Position is located within Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans under the administrative leadership of the Mental Health Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Programs and Mental Health Services at the North Texas Department of Veteran Affairs. This incumbent will be assigned a small caseload of Veterans admitted into the Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans and serve as a Treatment Coordinator.

Duties

Duties include but not limited to: The Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist (VRS), assigned to the Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans has the responsibility of utilizing best practices to assist unemployed Veterans to return to competitive employment in addition to meeting individual and program goals outline in the Mental Health Residential Rehabilitation Program. Assignments involve a range and variety of case aspects, problems, and types as the VRS increases his/her knowledge and experience in the application of principles and 2 practices of the field and develops the confidence necessary to eventual full performance level assignments. During the course of the training and development, the VRS obtains a variety of supervised assignments selected to provide progressively difficult experience, to the point of covering the full range of the basic functions of the specialist. The VRS will serves as a Treatment Coordinator/ case manager on the interdisciplinary treatment team and works with other staff members demonstrating effective communication skills to formulate a treatment plan and follow up plan for each Veteran assigned. Provides consultation to, and, when appropriate and facilitates appropriate pyscho-educational classes/groups related to areas of expertise to Veterans. Case management may include screening, intake, individual and group counseling, collecting urine screens, referrals, collateral contacts, recommending passes, discharge planning, completing admission and discharge notes. The VRS is responsible for collaborating with potential Veterans referred to the internal and external Work Therapy programs (via medical orders and SF 513 consult with appropriate clearance to work in the community), and for developing a vocational assessment to identify individual's strengths and areas of vocational interests. The VRS will utilize Motivational Interviewing techniques to ensure the highest level of services. The VRS will compile information to assist the Veteran in identifying occupational areas in which they would like to target their job search activities. The VRS is responsible to document all interactions with the Veteran within the electronic medical records system CPRS and capture workload for DSS. The VRS is also responsible for entering initial assessments data, Individualized Treatment Plans, and discharge summaries into the electronic medical record and other program evaluation forms for data collection. The VRS is responsible for completing annual census data utilizing the designated program format. The Mental Health Service of the VA North Texas Health Care System values cultural diversity across our staff and training programs. Mental Health Service leaders are deeply committed to fostering an environment that is highly sensitive to and appreciative of all aspects of diversity. Our staff represent a variety of cultural backgrounds, competencies, interests, and theoretical orientations. We believe that increased self-awareness and appreciation for other viewpoints and cultures makes our service stronger and strengthens our ability to provide the highest quality of mental health care. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm, rotations for Saturdays coverage and quarterly evening programming. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist/PD00177-0 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved 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, 11/24/2023. 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-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 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. Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist requires the Individual Occupational Requirements be met Individual Occupational Requirement: Education: Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- vocational rehabilitation, vocational or educational counseling, or other fields related to the position. (Transcript Required) OR 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: In addition to the individual occupation requirements listed above, you must also have: 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 therapeutic employment services (skills training and development services, employment support services, and job development and placement services) to Veterans in need of rehabilitation for mental health disorders; develops and maintains appropriate communications, rapport, and a positive working relationship with a variety of employers, institutions, organizations and service provider; utilizing word processing software to execute several office automation functions such as storing and retrieving electronic documents and files, printing documents, formatting letters, reports and memorandums, and documenting interactions with Veterans within the electronic medical records system. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have master's or equivalent graduate degree or two full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related. Please note: Graduate education major study--vocational rehabilitation, vocational or education counseling, or other fields related to the position. (Transcripts Required) OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education as described above. (Transcripts Required) You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Therapy and Counseling Psychology Interpersonal Skills Computer Skills 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: Light lifting, under 15 pounds, reaching above shoulder, use of fingers and both hands required. Walking, standing, climbing, and both legs and eyes required. 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.

NOTE: If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.

Contacts

• Address Dallas VA Medical Center 4500 South Lancaster Road Dallas, TX 75216 US
• Name: VISN 17 SSU USAS Group
• Email: [email protected]