[Counselor_Educ] FW: NCC Alert: Department of Veterans Affairs Hiring Counselors

[Leinbaugh, Tracy]

Tracy Leinbaugh, PhD, NCC, PCC-S
Associate Professor, Department of Counseling and Higher Education
Ohio University
The Gladys W. and David H. Patton College of Education and Human Services
205 McCracken Hall
Athens, OH 45701

Phone: 740-593-0846
E-mail: leinbaug at ohio.edu<mailto:leinbaug at ohio.edu>

Show, by your actions, that you choose peace over war, freedom over oppression, voice over silence, service over self-interest, respect over advantage, cooperation over competition, action over passivity, diversity over uniformity, and justice over all.

From: National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc. and Affiliates [mailto:National_Board_for_Certified_Cou at mail.vresp.com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2012 10:38 AM
To: Leinbaugh, Tracy
Subject: NCC Alert: Department of Veterans Affairs Hiring Counselors


On April 19, 2012, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced an initiative to hire 1,600 new mental health professionals. A press release dated June 11 specifically mentioned the inclusion of licensed counselors and marriage and family therapists (MFTs) in the hiring initiative.

The effort has already significantly increased the number of VA counselor job announcements, boosting the number of job postings nearly tenfold. The VA is looking for support from mental health professions to fill the vacancies, and NBCC is collaborating with the department. To accomplish this objective, NBCC created a new Web page: http://www.nbcc.org/Veterans_Administration/<http://cts.vresp.com/c/?NationalBoardforCert/e97933f6a2/5744081428/400f4d8233>. The page contains resources, including a link to the hiring initiative announcement and a banner link to available jobs.

While the initiative is a great opportunity for the profession, NBCC continues to press the VA to encourage facilities to post more counselor positions. As part of this effort, NBCC and the coalition of MFT and counselor organizations collaborated with Rep. Michael Michaud, ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health. On June 26, Rep. Michaud submitted a letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki praising the VA's recent hiring initiative, but also encouraging the VA to take full advantage of the pool of available counselors and MFTs. In particular, Rep. Michaud criticizes the exclusion of counselors and MFTs from the VA-funded trainee support program, which is currently open to psychologists and social workers. The program encourages VA service and provides a path to permanent employment by funding the placement of mental health professionals in VA facilities. NBCC and Rep. Michaud agree that inclusion of counselors and MFTs in the trainee support program is an obvious and necessary step toward full utilization of the available mental health workforce.

Counselors are urged to take advantage of this hiring initiative and seek employment with the VA. NBCC encourages NCCs to submit their stories of success or challenges in obtaining these positions to advocacy at nbcc.org<mailto:advocacy at nbcc.org>.
Thank you for your commitment to our nation's veterans.


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