You will serve as the Social Services Assistant for the VA Puget Sound Healthcare System in Social Work Service located in Tacoma or Seattle, Washington. You will provide administrative support for the Community Housing and Outreach Services (CHOS) Program. This is a full-time position at 40 hours per week.

Duties

Assist homeless and formerly homeless Veterans with their psycho-social needs, identify problems, inform them of VA services or benefits available, provide supportive counseling, refer them to appropriate programs and resources, and when needed, assist them in linking up with a Social Worker or housing program that can be of most assistance. Provide direct interventions to Veterans within their home and/or in community settings. Educate, provide guidance, and assists Veterans and family members with completing Advance Directives (Living Will/Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care), housing documentation, and will provide guidance to patients regarding these documents. Screen all Veterans coming into the office to determine needs and make appropriate referrals. Maintain an up-to-date file on resources provided by community providers. Provide administrative support for program, multi-disciplinary team, and participate in events throughout the regions such as homeless Stand Down events. Perform a wide range of functions involving the review, analysis, and evaluation of the full range of services (functions) provided within the program while utilizing various computer software applications. Ensure accurate and timely balances are maintained on fund control points. Participates in program planning and development, making recommendations for program policies and procedures. Will be expected to perform a large part of their work in community settings. Must have an unrestricted State Driver's License and be cleared upon hire to drive a government vehicle for transporting Veterans Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Not authorized Telework: Not authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Social Services Assistant/PD41378A Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/02/2024. 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-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. Must have an unrestricted State Driver's License and be cleared upon hire to drive a government vehicle for transporting Veterans. Incidental Operator: Incidental Operatorsare employees, other than those occupying a position officially classified as a motor vehicle operator, who are required to operate a government-owned or leased motor vehicle to properly carry out their assigned duties. To qualify as an incidental operator, an employee must possess a valid State license, have a safe driving record, pass a road test, and demonstrate that he or she is medically qualified to operate the appropriate motor vehicle safely. 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. Examples of specialized experience would typically include but are not limited to: Customer service skills will be paramount, with a high degree of independent judgment and ability to triage the many complex, unique patient/family, staff, and public requests which come daily to the CHOS program. An ability to make sound judgments and handle difficult clients under stress is crucial. Experience performing effectively as a team member working and collaborating with co-workers. Has a working knowledge of a wide variety of community and VA resources and benefits to include housing, food, and shelter programs, and maintains an up-to-date file on resources provided by community providers within the CHOS continuum. Provides administrative support to multiple CHOS programs, using computer skills on a variety of software programs, including MS Word, MS Excel, MS Access, VISTA, MS Outlook. Will use those skills to create and maintain various spreadsheets and data bases for program support. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have (1) year of graduate education that is directly related to the duties of the position. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation NOTE: As a rule, education is not creditable above GS-05 for most positions covered by this standard; however, graduate education may be credited in those few instances where the graduate education is directly related to the work of the position. . OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and graduate education. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and ManagementComplianceOral Communication 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 mainly sedentary with occasional carrying of items such as papers and files, boxes of paper, driving government vehicles. Working Conditions: Work is performed in an office setting with periodic travel to the community to liaison with community organizations or for outreach events. 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 VA Puget Sound Health Care System 1660 South Columbian Way Seattle, WA 98108 US
• Name: Denise Lindsey
• Phone: 916-776-0180
• Email: [email protected]