The Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist is organizationally aligned under the Chief, Behavioral Health Section, Mental Health Care Line, VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, Nashville, TN.

Duties

***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** Duties include, but are not limited to the following: Recruits, interviews, selects suitable clients with severe mental health illnesses for employment; Makes difficult treatment decisions, modifies and utilizes the most effective treatment approach to effectively provide rehabilitation services to patient with substance abuse or psychiatric disorders; Maintains day to day contacts with potential employers, placement personnel, or other likely placement resources and negotiates appropriate accommodations for patients with disabilities; Utilizes community resources and work incentives to assist patients; Keeps alert for job and small business opportunities; Educates patients on implications of return to work on benefits; Provides training and guidance on the implementation of the program; Serves as the local authority in the analysis, developmental and implementation of program projects; Matches clients to jobs, and arrange long-term support to help keep clients employed; Develops training projects for professional staff members; Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Full Time, Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position at the GS-11 level, you must meet the following: ENGLISH LANGUAGE: In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), No person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. You must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to meet the requirements of this position. PLUS SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must have one (1) full year of specialized experience that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (i.e., GS-09) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: (a) 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; (b) 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; (c) 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 SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION FOR EXPERIENCE: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree; or 3 full years of progressively higher- level graduate education leading to such a degree; or LL.M., if related. Major study must be in vocational rehabilitation, vocational or educational counseling, or other fields related to the position. NOTE: Transcripts (official or unofficial) are required with application. OR COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education, as described above. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level (36 semester hours graduate education in major study of vocational rehabilitation, vocational or educational counseling, or other fields related) may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grade GS-11. When crediting education that requires specific course work, prorate the number of hours of related courses required as a proportion of the total education to be used. NOTE: Transcripts (official or unofficial) are required with application. A Quality Ranking Factor has been requested by the facility to help determine which of the basically qualified applicants are likely to be better qualified for a position. Quality Ranking Factors are skills, knowledge, abilities, or other worker characteristics which could be expected to result in superior performance on the job. Quality ranking factors will not be used for screening but may be used as ranking criteria. Applicants with higher proficiency levels may rank above those with lower proficiency levels on a quality ranking factor. The quality ranking factor for this position is: An active Certification in Rehabilitation Counseling (CRC). You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position: Client OrientationCustomer Service (Clerical/Technical)Education and TrainingQuality Ranking FactorTechnical Competence IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. 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. 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). 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. Physical Requirements: Although the typical work of a Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist is primarily sedentary, this position is different because it calls for the incumbent to actually be able to attend the work- place with the veteran for a limited period of time and if necessary, perform the job duties to demonstrate and reinforce them to the veteran. Therefore, lifting up to 20 pounds, bending, stooping, kneeling, reaching above the head, standing for long periods or walking long distances, and performing repeated motions may be required. It will depend on the veteran's needs, preferences, and job availability. 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

IMPORTANT: 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 Tennessee Valley HCS - Nashville 1310 24th Avenue South Nashville, TN 37212 US
• Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
• Phone: (844)456-5208
• Email: [email protected]