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Major duties include:

• As the Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist, the work is geared toward ensuring that a caseload of Homeless and other Mental Health patients obtain vocational training and rehabilitation toward the ultimate goal of placement and successful continuation of gainful employment, and of assisting the patient in the process of maximizing their vocational potential.
• Develop vocational assessment and individual vocational plan for each assigned patient based on an appropriate evaluation of the patient's current marketability in the competitive workforce, short and long range vocational potential assessment, and in consideration of the patient's expressed vocational goals. The Individual Vocational Plan will be detailed in both an Individual Vocational Plan contract, and in the electronic progress notes contained the patient's medical record through CPRS.
• If skills are uncovered, determines potential marketability of such skills in the current economic environment develops and assists patients in implementing individual vocational plans about employment/school/training or other manner of acquiring income.
• Develops realistic individual vocational rehabilitation plans based upon the degree of limitation created by the client's physical or emotional handicaps, as well as the client's motivation, prior experience, and current usable skills.
• Leads and provides input to treatment team regarding aspects of client's disorder which must be addressed by the team to make the client job-ready or ready for training. Attends treatment planning meetings as necessary to actively contribute to multidisciplinary treatment planning process, particularly with regard to identifying vocational problem areas.
• Counsels the client to ensure awareness of VA benefits. Counsels the client to increase their understanding of basic work responsibilities. Provides vocational consultation to community placement sites.
• Seeks appropriate sponsorship for retraining from private or governmental agencies (local, state, or federal). Identifies and maintains active referral and liaison with a variety of community vocational rehabilitation services.
• Provides job placements assistance for veterans. This involves the development and implementation of specific job placement strategies. In addition. the incumbent will develop and network partnership relationships with community vocational resources and area employers. This process will involve serving as a liaison and referral source to area community vocational resource and employers. The ability and willingness of the incumbent to "cold call" prospective employers and vocational resources in order to establish potential partnership relationships is critical.

Work Schedule: Monday- Friday, 8 AM - 4:30 PM
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist/PD91063O
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to background/security investigation
• 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)
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Proficient in the English Language

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).


To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 7-28-2020.

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

Specialized Experience:
- You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:
o Work that required obtaining and applying occupational information for people with disabilities, knowledge of the interrelationships of the involved professional and specialist services, and skill in employing the methodology and techniques of counseling to motivate and encourage individuals served by the program.
o Experience that demonstrated knowledge of the vocational rehabilitation problems characteristic of the disabled, including familiarity with available resources and skill in identifying, evaluating, and making effective use of such resources to serve individuals with disabilities; or of the disadvantaged, including knowledge of adjustment problems of the educationally or culturally disadvantaged, familiarity with available adult education and training resources, and ability to recognize problem areas needing special attention.
o Experience in vocational guidance or teaching in a recognized vocational rehabilitation program or school, developmental or supervisory work in programs of vocational rehabilitation or training programs for the disadvantaged, or personnel or employment placement work that provided extensive knowledge of the training and adjustment requirements necessary to place persons having disabilities or social adjustment problems. - OR, -

Education
Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have PhD or equivalent in vocational rehabilitation, vocational or educational counseling, or other fields related to the position,

OR

3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, OR LL.M., if related.

OR,

Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond 36 semester hours of graduate level studies. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: - Communication - Education and Training - Organizational Awareness - Therapy and Counseling - Veteran and Customer Focus 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; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11

Physical Requirements: The physical demands of this position are moderate. Although some of the physical work is sedentary, there will be significant (50 - 70% of the time) local travel for support purposes. The stress related to providing services to Veterans in emotional distress or who may be demanding and uncooperative, can be more significant than that of most sedentary positions. The incumbent must be eligible to drive and transport Veterans through the use of a Federal Vehicle.

How you will be evaluated

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

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

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; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.