This position is located in Recreation Service at the VA Medical Center Tomah, Wisconsin a complexity level 3 facility. The primary purpose is to provide a variety of general recreation programs and to assist the Recreation Therapist in providing treatment programs. The incumbent will work in recreation programs to include Long Term Care (LTC), Mental Health, Dementia, and throughout the facility.

Duties

Major Duties include but not limited to: Responsible for the provision of services to outpatients involved in various clinics and programs. Coordinates escort of resident/patients to and from recreation therapy programs. Plans/designs activities to allow maximum resident/patient choice within the framework operation. Assists Recreation Therapists with the planning and implementation of a wide range of recreation therapy interventions. Documents response to treatment and other interventions. Provides therapeutic programming in individual and group settings as well as planning and conducting special events, seasonal events and holiday programs. Collaborates with recreation therapists in planning community-based programs to meet treatment goals and objectives and conducts them independently. Develops and submits requests for supplies, equipment, transportation, and other support essential to the knowledge of the developmental age of the residents/patients and associated factors which impact programming. Assists VAVS, CDCE, civic and community groups providing support for recreation therapy programs and coordinates these programs in advance to make sure that they function without serious disruption. Conducts inventories of recreation therapy supplies and keeps supervisor informed of material needed to accurately provide quality programming. Modify programs and adjust schedules based on resident/patient care priorities and specific needs that arise on a daily basis. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00am - 4:30pm, some weekend and evening coverage. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Therapy Assistant/PD23371A 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, 02/12/2024. 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-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. 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. Preferred Experience: Knowledge of recreation equipment, recreation rules and regulations, and enrichment programming. You may 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-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: work as an assistant to one of the specialized therapies such as occupational, physical, manual arts, corrective, or educational therapy; or experience gained as an assistant or aid in patient care, social work, or psychology where the duties involved actual participation in physical medicine and activities of a hospital or clinic. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have Graduate education or an internship meets the specialized experience required above GS-5 only in those instances where it is directly related to the work of the position per OPMs guidance on Technical and Medical Support Assistants. Combination:I have an appropriate combination of specialized experience and education. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation.) You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Interpersonal EffectivenessInterpersonal SkillsPlanning and EvaluatingTeamwork 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 position involves moderately heaving lifting of physically impaired residents/patients while assisting with ambulation duties. Incumbent must be physically able to work independently during on and off campus events. Incumbent must be physically able to push a wheelchair bound non-ambulating veterans to and from activities as needed. 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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address Tomah VA Medical Center 500 East Veterans Street Tomah, WI 54660 US
• Name: Lamelia Lucas
• Phone: (224) 454-6672
• Email: [email protected]