Clarification from the agency

See "Who May Apply" in the "Qualification" section for more information on who is eligible to apply for this position.

• Perform substance abuse screenings, biopsychosocial assessments, counseling, educational workshop presentations.
• Implement appropriate counseling interventions to promote patient progress towards treatment goals.
• Monitor patients' progress and adjusts treatment plans/counseling strategies when indicated.
• Provide group counseling and individual treatment planning sessions for patients.
• Responsible for compliance with infection-control guidelines and the practice of universal precautions.
• Maintain a safe environment for providing services in the organization.

Conditions of employment

• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• This position is subject to a pre-employment drug screening, and random drug testing thereafter, to include testing based on reasonable suspicion and testing due to direct involvement with an on-duty accident.
• This position requires the completion of a pre-employment Physical Examination and an annual examination thereafter to ensure the continued, required level of physical health and ability or fitness to perform the duties of the position
• At the GS-09 level, must obtain and subsequently maintain a Drug and Alcohol Counselor certification (ADC I) or an equivalent certification within 6 months of employment or when this grade is obtained if selected at the GS-07 grade level.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: Only applicants who meet one of the employment authority categories below are eligible to apply for this job. You will be asked to identify which category or categories you meet, and to provide documents which prove you meet the category or categories you selected.

• 30 Percent or More Disabled Veterans
• Current Civilian Employees of the Defense Health Agency (DHA)
• Current Permanent Department of Defense (DoD) Civilian Employee
• Domestic Defense Industrial Base/Major Range and Test Facilities Base Civilian Personnel Workforce
• Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan
• Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act
• Military Spouses, under Executive Order (E.O.) 13473
• Non-Appropriated Fund Instrumentality (NAFI)
• Non-Department of Defense (DoD) Transfer
• Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Interchange Agreement Eligible
• People with Disabilities, Schedule A
• Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Reserve (MR) and National Guard (NG) Technician Eligible
• Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Spouse Preference (MSP) Eligible
• Priority Placement Program, DoD MR and NG Preference Eligible Tech Receiving Disability Retirement
• Priority Placement Program, DoD Retained Grade Preference Eligible
• Reinstatement
• Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) of 1998
• Veterans Recruitment Appointment (VRA)

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document.

NOTE: This is a developmental position. Management is selecting this position at the GS-07 or GS-09 grade levels. If selected at the GS-07 grade level the incumbent maybe non-competitively be promoted to the target grade level GS-09.

Individual Occupational Basic Requirement for Substance Abuse Counselor:

Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in behavioral or social science, or related disciplines appropriate to the position, such as social work, psychology, or substance abuse. (NOTE: You must attach a copy of your transcripts)

OR

Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience that provided the applicant with knowledge of one or more of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a major in the field. (NOTE: You must attach a copy of your transcripts)

OR

Experience: Four years of appropriate experience that demonstrated that the applicant has acquired knowledge of one or more of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a major in the field.

Specialized Experience for GS-07: One year of specialized experience which includes: working in a medical environment performing one or more of the following: assisting with creating bio-psychosocial assessments; reviewing and summarizing technical information; and preparing written documentation to support findings. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-05).

OR

Education: One full year of graduate level education in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: behavioral or social science; or related disciplines appropriate to the position such as psychology or counseling. (NOTE: You must attach a copy of your transcripts)

OR

Superior Academic Achievement: In order to be creditable under this provision, Superior Academic Achievement must have been gained in a curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled, such as that identified in Education above. Superior Academic Achievement is based on: (1) Class Standing - Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses; OR (2) Grade-Point Average (G.P.A.) - Applicants must have a grade-point average of either (a) 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on your official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or (b) 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum.; OR (3) Honor Society Membership - Applicants may be considered eligible based on membership in one of the approved national scholastic honor societies listed by the Association of College Honor Societies (https://www.achsnatl.org/). (NOTE: You must attach a copy of your transcripts)

OR

Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) by 18. Add the two percentages. (NOTE: You must attach a copy of your transcripts)

Time in Grade Requirement: Applicants who have held a General Schedule (GS) position within the last 52 weeks must have 52 weeks of Federal service at the next lower grade or equivalent (G-05).

Specialized Experience for GS-09: One year of specialized experience which includes: performing two or more of the following: assisting patients in the substance abuse rehabilitation; documenting patient care services, conducting patient screening; assisting with creating bio-psychosocial assessments, addressing patient problems regarding substance abuse and dependency issues. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-07).

OR

Education: Master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: behavioral or social science; or related disciplines appropriate to the position such as psychology or counseling. (NOTE: You must attach a copy of your transcripts)

OR

Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the first year (total graduate semester hours minus 18) by 18. Add the two percentages. (NOTE: You must attach a copy of your transcripts)

Time in Grade Requirement: Applicants who have held a General Schedule (GS) position within the last 52 weeks must have 52 weeks of Federal service at the next lower grade or equivalent (GS-07).

You will be evaluated on the basis of your level of competency in the following areas:

• Customer Service
• Education and Training
• Information Management
• Oral Communication

How you will be evaluated

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

Once the announcement has closed, a review of your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) will be used to determine whether you meet the qualification requirements listed on this announcement. If you are minimally qualified, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire to determine your level of experience. If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully when applying, errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

You should list any relevant performance appraisals and incentive awards in your resume as that information may be taken into consideration during the selection process. If selected, you may be required to provide supporting documentation.

You may claim Military Spouse preference.

You may claim Priority Placement Program (PPP) preference.

DoD Priority Placement Program (PPP) Applicants will receive preference consideration at the full-performance grade level only.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP). If you are a Federal employee in the competitive service and your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority for this position. To receive selection priority, you must: (1) meet ICTAP eligibility criteria (2) be rated well-qualified for the position and; (3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your ICTAP eligibility. To be considered well-qualified and receive selection priority applicants must satisfy all qualification requirements for the position and receive a score of 90 or above. Additional information about the program is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website.

The selecting official has requested a competitive and noncompetitive candidate list for this vacancy. If you are eligible for the noncompetitive list, you will be evaluated on basic and/or minimum qualifications, as applicable. While required to answer the assessment questions, non-competitive candidates will not be evaluated against the competitive rating and ranking criteria. The selecting official may select from any of the candidate lists.