The Social Service Representative will serve as a Social Work Assistant and Housing Support Specialist for the Housing and Urban Development/VA Supported Housing (HUDVASH) program, a section of the Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) Service at the Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center (VAMC).

Duties

Primary duties and assignment are to help homeless Veterans requesting HUDVASH service or who are admitted into the program obtain and maintain permanent housing. This includes helping Veteran complete paperwork to apply for VA eligibility, providing relevant information on available housing options in the community, assisting Veterans with gathering and organizing documentation required to obtain a HUDVASH voucher, and filling out paperwork to lease a unit. The incumbent also develops and maintain relationship with the local public housing authority, community landlords, real estate agents and civic groups and other agencies to increase access to local housing for Veterans served in the program. The incumbent also assists Veterans to locate apartments that may meet the suitability of environmental health, welfare and safety conditions required by the public housing authority. S/he counsels Veterans on community housing, availability, fair housing laws, and local housing policies and practices. The incumbent also assists Veterans in applying for appropriate Social Security and/or disability claims. The incumbent may be requested to travel to any location in the VAMC catchment area, including but not limited to the Community Based Outpatient Clinics in Richland, La Grande, and Lewiston, to provide appropriate Veteran services. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Social Services Representative/PD80393A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 07/31/2023. 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-7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-6. 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 Requirements Education Graduate Education: Major study -- social sciences. One full academic year of graduate study is qualifying for GS-7. Graduate education is not creditable for positions above the GS-7 level. Note: Equivalent combinations of education and experience are also qualifying for grade levels for which both education and experience are acceptable. OR; Experience Specialized Experience (for positions above GS-5): 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-5 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. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-6 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 education and support to Veterans; creating processes to expedite inspections; building and maintaining community partnerships; assessing financial capabilities and liabilities; coordination of services; ability to provide accurate, complete and courteous information; working with word processing and data management software such as Microsoft Word and Excel; reviewing correspondence for correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, and required correspondence; and experience with providing mental health support. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)Information ManagementInterpersonal SkillsManages and Organizes InformationTransportation 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. Physical Requirements: The work is often sedentary. Typically, the employee sits comfortably to do the work. However, there is walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items such as papers and books, and driving an automobile. No special physical demands are required to perform the work. For more information on these 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/.

Education

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

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.

Contacts

• Address Jonathan M Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center 77 Wainwright Drive Walla Walla, WA 99362 US
• Name: Amber Walder
• Phone: 713-791-1414 X29849
• Email: [email protected]