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

Coordinating the development of housing resources throughout their respective area. Serving as a liaison to the VA Medical Center (VAMC), Public Housing Authorities (PHA's), landlords and landlord associations, and agencies and corporations devoted to the development of affordable housing. Assists Veterans in applying for appropriate Social Security and/or disability claims. Working with VA Health Care System multi-disciplinary teams and community agencies to strive for developing more effective and efficient ways of delivering housing services to HUD-VASH Program Veterans. Coordinating and identifying existing and future housing in the community and maintaining an inventory database of safe, available units. Driving Veterans to or meeting Veterans at housing units both for viewing and walk-through purposes, providing housing lists to veterans, assisting Veterans in obtaining move-in and security deposits as well as furniture and other household items, helping with rental applications and credit reports. Participating in reaching out to prospective landlords and property management groups on behalf of Veterans in the HUD-V ASH program. This includes educating individuals and organizations on the benefit of leasing to HUD-VASH Veterans, and the role of the VA case manager in helping to promote housing stability for program participants. Developing working relationships and agreements with other organizations and directly communicates with local housing authorities regarding housing authority inspection standards and paperwork. Reviewing housing placement progress and providing direct assistance to Veterans regarding housing-related issues. Helping identify and develop housing criteria, identifying potential barriers to securing desired housing, and helping develop strategies to overcome these barriers. Performing other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Full Time. Monday-Friday. 8:00AM - 4:30PM Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#:Social Service Representative / PD80393A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: 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. 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. Individual Occupational Requirements- Specialized Experience- Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: Group leader in community or residential recreation or training programs. Counselor in a youth summer camp. Instructor in a training program for the development of job skills. Work that demonstrated the ability to be responsible for and to lead and train members of a job crew. Group activities leader in the Armed Services. Unit leader-monitor-proctor for a dormitory group in a boarding school or other residential facility. Aid or assistant to professional or specialist staff in such fields as personnel (private or government), employment guidance in a vocational or academic institution, social service, or manpower development. Aid or assistant to professional or associate staff engaged in work of a social services nature in private, public welfare, government program, or community organizations, or in voluntary activities. Aid or assistant to professional or specialist staff working with individuals who are addicted to or abuse alcohol and/or drugs. AND Driver's License Requirement: A current, valid state-issued Driver's License is required for this position. NOTE: We cannot accept photographs, therefore please do not submit a copy of your license with your application package. In addition to the IOR and the Drivers License requirement, you must qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-06 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Knowledge of housing rules, regulations, policies, and available programs, such as Section 8, and various voucher programs. Ability to interact professionally and effectively with a wide range of people of varying backgrounds, professional levels, and education. Knowledge of computer use, including word processing, spreadsheets, databases, etc. is required. This experience must be well documented in your resume or application package. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed one full year of graduate education of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in a major field of study related to the work of the position which provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of this position. (NOTE: TRANSCRIPTS MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH THE APPLICATION MATERIALS. CONFERRAL OF DEGREE(S) EARNED SHOULD BE PRESENT ON TRANSCRIPT(S). UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT(S) IS OK.) OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must I have less than the full amount of experience as described in A and I have less than the full amount of education as described in B. But, have a combination of experience as described in A and education above the high school level as described in B above. [Note: To combine education and experience, first determine how much of the qualifying experience and education you have, as a percentage of what is required for each. Add the percentages together, and if the total is 100% or more, then the combined education and experience is qualifying for the position. EXAMPLE: To compute the percentage, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of education beyond the first 18 semester hours (i.e. beyond the first year) by 18. Add the two percentages together. The total percentage must equal at least 100% to qualify.] (NOTE: TRANSCRIPT(S) MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH APPLICATION MATERIAL. CONFERRAL OF DEGREE(S) EARNED SHOULD BE PRESENT ON TRANSCRIPT(S). UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTS OK). You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Communications Customer Service Technical Competence Information Management 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: Krystal Artis
• Phone: 682-384-2203
• Email: [email protected]