VA Mental Health Provider Venting / Problem-solving / Peer Support Thread

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The VBA definitely isn’t exempt—literally one job posting for the entire agency on USAJOBS and it’s open to displaced employees only. On the VHA side, I know one facility fighting hard to get an exemption for some mental health rehabilitation positions, as they will likely lose CARF accreditation this year without them. One was cancelled in last year’s hiring freeze, too. 🙁 also, wondering if that OPM memo about probationary employees means that we are getting fired, sigh.
 
ccpsych16 said:
The influx of job posting cancellation emails has started. We have multiple staff in the pipeline whose offers may be rescinded. Sigh.
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Apparently VHA was included in the hiring freeze. OPM supposedly sent out guidance requiring all offers not finalized before 11:59am on 1/20 to be rescinded.
 
I'm sure this was asked/will be asked again, but anyone have any insight as to if VA internships are impacted by the current hiring freeze? As a 2025-2026 intern who applied to only VAs, starting to get a little concerned with how close it is to rankings being due. I know there were exemptions in 2017, but not sure if there are any this time around.
 
futureapppsy2 said:
Well, this is sweeping—-shutting down all federal DEI programs and offices (including those using different terms) as of tomorrow.
https://chcoc.gov/sites/default/files/OPM Memo Initial Guidance Regarding DEIA Executive Orders.pdf
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I was a finalist last year for a VA job in this area. I was crushed to not get it, though I wonder what it would be like now given this turn of events. Sounds like I’d be out of a job. I haven’t heard a peep from our leadership yet and how this impact Champions and mental health programming (women’s, LGBTQ, etc). This is so ridiculous.
 
futureapppsy2 said:
Well, this is sweeping—-shutting down all federal DEI programs and offices (including those using different terms) as of tomorrow.
https://chcoc.gov/sites/default/files/OPM Memo Initial Guidance Regarding DEIA Executive Orders.pdf
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A lot of programs are housed under patient care. We'll see how long they hold. Higher up the chain may not appreciate the work we do, but local hospitals care because we stop bad outcomes. I spent half of yesterday fighting to point out that a person was receiving medical care that could be considered gender affirming surgery if they didn't have a longstanding history that would have made the treatment necessary regardless. They are also trans, but it was irrelevant to the treatment plan. I struggle with stuff like this on a regular basis. I imagine it is about to get more annoying and dangerous. We could have ended a consult that required months of prep because people got confused about what was happening.
 
I saw that article and was wondering how that will impact the LGBT program, particularly the coordinator.
 
futureapppsy2 said:
also, wondering if that OPM memo about probationary employees means that we are getting fired, sigh.
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The glimmer of hope on that front is that they allowed finalized offers starting soon to proceed despite the hiring freeze. If they planned to fire all the probationary employees, then one expects they would have cancelled those offers as well.
 
cara susanna said:
I saw that article and was wondering how that will impact the LGBT program, particularly the coordinator.
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We're housed under patient care. It'll be more annoying to get rid of us, but they can do it with some effort. My hope is they'll get bogged down with all the lawsuits due to RTO and firing the higher-ups.
 
Shiori said:
A lot of programs are housed under patient care. We'll see how long they hold. Higher up the chain may not appreciate the work we do, but local hospitals care because we stop bad outcomes. I spent half of yesterday fighting to point out that a person was receiving medical care that could be considered gender affirming surgery if they didn't have a longstanding history that would have made the treatment necessary regardless. They are also trans, but it was irrelevant to the treatment plan. I struggle with stuff like this on a regular basis. I imagine it is about to get more annoying and dangerous. We could have ended a consult that required months of prep because people got confused about what was happening.
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There is a lot of confusion about the new rules around gender affirming care. I spent yesterday discussing whether the medical team was allowed to order medical supplies for the opposite sex for someone that is in transition or not. Nothing like spending limited time on figuring out if we are allowed to do common sense things or not.
 
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aim-agm said:
The glimmer of hope on that front is that they allowed finalized offers starting soon to proceed despite the hiring freeze. If they planned to fire all the probationary employees, then one expects they would have cancelled those offers as well.
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That would be common sense thinking. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of common sense involved in the process. They want as many people fired as possible. They don't care how it gets done.
 
Sanman said:
That would be common sense thinking. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of common sense involved in the process. They want as many people fired as possible. They don't care how it gets done.
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That is my thought as well. It is wishful thinking to expect common sense thinking. I've changed my TSP contribution rate to try and make sure I hit the yearly limit ASAP, in case I suddenly stop being able to make contributions...
 
aim-agm said:
That is my thought as well. It is wishful thinking to expect common sense thinking. I've changed my TSP contribution rate to try and make sure I hit the yearly limit ASAP, in case I suddenly stop being able to make contributions...
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I would rethink that. It will likely mess up your match if the contributions are not spread out equally. A few months of TSP are not going to mean much and cash in hand is always good to have.
 
neuro_newbie said:
I'm sure this was asked/will be asked again, but anyone have any insight as to if VA internships are impacted by the current hiring freeze? As a 2025-2026 intern who applied to only VAs, starting to get a little concerned with how close it is to rankings being due. I know there were exemptions in 2017, but not sure if there are any this time around.
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I'm curious about this as well. I've heard training positions at the VA are often safe but in the case of a broader hiring freeze, I'm not confident in that.
 
Given the intentional chaos, I wouldn't assume anything is safe at this point in the VA. Personally, my bet is this is part of the plan to degrade services and start kicking things out to the private sector. Which, have fun with that, very few people in my specialty take the payer source.
 
cara susanna said:
Internship and post doc positions weren't affected last time this happened. They're funded differently, iirc.
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The current freeze is until May. Interns and post-docs are not career staff and usually not included in these freezes. That said, interns and post-docs need supervisors (as do medical residents). With all of these RTO mandates and hiring freezes, that may become a problem in short order for both physicians and psychologists.
 
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cara susanna said:
I'm involved in a training program and we were able to work around it, but this latest guidance is VERY specific and these workarounds may no longer... work
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We floated the idea of during it off-tour even though it would be burdensome. I wonder if that would work now.
 
futureapppsy2 said:
Wouldn’t that potentially violate the anti-deficiency act, if attendance was required?
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That is a good question. I was a trainee at the time, so I didn't actually hear the barriers to the different approaches.
 
I just got invited to be a speaker for a DEI seminar series. Hrmmmm
 
cara susanna said:
I just got invited to be a speaker for a DEI seminar series. Hrmmmm
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Suspicious Season 3 GIF by Parks and Recreation
 
I just realized that I have a tendency of using the men's single occupancy staff bathroom when the women's is in use. Is that, like, technically illegal now?
 
The emails are coming out and psych training sites all seem terrified. Oh God, this is a huge mess. Can APA make an exception? I get that diversity programming is important, but I don't think pulling accreditation is the answer here. And think about how many internship sites we'd lose!
 
cara susanna said:
The emails are coming out and psych training sites all seem terrified. Oh God, this is a huge mess. Can APA make an exception? I get that diversity programming is important, but I don't think pulling accreditation is the answer here. And think about how many internship sites we'd lose!
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They are likely going to have to do so.
 
You all are stressing me out. We haven’t even heard anything locally here about training impacts
 
cara susanna said:
The emails are coming out and psych training sites all seem terrified. Oh God, this is a huge mess. Can APA make an exception? I get that diversity programming is important, but I don't think pulling accreditation is the answer here. And think about how many internship sites we'd lose!
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Did the APA make a statement they were pulling accreditation from the VA or any impacted sites at this time?

Also a friend of mine who is a midlevel at a major VA facility said they received emails today that their "holocust remembrance day events and meeting was canceled" and that "all staff are to immediately cease any DEI activities," they were instructed to report any colleagues engaging in or promoting "DEI activities" at the facility or face disciplinary action.

Gee, if only people had listened to the warnings prior to Nov 4th, none of this would be happening, and perhaps even earlier when it was bluntly clear an anti-DEI, anti-veteran, anti-LGBTQA+, anti-immigrant, and anti-education administration was the result if Donald Trump won. This was possibly preventable months ago, if not years ago.

I agree it's a mess that may take years to correct.
 
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quickpsych said:
Did the APA make a statement they were pulling accreditation from the VA or any impacted sites at this time?

Also a friend of mine who is a midlevel at a major VA facility said they received emails today that their "holocust remembrance day events and meeting was canceled" and that "all staff are to immediately cease any DEI activities," they were instructed to report any colleagues engaging in or promoting "DEI activities" at the facility or face disciplinary action.

Gee, if only people had listened to the warnings prior to Nov 4th, none of this would be happening, and perhaps even earlier when it was bluntly clear an anti-DEI, anti-veteran, anti-LGBTQA+, anti-immigrant, and anti-education administration was the result if Donald Trump won. This was possibly preventable months ago, if not years ago.

I agree it's a mess that may take years to correct.
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They haven't, but TDs seem very worried about the implications of losing DEI programming.
 
WisNeuro said:
Given the intentional chaos, I wouldn't assume anything is safe at this point in the VA. Personally, my bet is this is part of the plan to degrade services and start kicking things out to the private sector. Which, have fun with that, very few people in my specialty take the payer source.
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I was going to say they pay like crap so it's just going to mean vets don't get care and some will die. Guess he doesn't care about the blowback or will just blame VA some more
 
futureapppsy2 said:
Ideological wars aside, some degree of multicultural competency is necessary to provide effective healthcare to most people, tbh.
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I wonder if this is a potential workaround, even with what they've said about coded language--focusing on multicultural competency rather than DEI specifically.
 
Our leadership has said nothing, about anything. We’d already lost faith in them over the last year due to their handling of other issues. But wow. Not even a “we’re aware of XYZ and discussing it” email.
 
WisNeuro said:
Eh, partially. But, there is also things that are unique to US culture that drive this. Plenty of nations with compulsory military service and/or relatively high gun ownership rates that don't show the same relationship we have.
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There is also the 20+ yr white supremacy “problem” in law enforcement and in our country. Radicalized racists turned domestic terrorists who have easy access to an AR-15 seem to be connected to numerous mass shootings. I wonder what the vast majority of these domestic terrorists/mass shooters have in common?
 
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ccpsych16 said:
Our leadership has said nothing, about anything. We’d already lost faith in them over the last year due to their handling of other issues. But wow. Not even a “we’re aware of XYZ and discussing it” email.
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Nada at ours too. Holding on to faint hope they keep hybrid. I read his executive orders and of all the ones I read, many super verbose, this one was shortest and appeared to allow exceptions. It seems up to departments on what’s necessary. Is retaining staff necessary? Because many would be pissed and leave especially the ones already vested
 
cara susanna said:
OPM just released their guidance last night. It's... not good.
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Have they clarified what kind of bounty you get for snitching on your colleagues yet? What about if you turn in your family members, is that extra?
 
aim-agm said:

Telework memorandum
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That's a very, very partisan and dramatic-sounding letter. I'm not surprised.

And yeah, it sounds like they're saying all telework employees need to be back in-office within 30 days, unless there's a valid exception.

I'm no lawyer, but I wonder about incoming lawsuits, especially if an employee's contract/hiring documents specified some set amount of telework (or it's general availability).
 
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