Duties

Summary

Why work for the Federal Bureau of Prisons?

You can have a meaningful career with an agency that truly values a diverse workforce. You will find a diverse workforce employed from entry level jobs to senior management positions. We protect public safety by ensuring federal offenders serve their sentences of imprisonment in facilities that are safe, humane, and provide reentry programming. Employees at correctional facilities perform correctional work regardless of their specific occupation

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

Incumbent provides technical expertise to the six Regional Psychology Administrators and serves as the Bureau's subject matter expert on the treatment of major mental illness in the offender population as it occurs in mainline institutions. The incumbent maintains primary responsibility for the review and update of policy related to clinical practices and technical procedures for treatment and management of the mentally ill.

The incumbent develops specialized treatment curricula for staff and workbooks for mentally ill inmates. Through on-site technical assistance the incumbent will regularly review treatment and management practices for Mental Health Care II and III offenders. The incumbent will develop reports on both process and clinical outcomes that will be provided to the Director, and upon request, to members of Congress.

Travel Required

25% or less - Travel may be required for training and/or work related issues.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
14

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship is Required.
• See Special Conditions of Employment Section.

The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees in the Department of Justice with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your Department of Justice component has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP eligibility, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility; 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement; and 3) you are found well qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and score 85 or better on established ranking criteria. You must provide a copy of your written notification of CTAP eligibility with your application. Additional information about CTAP eligibility is at: Click Here

Qualifications

To be considered for the position, you must meet the following:

Basic Requirements:

Satisfactory completion of all the requirements for a doctoral degree (Ph.D. or equivalent) directly related to full professional work in clinical psychology is required.

NOTE: ALL applicants MUST submit legible transcripts as verification of educational requirement. Transcripts MUST be uploaded and electronically transferred from USAJOBS at the time you apply and MUST include identifying information to include School Name, Student Name, Degree and Date Awarded (if applicable). The education MUST be from an institution accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, Click Here . Transcripts MUST be received by the Consolidated Staffing Unit by the closing date of the vacancy announcement. (If you are selected for this position, you will be required to provide an OFFICIAL transcript prior to your first day on duty.)

For information regarding foreign education requirements, please see Foreign Diploma and Credit Recognition at the U.S. Department of Education website: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications

If you are selected for this position, you will be required to provide an

In addition to the basic requirements, you must have:

Education:

There is no substitution of education for specialized experience for this position.

Experience:

At least one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade level. To be creditable, this experience must have equipped the applicant with the particular qualifications to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is typically be in or related to the position to be filled.

Some examples of the qualifying experience are:

• Experience in reviewing and updating of policy related to clinical practices and technical procedures for treatment and management of the mentally ill.
• Experience in providing oversight of the implementation and maintenance of Mental Health Care Levels and preparing monthly and annual reports regarding the status of mentally ill offenders.
• Experience in developing specialized treatment curricula for staff and workbooks for mentally ill inmates in mainline institutions in support of sound clinical practices.
• Experience in assessing and establishing the training needs of Psychologists who manage Mental Health Care Level II and III inmates and designing specific strategies to meet the training needs of those staff.

Selective Placement Factor:

Applicants applying for this position, MUST also possess the following Selective Factor. In the event you do not possess the Selective Factor, you will be found ineligible for the position .

• Applicants must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice psychology at the doctoral level in a State, Territory, Commonwealth of the United States (e.g., Puerto Rico), or the District of Columbia.

NOTE: ALL applicants MUST submit license for verification. The documentation must show the expiration date of the license. This documentation MUST be received in the announcing office by the closing date of the vacancy announcement.

Credit will be given for paid and unpaid experience. To receive proper credit, you must show the actual time (such as the number of hours worked per week) spent in activities.

**Your eligibility for consideration will be based on your responses to the questions in the application.**

Education

See Qualifications Section for education requirements, if applicable.

Additional information

This position IS NOT included in the bargaining unit.

The representative rate for this position is $128,911 per annum ($61.77 per hour).

Special Conditions of Employment Section:

The incumbent is subject to geographic relocation to meet the needs of the agency.

Appointment is subject to satisfactory completion of a urinalysis, physical, and background investigation. All applicants are subject to National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and credit checks.

The addresses listed on the USAJOBS account/resume must be the primary residence at the time of application. You may be required to provide proof of residence.

Additional selections may be made if vacancies occur within the life of the certificate.

Current Federal Law Enforcement Employees: Individuals selected who are under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) or Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and who have not had three years "primary" law enforcement retirement coverage, will not be covered by law enforcement retirement while in this position. To regain coverage, individuals must return to a position with "primary" coverage.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

If your composite score exceeds the average score for this job, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your online assessment questionnaire responses and utilized to determine whether you meet the job qualifications listed in this announcement. If you rate yourself higher than what is supported by your application materials, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job. If you are found to be among the top candidates, you will be referred to the selecting official for employment consideration.

There are several parts of the application process that affect the overall evaluation of your application:

• Your resume, which is part of your USAJOBS profile;
• Your responses to the eligibility questions;
• Your responses to the online assessment questionnaire;
• Your supporting documentation, if required.

Time-in-Grade: Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements for consideration. You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this announcement.

What Competencies/Knowledge, Skills and Abilities are Required for this Position?

The following Competencies/Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA's) are required

• Ability to communicate in writing.
• Ability to communicate orally both in presentations and during individual interactions.
• Ability to analyze information and make recommendations, particularly in regards to the formulation of policy, plans and/or programs.
• Ability to Assess and Recommend Treatment and Interventions for Inmates with Mental Illness.
• Knowledge of Research Practices and Their Application with Mental Illness in a Correctional Setting.

To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
Yes

Required Documents

• Resume showing relevant experience (cover letter optional).
• In order to receive credit for experience contained in a resume, your employment history must be documented in month/year format (MM/YYYY), reflecting starting date and ending date and include the number of hours worked per week. Failure to follow this format may result in disqualification.
• Current or former Federal employees NOT employed by the Bureau of Prisons MUST submit a copy of their SF-50 Form which shows competitive service appointment, tenure group, and salary. If you have promotion potential in your current position, please provide proof. If you are applying for a higher grade, and your experience was gained at a Federal agency other than the Bureau of Prisons, you MUST provide the SF-50 Form which verifies the length of time you have been in your highest grade and supports your claim for time in grade.
• Employees applying with an interchange agreement must provide proof of their permanent appointment.
• Current federal employees NOT employed by the BOP and former federal employees MUST submit a copy of their latest yearly performance appraisal/evaluation.
• Military Spouses who meet the requirement of Executive Order 13832 - must include marriage certificate and copy of active duty military members orders OR letter from VA OR DD214 describing 100% disability of spouse, OR SF-50. For more information Click Here.
• CTAP, Click Here , if applicable.
• A college transcript which includes the School Name, Student Name, Degree and Date Awarded, if applicable. (Note: If you are selected for this position, official transcript(s) will be required prior to your first day.)

Failure to provide these documents could possibly result in removal from consideration for this vacancy. If uploading documentation, do not identify/save your documents utilizing a special character such as %, #, @, etc. Documentation should be identified/saved as VA Letter, DD214, or Transcripts.

We cannot be held responsible for incompatible software, delays in mail service, applicant application errors, etc.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education .

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.