This is a Peer Specialist position at the Central Alabama VA Medical Center to be located in Tuskegee, AL. **THIS JOB OPPORTUNITY IS RESTRICTED TO VETERANS ONLY.** Applicants must be Veterans and must provide a copy of their DD-214 Form (Member-4 copy). See additional requirements in the Qualification section below.

Duties

The Peer Specialist functions as an interdisciplinary team member, assisting physicians and other professional and non-professional personnel in a rehabilitation treatment program. Peer Specialists perform a variety of therapeutic and supportive tasks that include assisting Veterans in articulating their goals for recovery and personal wellness, learning, and practicing new skills, helping them monitor their progress, assisting them in their treatment, modeling effective coping techniques and self-help strategies based on the Peer Specialist's own recovery experience, and supporting them in advocating for themselves to obtain effective services. This position will serve as a community-based peer specialist within the Central Alabama VA Medical Center catchment area. The working environment may include providing peer support services in places such as Veterans' homes, prisons, jails, treatment courts, shelters, tent encampments, street outreach, etc. Duties include, but not limited to the following: Participates in the service, training, consultation, and other professional activities of VA health care services and functions as a fully vested member of the multidisciplinary team. Uses personal recovery experiences to model coping techniques and recovery tolls to coach Veterans to relevant skills need for self-management of their health condition(s) and pursuit of their personal wellness. Observes behaviors that might indicate difficulty adapting or responding to treatment (e.g., missed assessment appointments, failure to attend or maintain abstinence, risk to self or others, disruptive behavior), completes appropriate documentation, and reports concerns to the treatment team in a timely manner. Uses ongoing individual and group meetings to teach Veterans how to identify and combat negative self-talk and overcome fears by providing a forum that allows Veteran to share their experiences. As necessary, handles crisis interventions for Veterans and addresses other emergent situations without the benefit of specific instructions. Informs Veterans about VA and community supports and resources, including how to effectively utilize them in the recovery and wellness process. Maintains a working knowledge of current trends and developments in holistic approaches in wellness and recovery by reading books, journals, and other relevant materials. Position requires operation of a motor vehicle or access to public transportation to perform assigned duties. Accompanies Veterans to appointments as needed, whether medical, housing, or other treatment plan goal appointments, either through agency vehicle or public transportation. Assists Veterans to identify resources and problem solve how to overcome barriers so that the Veterans can independently address transportation and other personal needs. Performs all other related duties as assigned. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00AM - 4:30PM Position Description/PD#: Peer Specialist/PD99696S, PD99697S, PD99701S, and PD99702S 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, 11/20/2023. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade position any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet Time-In-Grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-6 grade you must have served at least 52 weeks at the GS-5 grade. For a GS-7 grade you must have served at least 52 weeks at the GS-6 grade. For a GS-8 grade you must have served at least 52 weeks at the GS-7 grade. For a GS-9 grade you must have served at least 52 weeks at the GS-8 grade. 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. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate that you possess one-year of Time-In-Grade, as required by this job announcement. In that instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates the one-year Time-In-Grade requirement has been met. 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. THIS POSITION IS RESTRICTED TO VETERANS ONLY. Per 38 U.S.C. 101(2) a Veteran is a person who has served in the active United States military, naval or air service, and who was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable. BASIC REQUIREMENTS: Statutory Requirement: Section 405 of Public Law 110-387, as codified in 38 U.S.C. 7402(b)(13), established that to be eligible to receive appointment to a Peer Specialist position, a person must: (1) be a Veteran who has recovered or is recovering from a mental health condition; and 2) be certified by either a not-for-profit entity engaged in peer specialist training as having met such criteria as the Secretary shall establish for a peer specialist position or a State as having satisfied relevant state requirements for a peer specialist position. Length of Experience Requirement: as a Consumer of Mental Health Recovery Services, Veterans eligible under 38 U.S.C. 7402(b)(13) must have spent a minimum of 1 in personal recovery from a mental health condition. Documentation Requirement: Copies of your DD-214 (Member-4 Copy) and Peer Specialist certification must be submitted with your application. GS-6 QUALIFICATION: 1 year of specialized experience at the next lower grade GS-5 which involved post-personal mental health recovery experience as a mentor providing counseling to support peers in mental health and/or addiction recovery, a recovery advocate directly involved with consumers of mental health services, a psychiatric therapy aide, or equivalent work involving in-person communication to support others in mental health recovery. Your work has been closely monitored including having work checked in progress and reviewing completed work for accuracy, adequacy, and adherence to instructions or procedures. GS-7 QUALIFICATION: 1 year of specialized experience at the next lower grade GS-6 which involved post-personal mental health recovery experience as a mentor providing counseling to support peers in mental health and/or addiction recovery, a recovery advocate directly involved with consumers of mental health services, a psychiatric therapy aide, or equivalent work involving in-person communication to support others in mental health recovery. At this level, routine work has been completed with minimal supervisory oversight and review, however close supervision will have been provided for complex and unusual tasks. GS-8 QUALIFICATION: 1 year of specialized experience at the next lower grade GS-7 which involved post-personal mental health recovery experience as a mentor providing counseling to support peers in mental health and/or addiction recovery, a recovery advocate directly involved with consumers of mental health services, a psychiatric therapy aide, or equivalent work involving in-person communication to support others in mental health recovery. At this level, you have the ability to work with general instructions for the performance of routine duties and detailed instructions and/or training in performance of the non-routine functions and special assignments. Non-routine/novel work will have been reviewed by spot checking and after completion to evaluate the adequacy of methods, procedures, results, ability to solve new and changing problems, etc. GS-9 QUALIFICATION: 1 year of specialized experience at the next lower grade GS-8 which involved post-personal mental health recovery experience as a mentor providing counseling to support peers in mental health and/or addiction recovery, a recovery advocate directly involved with consumers of mental health services, a psychiatric therapy aide, or equivalent work involving in-person communication to support others in mental health recovery. At this level, work will have been performed with considerable independence and you are responsible for making recommendations to the interdisciplinary treatment team that can be relied on for soundness of judgment and maturity of insight on problem situations. OR EDUCATION: To substitute any part of your specialized experience with education, complete transcripts must be submitted with your application. Only education that is directly related to the work of this position is creditable. Educational substitution is acceptable as follows: GS-6: Successful completion of 6 months of graduate level education or a 1-year post-Bachelor's degree internship meets the requirements for GS-6. GS-7: Successful completion of 1 full year of graduate level education meets the requirements for GS-7. GS-8: Successful completion of 1 ½ years of graduate level education meets the requirements for GS-8. GS-9: Successful completion of 2 full years of graduate level education leading to a Master's degree, or a Master's degree, or equivalent graduate degree meets the requirements for GS-9. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Problem Solving Communication Teaching Others 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. 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 primarily sedentary. There may be some walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items (such as books, papers), and accessing transportation. The work may require occasional use of VA approved behavioral management techniques with Veterans who present a danger to self or others. The incumbent must be flexible and accept that work areas may be often noisy, irregular, unpredictable, and stressful. Work is performed in a wide range of settings, including the Medical Center, group or family homes, community-based outpatient settings, community organizations, or in transport vehicles (public or government). Reference: VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix F-3 Peer Support Apprentice/Peer Specialist Qualification Standard.

Education

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

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 educational accreditation here.

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 additional information, please visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address Central Alabama VA Medical Center-Montgomery 215 Perry Hill Road Montgomery, AL 36109 US
• Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
• Phone: (844)456-5208
• Email: [email protected]