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Social Service Representative

Department of Health and Human Services
Indian Health Service

Summary

This position provides Mental Health and Social Services to patients under the Rosebud Service Unit. This position is located under the Great Plains Area Indian Health Service at the Rosebud Service Unit in Rosebud, South Dakota.

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Overview

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Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
10/17/2025 to 12/19/2025
Salary
$55,328 to - $71,932 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 8
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Rosebud, SD
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
Yes
Announcement number
IHS-26-GP-12819968-ESEP/MP
Control number
848401700

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Duties

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  • Responsible for providing initial psychiatric and psychosocial evaluations. Uses professional judgment in dealing with serious and complicated cases.
  • Provides ongoing group work and individual therapy for psychiatric and non-psychiatric clientele. Individuals included in the groups pose various problems such as suicidal/homicidal behavior, alcohol/other drug misuse/addiction, sexual offenders and other violent behaviors.
  • Assist patients and families in utilizing available community, state, and federal resources toward the improvement for the social and physical health. Serve as liaison between community, state, federal agencies and tribal agencies.
  • Plans and coordinates activities related to Discharge Planning. Assists patients and families in making arrangements to meet the ongoing health care needs post-hospitalization.
  • Other duties as assigned.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

Selectee may be subject to a probationary period
ESEP appointees typically serve a two year trial period
U.S. Citizenship is required
Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959

This is a designated position covered by Public Law 101-630, requiring contact or control over Indian children. Due to this requirement, the agency must ensure that persons hired for these positions have not been found guilty of or pleaded nolo contendere or guilty to certain crimes.

On-call hours or standby duty may be required. Nights, weekends, holidays, and/or rotating shift may be required.

Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit www.dhs.gov/E-Verify/.

You will need to set up direct deposit so we can pay you.

Background Investigation: If you are selected for this vacancy, you must undergo a pre-employment fingerprint check and background investigation. Fingerprint results and background investigation documentation must be cleared prior to hire. After you begin your employment, your continued employment is contingent upon the outcome of a complete background investigation as determined by the sensitivity level of your position. The investigation must find that you are suitable for Federal employment in your position. If you are found not suitable, you will be terminated after you begin work. If you make a false statement in any part of your application, you may not be hired; you may be fired after you begin work; or subject to possible criminal charges. You may be subject to a credit check as a part of the background investigation process.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, your resume must state sufficient experience and/or education, to perform the duties of the specific position for which you are applying.

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; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer and part time experience. You must clearly identify the duties and responsibilities in each position held and the total number of hours per week.

BASIC REQUIREMENT(S):
Education
Graduate Education: Major study - social sciences. One full academic year of graduate study is qualifying for GS-07. Graduate education is not creditable for positions above the GS-07 level.

OR

Experience
Specialized Experience (for positions above GS-05): One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower level in the normal line of progression is qualifying for positions above the GS-05 level. Specialized experience is experience in a program of direct social welfare services that required the application of program policy and operations knowledge in providing social welfare services and/or assisting social workers

In addition to the Basic Requirements, you must also meet the Minimum Qualifications stated below.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
GS-08 Grade Level: Your resume must demonstrate at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the Federal service obtained in either the private or public sector performing the following type of work and/or tasks: Examples Include: Provides initial psychiatric and psychosocial evaluations using in depth knowledge of normal and abnormal psychology, mental illnesses and their indicators. Provide ongoing group work and individual therapy along with follow-up services. Assist local community with organization projects to inform and alleviate social and mental health problems.

Time In Grade
Federal employees in the competitive service are also subject to the Time-In-Grade Requirements: Merit Promotion (status) candidates must have completed one year of service at the next lower grade level. Time-In-Grade provisions do not apply under the Excepted Service Examining Plan (ESEP).

You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement.

Education

This position has an education requirement. You are strongly encouraged to submit a copy of your transcripts or a list of your courses including titles, credit hours completed, and grades. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted in the application package. Official transcripts will be required from all selectees prior to receiving an official offer.

Only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education may be credited. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website: https://www.ed.gov/accreditation.

If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Additional information

Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. IHS may offer newly-appointed Federal employees credit for their directly related previous non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave.

This position is covered by a Bargaining Unit.

Recruitment or relocation incentives may be authorized. At least a 6 month service agreement will be required.

The Indian Health Service (IHS), National Health Service Corps (NHSC), and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) have student loan repayment programs for qualifying health disciplines. This is a competitive process separate from the hiring process. Opportunities for LRP are based on agency hiring priorities and availability of funds. For additional information please visit:
For IHS - http://www.ihs.gov/loanrepayment/
For NHSC - https://nhsc.hrsa.gov/loanrepayment/
For HRSA Nurse Corps - https://bhw.hrsa.gov/loansscholarships/nursecorps

You will be evaluated for this position in accordance with the OPM Merit Hiring Plan.
As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide short essay responses (200 words or less each) to the following four questions.

  1. How has your commitment to the Constitution and the founding principles of the United States inspired you to pursue this role within the Federal government?
  2. In this role, how would you use your skills and experience to improve government efficiency and effectiveness?
  3. How would you help advance the President's Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role?
  4. How has a strong work ethic contributed to your professional, academic or personal achievements?
  • Your responses are optional and will not be scored.
  • However, they may be reviewed by hiring managers and agency leadership (or designees) during the evaluation process.
  • You will be asked to certify that your responses are written in your own words and that you did not use a consultant or artificial intelligence (AI) tool (such as ChatGPT or Copilot).

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

How you will be evaluated

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

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

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Once the application process is complete, the first two pages of your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine whether you meet the job qualifications.

Structured Resume Review:
Subject matter experts (SMEs) will review your resume to determine your technical qualifications for this position based on the required competencies. SMEs will review ONLY the first two (2) pages of your resume. SMEs will not review additional information beyond your resume (e.g., cover letter, links embedded in your resume).

Once the announcement closes, we will conduct a review of your application package to verify your eligibility and qualifications. If you are found qualified, your application will move forward to additional phases of the review process.

Click here to view vacancy questions: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12819968.

All documents above MUST be received by 11:59 pm (Eastern Standard Time) of the closing date of, 12/19/2025, to be considered.

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