The position is located in the Mid-Atlantic Health Care Network (VISN 6), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Western North Carolina VA Health Care System (WNCVAHCS), Asheville, NC, and is organizationally aligned within the Mental Health Service and reports to the Program Manager. VHA Vocational Rehabilitation Compensated Work Therapy (VHA-VR CWT) is a national program closely monitored by the NEPEC and is accredited under the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitative Facilities (CARF).

Duties

Duties include, but not limited to: Assists Veterans with Obtaining Employment Prior to any vocational development or placement, patient information is gathered and analyzed. Conducts Vocational Assessment Profile (VAP) and initial Vocational Evaluations to help determine work readiness. Implements Clinical Diagnostic Studies such as: Veterans Recovery Assessment (VRA), Comprehensive Suicide Risk Evaluation (CSRE), and the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS). Analyzes biopsychosocial assessments, assesses work aptitudes, strengths and weaknesses, and gathers pertinent information thorough patient chart reviews within all aspects of the veteran's healthcare. Assess the feasibility of employment and vocational rehabilitation services to disabled clients via interviews, observation, medical reports, test/lab results, progress in rehabilitation treatment, and status of the job market. Develops individualized short- and long-term career goals with the veteran based on the various information gathered. Assists veterans with understanding local human agencies, economy and labor market. Helps individuals with achieving additional goals, such as: obtaining drivers license, accessing transportation methods, applying for claims and benefits, reducing legal barriers, pursuing training or education, and navigating healthcare and volunteer options. Networks in the local community with businesses and employers that have job leads which are directly related to the interests and desires of the veterans. Employers may be reluctant to hire an individual with a disability, so considerable education and advocacy may be required to make them aware of the veteran's ability to contribute and be productive. Pursues employment contacts and supports veterans in the community and/or on the VA campus a minimum of 60 percent of the workweek. Placing a veteran with an employer requires a certain amount of informed selling by the VRS. This may include influencing the employer to overcome the common barriers to hiring an individual with a disability as well as to make any modifications in the work setting to accommodate the veteran's particular disability. Assists Veterans with Maintaining Employment Independently carries out all duties related to maintaining competitive employment for veterans living with severe and chronic mental illnesses and/or substance abuse and chronic homelessness. Develops strategies to engage clients who may be reluctant to maintain employment and/or obtain new employment. Counsels and guides the veteran during challenging situations during the adjustment process. Build and maintain excellent rapport with individuals possessing a wide variety of psychiatric diagnoses and who may be emotionally distraught, fearful, suspicious, uncooperative, or dangerous. Provide personal adjustment and problem-solving counseling necessary to guide clients to understand and overcome their limitations and to select suitable vocational goals. Participates in multi-disciplinary treatment teams and administrative meetings to be aware of any clinical concerns. Shares vocational strategies and progress with team members to ensure optimal outcomes. Makes clinical treatment decisions through analytical discussions amongst a veteran's treatment team consisting of multidisciplinary providers. Develop strategy when a problem occurs for a veteran at their workplace due to a diagnosed disability. Implements strategy in the workplace based on VR best-practice standards, recommendations of veteran's doctor and treatment team, and level or complexity of the problem. In some cases, provides intensive case management to include assertive and rapid engagement, follow-along supports, de-escalation methods, being physically on the job with the veteran, and advising certain mental health modalities and therapies to help reduce a veteran's barriers to a successful employment outcome. Maintains community awareness and fosters local and national contacts. Keeps alert for job opportunities. Maintains day-to-day contact with potential employers or other likely placement resources. Maintains current knowledge of employment marketing trends and has awareness and familiarization with multiple job search formats including internet search engines and community resources. Negotiates with employers, when appropriate, to provide reasonable accommodations to meet the needs of clients based on performing a worksite analysis and/or worksite risk assessment. Facilitates relationships between clients and co-workers so as to enhance the client's job satisfaction and build natural supports in the workplace. Performs other duties, as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:30AM-4:00PM Telework: Ad-hoc; at discretion of Supervisor Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist/PD04503A Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/28/2024. 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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Individual Occupational Requirements: Education: Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- vocational rehabilitation, vocational or educational counseling, or other fields related to the position. OR, Experience: Specialized Experience (for positions above GS-5): 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. Specialized Experience/Education: Experience: Possess one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade in Federal service (GS-09). Specialized Experience that with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Examples of Specialized Experience is, but not limited to: Knowledge of the principles, theoretical concepts and practice of vocational rehabilitation as well as the administrative mechanisms appropriate to the assignment. Knowledge of community and VA Medical Center resources related to vocational assistance and is an expert at determining which combination of vocational services will best meet the employment needs of the Veteran requesting services. General knowledge and skill in job development, marketing and securing jobs, and ability to contact and work creatively with community employers for customized job placement strategies. Experience with identifying the conditions needed for successful job placement for individuals who are formerly homeless, homeless, or at-risk for homelessness, and who may have poor or incomplete employment histories. Knowledge of a broad range of occupations and techniques for negotiating with prospective employers to provide opportunities for homeless Veterans and to create environments that maximize the changes for success. Knowledge of networking with federal, state, and community agencies and employers. Ability to identify strengths, interests, skills and needs, in order to match Veterans to the most appropriate jobs that meet their needs. Knowledge of the impact of long-term mental illness and co-occurring mental health disorders on vocational functioning. Basic knowledge of the program objectives of local, state, and federal agencies to insure that action is appropriate. Demonstrated skill in the use of a personal computer with word processing software to execute several office automation functions such as storing and retrieving electronic documents and files, activating printers, inserting and deleting text, formatting letters, reports and memoranda, and transmitting and receiving e-mail. Demonstrated skill in interpersonal communications to deal with Veterans, family members, members of the treatment team, employers, educators, and others in the community. OR, Education: Possess a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, OR, 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, OR, LL.M., if related. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Interpersonal SkillsPartneringPlanning and EvaluatingTechnical CompetenceTherapy and Counseling 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: Work is primarily sedentary, although some slight physical effort may be 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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address Charles George VA Medical Center 1100 Tunnel Road Asheville, NC 28805 US
• Name: Christina Trull
• Phone: 828-318-6521
• Email: [email protected]