You will serve as the Social Service Representative for the Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center with the Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) Outreach Center with duty in Richland, Washington.

Duties

Assist homeless Veterans requesting HUDVASH service and those who are admitted into the program in obtaining and maintaining permanent housing. Help Veterans complete paperwork to apply for VA eligibility and provide relevant information on available housing options in the community. Assist Veterans with gathering and organizing documentation required to obtain a HUDVASH voucher and help with filling out paperwork to lease a unit. Develop and maintain relationships with the local public housing authorities, community landlords, real estate agents, civic groups, and other agencies to increase access to local housing for Veterans. Assist Veterans to locate apartments that meet the suitability of environmental health, welfare, and safety conditions. Track each Veteran's progress through the housing process, from submission of paperwork requirements for entry into HUD/VASH services, until placed into housing. Serve as Point of Contact (POC) for landlords to ensure applications to lease are complete, W9s submitted to the housing authority, and vouchers are submitted to landlord. Network throughout the 17 counties in the Walla Walla to create a pool of landlords, property management companies, and property owners who agree to provide affordable housing to Veterans with a HUDVASH voucher. Develop and maintain relationships with civic leaders, housing authorities, and Veteran's agencies to propose local policies and procedures that promote Veteran supportive housing. Update Social Worker and nurse case manager daily on observed Veteran behavior, observed mental status, expressed needs, and referrals for Veterans who need follow-up from a behavioral health professional or nurse case manager. Work with the Veteran and the HUDVASH case manager to assess the Veteran's preferences, financial capabilities and liabilities, barriers, and physical accommodations, and use this information to locate housing, in competitive housing markets, that best meet Veteran's criteria. Perform other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM PDT. Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for 1 to 2 days a pay period or ad-hoc telework. Ad-hoc telework is defined as situational telework approved on a case-by-case basis. Examples of situational or ad-hoc telework include telework because of inclement weather, doctor appointment, or special work assignments Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Social Service Representative/PD80393A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized. Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): 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 within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 07/12/2024. 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 within 30 days of 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. THIS POSITION HAS TEST REQUIREMENT FOR THE ACWA POSITION: This position has a test requirement that will satisfy the Administrative Careers with America (ACWA) examination/assessment. Individual Occupational Requirements for the 0187 Series are as follows: Education: Graduate Education: Major study -- social sciences. One full academic year of graduate study is qualifying for GS-7. Graduate education is not creditable for positions above the GS-7 level. OR; Experience Specialized Experience (for positions above GS-5): One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower level in the normal line of progression is qualifying for positions above the GS-5 level. Specialized experience is experience in a program of direct social welfare services that required the application of program policy and operations knowledge in providing social welfare services and/or assisting social workers. 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-06 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as experience in a program of direct social welfare services that required the application of program policy and operations knowledge in providing social welfare services and/or assisting social workers. Specific qualifying experience for this position includes: Experience navigating social service programs; Experience developing rapport and building relationships with clients and community partners; Experience working as an integral part of a team and functioning in a team environment; Demonstrated experience operating within complex social systems, overcoming barriers, to find creative and positive outcomes; Experience working in shelters, group homes; Experience doing community street outreach; Experience working with Veterans; Experience working independently and alone in people's homes, and in the community. (This experience must be documented in resume) OR, EDUCATION (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED): Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have one full academic year of graduate study in social sciences. OR, COMBINATION: EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED): Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education listed above. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)Information ManagementInterpersonal SkillsManages and Organizes InformationTransportation 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. Work Conditions: Work will be completed in a wide range of settings that the VA cannot control including, shelters, local soup kitchens, outside, in abandoned buildings, Veteran's homes, community agency facilities, and VA facilities. The incumbent must be able to work comfortably in all these settings and further work with a wide variety of persons, some who can be difficult to work with due to long histories of living outside and having complex mental health, social, and/or substance abuse issues. Outreach and field work will involve travel in potentially risky environments. Safety precautions must be observed in field and site visits where drugs and drug paraphernalia are present, as well as other health hazards such as secondhand smoke, chemical odors, publicly contagious disease/viruses, and bed bugs. DRIVING REQUIREMENT: Must have an unrestricted State Driver's License. Must be cleared (upon hire) by Occupational Health to drive a government vehicle. 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

Major study -- social sciences. One full academic year of graduate study is qualifying for GS-7. Graduate education is not creditable for positions above the GS-7 level.

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 Jonathan M Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center 77 Wainwright Drive Walla Walla, WA 99362 US
• Name: Christian Sheehy
• Phone: 253-583-1445
• Email: [email protected]