Rehabilitation Counselors -Part-Time

The Rehabilitation Counselor is assigned to VHA Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VHA VR) within the Syracuse VA Medical Center and is under the clinical and administrative supervision of the Vocational Rehabilitation Service Team Leader. Rehabilitation Counselors 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.
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Rehabilitation Counselors utilize various professional counseling and clinical modalities to promote and support optimal functioning, independence, personal adjustment, adaptation to disability, community reintegration, and recovery. Rehabilitation Counselors work with an interdisciplinary team to provide and coordinate a wide range of rehabilitation counseling services to Veterans with disabilities, including assessment, counseling and case management services, development of rehabilitation plans, and assistance in attaining and maintaining employment, independent living, and attaining personal goals.
Assists Veterans in Obtaining and Maintaining Employment.
Utilizes evidence-informed and evidence-based modalities and professional counseling practices to aid Veterans with severe disabilities in achieving competitive employment and educational and independent living goals.
Provides a variety of professional rehabilitation counseling services such as personal adjustment counseling, therapeutic rehabilitation interventions and case coordination services.
Uses rehabilitation counseling theory, medical and psychiatric terminology, and symptomology and signs of suicidal and homicidal ideations to provide effective services.
Conduct biopsychosocial assessments using medical records, pertinent disability documentation, observation and interviews with Veterans and their support systems to generate personal, vocational, and educational histories. Selects, administers, and interprets vocational and other psychometric instruments to evaluate abilities, transferrable skills, functional capacity, labor market analyses, aptitudes, interests, values, preferences, and overall work resilience and synthesize into an interpretive data report.
Helps the Veteran determine vocational goals and objectives and develops Veteran-centered treatment plans utilizing Specific, Measurable, Agreed upon, Realistic, and Time-based (SMART) goals and provides ongoing assessment of Veteran's progress.
Consult and participate in meetings with interdisciplinary teams to enhance coordination of care, ensure medical clearance, and provide for optimal timing of further interventions.
Customizes vocational exploration activities to identify self-determined rehabilitation needs and goals.
Assesses the Veteran's training needs in order to meet their vocational goals and objectives.
Assists Veterans in making contact with employers.
Supports Veterans in all work-related tasks, including but not limited to: transportation, on the job training, dealing with co-workers and supervisors, ongoing and follow along supports, and compliance with specifications of appropriate clinical support(s).
Provides job development, customized employment, job carving, job coaching, job accommodation, advocacy, and adaptation services to both Veterans with severe disabilities and to educate and support employers.
Collects and organizes data on Veterans served as required by the Northeast Program Evaluation Center (NEPEC) and Behavioral Health Care Line Management.
Completes various quality assurance and improvement activities to improve services provided. Advises Veterans, particularly combat Veterans, who are returning to the community and transitioning from the military to civilian occupations within community-based work.
Develop & Maintain Employer & Community Relationships
Networks in the local community with businesses and employers to locate suitable employment opportunities for Veterans served, monitors placements, and promotes successful work adjustment.
Establishes and maintains a liaison between the Medical Center and organizations within the community which provide competitive employment opportunities for Veterans.
Devises solutions to reduce and/or eliminate barriers and meet Veterans' placement needs which may require substantial modification to environmental or functional demands within a work setting.
Coordinates with various resources to locate vocational training programs in the community that will be suitable from the standpoint of the particular needs and problems of the Veteran.
Work Schedule : Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm
Telework : Not available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives : Not authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized
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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.
Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. 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. your performance and conduct;
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.
please do not submit a copy of your driver's license with your application package. United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
~ 1) 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. 2) 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). 3) 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. 4) Foreign graduates with a degree acceptable by the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC). Current, full and unrestricted certification as a certified rehabilitation counselor (CRC) from the CRCC to practice vocational rehabilitation counseling.
English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.a) Knowledge of human development and behavior, medical, psychosocial, and vocational aspects of disability and differential influences of environmental factors to assist persons with disabilities in determining suitable vocational goals.

• (b) Knowledge of history, philosophy and disability rights legislation in the field of rehabilitation to apply in the practice of rehabilitation counseling.
• (c) Ability to synthesize assessment and diagnosis information in conjunction with labor market trends and community/educational resources to develop an effective individual service delivery plan.
• (Employees at this level serve as entry level RCs. Provide vocational and personal adjustment counseling, case management and transferrable skills analyses to aid Veterans with severe disabilities in pursuit of their self-determined employment, educational and independent living goals.

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A doctoral degree in rehabilitation counselor education or related field (e.g. rehabilitation psychology) from a CACREP accredited institution or from an institution accredited by a national or regional accrediting body accredited by CHEA.
# a) Knowledge of physical and psychological disabilities, appropriate accommodations and assistive technology principles to mitigate and reduce or eliminate barriers to integrate into the community.

• b) Knowledge of counseling theory, medical and psychiatric terminology and signs and symptomology of suicidal and homicidal ideations, to communicate appropriately with community health care professionals to provide useful input to other team members and employers in relation to the Veteran and/or his/her family's psychosocial needs and to recommend and help implement suitable treatment plans.
• c) Ability to use evidence-based and evidence informed vocational and professional counseling practices to include individual placement and support (IPS), customized employment and supported employment models and motivational interviewing skills to promote self-awareness, adjustment to disability, enhanced job retention and successful integration to the community.
• d) Knowledge of career development processes and job analysis methodology to determine essential functions of jobs, worksite modifications and/or alternative vocational goals given the work history and residual functional capacities of individuals with disabilities.
• e) Ability to administer and interpret a wide variety of assessment methods including transferrable skills and labor market analyses to evaluate for individual interests, aptitudes and abilities and to identify suitable vocational goals for the development of an effective individual service delivery plan.
• f) Knowledge of marketing strategies to develop collaborative partnerships/Memorandums of Agreement within VA and local business community to enhance employment and/or work opportunities.
• g) Knowledge of military lifestyle, specific factors, and dynamics associated with Veterans, particularly combat Veterans, to assist those who are returning to community and community based-work.

Provide personal adjustment counseling, therapeutic rehabilitation interventions and case coordination services, utilizing evidence-informed and evidence-based modalities to aid Veterans with severe disabilities in achieving competitive employment and educational and independent living goals. Conduct biopsychosocial assessments using medical records, pertinent disability documentation, observation and interviews with Veterans and their support systems to generate personal, vocational, and educational histories.
Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-09 to GS-11.
The incumbent operates a government vehicle as part of their job and could be required to transport Veterans in a government vehicle. A valid state issued driver's license and successful completion of a physical fitness exam for motor vehicle operators by the VA Employee Health Office is required.
Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.
VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.
If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.
Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.
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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent.