maintain accounting controls, functions as an approving official for purchase cards and fund control points.

  References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G62- Rehabilitation Counselor Qualification Standards

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).
Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health ServiceEducation: IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on 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/.Employment Type: FULL_TIME