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Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
This job announcement has closed

Summary

The Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist (VRS) is assigned to the Employment Services for Homeless Veterans (ESHV) component of the Compensated Work Therapy (CWT) Program and has responsibility for utilizing best practices in conjunction with VA Homeless services to assist Homeless Veterans or Veterans at risk of Homelessness to return to community living and competitive employment.

Overview

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Job canceled
Open & closing dates
06/29/2022 to 07/19/2022
Salary
$55,071 to - $78,840 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 9 - 11
Location
Omaha, NE
1 vacancy
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
50% or less - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
11
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
CBSY-11552325-22-TJR
Control number
662780600

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Duties

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Duties include, but are not limited to:

  • Provides employment services to Homeless Veterans and works directly with patients who have been referred for employment to the continuum of homeless programs from a variety of sources.
  • Provides therapeutic employment services (skills training and development services, employment support services, and job development and placement services) to homeless veterans in need of rehabilitation for mental health disorders, including serious mental illness, PTSD, and substance use disorders; and Veterans with co-occurring physical disorders, such as Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Polytrauma, and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
  • Works closely with members of the interdisciplinary team including Physicians, Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors, Therapists, Social Workers, HUD/VASH VA Case Managers, Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) outreach workers, Grant and Per Diem Liaisons, and other care providers within the VA facility and community based service providers including Grant and Per Diem recipients, HCHV contract bed programs, Homeless Veterans Reintegration Providers (HVRP), and HUD grantees.
  • Works directly with community agencies, and community employers with the goal of assisting Veterans in obtaining and maintaining suitable employment.
  • Responsible for interviewing potential Veterans referred to the CWT program (via medical orders and SF 513 consult with appropriate clearance to work in the community), and for developing a vocational assessment to identify individuals strengths and areas of vocational interests.
  • Utilizes gathered information to assist the Veteran In identifying occupational areas in which they would like to target their job search activities.
  • Assists veterans in understanding financial benefits entitlement programs and housing eligibility requirements and the effects of working on their entitlement.
  • Once the Veteran has obtained community employment, the VRS will continue to work with the Veteran, the interdisciplinary team, and the employer to provide ongoing support, negotiate any work site accommodations that may be needed, and work to develop natural supports within the community and work setting.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm
Telework: Telework, if approved, will be on an Ad-Hoc basis.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist/PD05592A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
  • 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 and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Vaccination programs are requirements for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/19/2022.

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-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. 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.

INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENT: This occupational series has an Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR). An IOR is a basic requirement that must be met in order to qualify for entry into this job series, and it is something that cannot be waived. You must meet at least one (1) of the following requirements:

  1. Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- vocational rehabilitation, vocational or educational counseling, or other fields related to the position; OR
  2. Specialized Experience: Examples of qualifying specialized experience include:
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.
GS-09 MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: In addition to meeting one of the Individual Occupational Requirements, you MUST also meet one of the following GS-09 minimum qualification requirements:
  1. Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: providing guidance to Veterans on vocational rehabilitation services; developing goals for Veterans specific to their needs; monitoring progress of each Veteran to ensure goals are met; using counseling techniques and methodology in motivating individuals and helping them to adjust successfully to the training or work situation; knowledge of vocational training concepts and practices of the employment market, training facilities, and skill demands and environmental conditions in occupations and in specific jobs in relation to suitability for the training and employment of the persons served by the rehabilitation program (NOTE: Your experience must be documented in your resume). OR,
  2. Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related. Education must be in vocational rehabilitation, vocational or educational counseling, or related disciplines appropriate to the position (Transcripts Required). OR,
  3. Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an equivalent combination of specialized experience and related graduate-level education (in excess of the first year or 18 semester hours), as described above, which meets the total experience requirements for this grade level. (NOTE: Your experience must be documented in your resume and transcripts are required).
GS-11 MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: In addition to meeting one of the Individual Occupational Requirements, you MUST also meet one of the following GS-11 minimum qualification requirements:
  1. Specialized Experience: I have one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the federal service that has equipped me with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and is in the normal line of progression for this occupation. Qualifying specialized experience includes what is stated above, as well as, but not limited to: establishing respectful, effective relationships with patients and staff; creating individualized assessments to determine level of support necessary for patients; developing employment opportunities through community-based job development; monitoring performance and progress through case reviews; and maintaining a database of referral and placement outcomes in order to provide feedback to fellow collaborators. NOTE: 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 per week spent in such employment.
  2. Education: I have successfully completed a Ph.D. or equivalent Doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree. In order to be acceptable, the major of study must be in vocational rehabilitation, vocational or educational counseling, human services, or other field related to the position. (Note: You must attach a copy of your transcript.)
  3. Combination: I have the specialized experience as described in A, but less than one year; and I have graduate education as described in B, but less than the required 3 years. I have computed the percentage of the requirements that I meet, and the total is at least 100%. (To compute the percentage, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond the second year (total graduate semester hours minus 36) by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify.) (Note: You must attach a copy of your transcript.)
  4. Combination: I have the experience as described in A AND the education as described in B. (Note: transcript required).
You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:
  • Teaches Others
  • Teamwork
  • Therapy and Counseling

Education

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.

For more information on the qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education

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.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: 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. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related 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. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.

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

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

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.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application.

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 WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the 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.

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