The Dayton, Ohio VA Medical Center's Social Work Service is recruiting for a well-qualified Program Support Assistant. The PSA is assigned to the Patient Transfer Center and works under the Fisher House Manager. The Fisher House Program is a lodging facility with the primary goal of bringing family members to the Veterans' bedside to facilitate their recovery from illness or injury.

Duties

The Fisher House Program consists of two, 16 two-suite guest/family comfort lodging facilities built at select VA hospitals/medical centers with a primary goal of bringing family members to the Veterans' bedside to facilitate their recovery from illness or injury. As VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System is comprised of highly complex medical facilities and plays a major role in supporting both active duty and Veteran families during the arduous recovery from and rehabilitation of combat and non-combat-related injuries. The Fisher House program provides lodging to Veteran families of all eras of service, including those requiring medical/surgical intervention, specialty care such as oncology/radiation therapy, and end-of-life palliative/hospice care. The program support assistant is responsible for assisting the Fisher House Manager in all aspects of the Fisher House Program. They will work closely with the Fisher House Manager, and Assistant Manager to coordinate the day-to-day operations of the Fisher House. In support of these programs, there are numerous advisory and technical duties they must master to keep the Fisher House functioning at its optimal level. Operations include a wide range of functions, and the employee is the point of contact for initial inquiries to include lodging eligibility, referral processes, staff/volunteer opportunities, monetary donations, and the appropriateness and offer of in-kind donations; as well as community, guest, patient, military liaison, and clinical staff inquiries regarding policies, procedures, and standards. In addition, the employee assists with Fisher House events both internally at the VA Medical Center and at Community Events. There may be instances in which the Program Assistant is assigned to be responsible for the development of outreach strategies and be designated the main point of contact for a specific outreach as a designee of the Fisher House Manager or Assistant Manager. They must also assist with supply management. This requires full knowledge and understanding of appropriated and non-appropriated accounts, including general post funds and Fund control point funds. The employee applies knowledge of appropriated and non-appropriated accounts to secure needed items and supplies for the guests' comfort, such as replacement items (i.e. linens, furnishings, food, etc.) and assisting with various programs in support of the guests (i.e. luncheons, holiday gifts, etc.). They must keep accurate receipts and logs of all purchases made using both VA-allocated funds and donated funds. The employee is a purchase card holder and is required to make fiscally responsible purchases only as directed or pre-approved by Fisher House management and according to VA purchase card policy. Other duties include, but are not limited to: monitoring the cleanliness and safety of the facility conducting safety checks of the automated external defibrillator (AED) acquisition and/or development of program information and resource materials assisting in the development of resource materials such as hard-copy and computer-based brochures and reports timekeeping and be able to serve as a primary or backup timekeeper making assessments of eligibility and responding to referring sources placing all eligible families on the waiting list ensuring accuracy of currently lodged guests, upcoming departures and needs for extension, cancellations and re-bookings, daily room availability, and all projected lodging needs tracking program census and length of stay assisting with maintaining data on all overflow lodging needs maintaining a schedule of bed availability and lodging needs to maximize bed utilization ensuring accurate data collection, developing required monthly reports, and meeting monthly report deadlines running all necessary reports to schedule, track, and audit or project Fisher House and Hotel transactions or reservations initiating, and completing process improvement projects based on recommendations as directed by the Fisher House Manager greeting guests and conducting or assisting with conducting guest orientations and safety briefings exercising independent judgment in addressing unanticipated situations Work Schedule: Sunday through Thursday, 0800 to 1630 Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. 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 by the closing date of this announcement. GS-07 grade level: One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-06 grade level in the federal service); experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) and other characteristics to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes: Knowledge of office administration and systems development. Knowledge of Departmental and Agency programs, regulations, policies, organizational structure. General knowledge of VA and community resources and services as appropriate. Knowledge of and ability to perform data validation. Knowledge of program goals and desired outcomes. Ability to interpret and apply guidelines involving program and administrative processes. Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing. Working knowledge of the work processes and procedures of an administrative field (e.g., office administration, travel, agreements, human resources) in order to assist supervisor and program coordinators in achieving goals of the programs. Skill in the planning and development of complex projects, assessment of training, specifications of equipment and other operational details related to large scale projects. Knowledge of the clerical requirements and processes involved in maintaining functional programs. Knowledge and skills to operate a variety of standard office and VA computer programs and databases. The position requires demonstrated experience and mastery of office automation systems and word processing the Microsoft Office suite of products (Excel, Power Point, Access, Word, SharePoint etc.). The position requires high levels of attention to detail to perform data entry functions with accuracy. Expertise with VA Vista system and CPRS. A qualified typist is required. Knowledge of secretarial/clerical and administrative/program concepts and practices to complete assignments and to recommend changes to existing procedures or to develop new ideas to enhance or streamline procedures. Knowledge of medical record administrative record organization in order to maintain and update records and information as well as retrieve information quickly per the requests of the CSCs and program coordinator. Knowledge of correct grammar, spelling, punctuation and required format of VHA correspondence, reports, etc. Ability to collect data for development and preparation of statistical reports, surveys and program evaluations, and prepare quarterly reports in order to assist with monthly and quarterly reports and performance measures. Ability to complete assigned duties and responsibilities independently, competently and with mature judgment. Ability to expedite work where numerous long-range goals and tasks are involved. Ability to coordinate a wide variety of tasks to assure timely reporting and support services where numerous diverse demands are involved. Skill to plan and organize a wide array of work and track multiple deliverables, projects and deadlines. Skill in dealing with others (facility staff, community agency staff, Veterans, families, caregivers) in personal relationships. Ability to plan, organize and coordinate work in situations where numerous diverse demands are involved in order to prioritize tasks and projects, respond efficiently and resourcefully, and produce expected results. Demonstrated skill and ability to compile and summarize information and data, identify inaccuracies or anomalies in the information, and make recommendations to resolve discrepancies. Ability to develop a yearly program budget, develop a tracking mechanism to monitor Caregiver Respite funds and monitor all program expenditures. Knowledge of budgeting, TDA requests and fiscal oversight of a complex atypical monetized social work program. Knowledge and skill in adapting policies and procedures to emergency situations and establishing practices or procedures to meet new situations. There is no educational substitution for the GS-07 level. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs and other organizations. 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. 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-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. 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. 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-07. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-07. Physical Requirements: The duties and responsibilities of the position require mobility between various floors and rooms within the Fisher House and between the Fisher House and various other buildings at the hospital. The work is primarily sedentary with some standing, stooping, reaching, bending, and lifting up to 40 pounds. This includes preparation of programs, occasional moving/lifting of equipment (100-cup coffee pot, boxes of donated items), etc. The employee must be composed at all times while providing customer service to guests experiencing emotional and or physical stress. 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

As a general rule, education is not creditable above GS-5 for most positions covered by the OPM standard; however, graduate education may be credited in those few instances where the graduate education is directly related to the work of the position.

Contacts

• Address Dayton VA Medical Center 4100 West Third Street Dayton, OH 45428 US
• Name: Sage Artemis
• Email: [email protected]