The Whole Health Service at the West Palm Beach VA is recruiting a Recreation Specialist. The incumbent is responsible for strengthening the Whole Health, Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation programs, offering Veterans healthy and healing techniques to improve well-being. Responsibilities also include establishing/managing community partnerships, and serving as a coordinator for specialty community-led programs, such as Puppies Assisting Wounded Service members (PAWS-Act).

Duties

Journey with the Puppies assisting Wounded Service (PAWS) program. This position serves as a Recreation Specialist working for the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center's Whole Health Service. The incumbent is responsible for strengthening the Whole Health, Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation programs which offers Veterans healthy and healing techniques to improve their well-being focusing on the eight areas of self-care, including delivery of clinically appropriate Complimentary and Integrative Health for well-being. The position is also responsible for establishing and managing community partnerships and serves as a coordinator for specialty Whole Health community-led programs, including but not limited to the Puppies Assisting Wounded Service members (PAWS Act) program. Duties include but are not limited to: Works with Public Affairs Officer in regard to communication plans, marketing and media inquiries. Studies and analyzes program-specific data; compiles final reports of site reviews and evaluations, notes discrepancies, and plans initiatives for effecting remedial actions and/or reaching established goals. Assesses facility needs as it relates to Wellbeing offerings and seeks opportunities to partner with community agencies to supply these needs. Routinely offers Whole Health Education to all volunteers and provides back up support for education needs of the facility's employees. Develops periodic program plans and annual budget requirements with supporting data for inclusion in overall program plans. Adapts or revises program activities and plans for specific audiences as needed. Schedules, publicizes, and facilitates wellbeing activities. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm. 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 ADHOC telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Recreation Specialist/PD030610 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/05/2024. 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-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 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 Requirement: Education: Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- general recreation, or one of the appropriate fields of recreation such as outdoor recreation; recreation and parks leadership; wild land recreation management; natural resources recreation; youth recreation; public, urban, or community recreation; special populations recreation (e.g., senior citizens, institutional, etc.); or physical education. OR, Experience: Specialized Experience (for positions above GS-5): Experience that demonstrated the ability to apply the principles of one or more specialty areas of recreation. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: Planning, organizing, coordinating, supervising, or evaluating community, industrial, outdoor, institutional, or other recreational programs. Planning, establishing, or evaluating a recreational curriculum for junior college or higher academic levels. Instructing in the principles and techniques of recreational program planning and management. Serving in a leadership role in the programs and activities of local, regional, and/or national recreational organizations. In addition to meeting the Individual Occupational Requirement, applicants must also meet the specialized 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-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Facilitating Wellbeing Programs (e.g. guided imagery, mindfulness). Delivering trainings that supports adult learners understanding of a comprehensive approach to wellness. Serves as liaison between facility, Veterans, and community partners Maintains tracking system and ensures that pertinent information is available for program evaluation Serves as a subject matter expert in local and national policies and procedures for program operation regarding service animal training program Provides administrative oversight for programming and daily operations Provides education and in-service training to employees, Veterans, and families OR, Substitution of Education for Experience (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED): Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a master's or equivalent graduate degree or2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree orLL.B. or J.D., if related. OR, Combination of Education and Experience (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED): Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of successfully completed graduate level education and specialized experience directly related to the work of the Recreation Specialist. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Attention to DetailConscientiousnessCustomer ServiceEducation and TrainingExternal AwarenessInterpersonal SkillsPartneringSelf-Management Note: IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Verbiage displayed on your resume or application must contain your own words. You may refer to the specialized experience located within the vacancy announcement, to assist with describing work experiences; however, resumes or applications received that copied verbatim from the announcement will be evaluated and may be reviewed as falsifying your experience or application. 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 requires physical exertion in teaching the therapies, handling the supplies and equipment of the various Whole Health programming and in organizing the physical environment for various programs, projects, activities, and events. This includes physical characteristics and abilities (e.g., specific agility and dexterity requirements) and the physical exertion involved in the work (e.g., climbing, lifting, pushing, balancing, stooping, kneeling, reaching). Whole Health activities in this setting not only involve everyday risks or discomforts which require normal safety precautions typical of the broad recreation field, but also involve exposure to potentially dangerous situations in terms of physical safety and to unusual environmental stress due to the medical center setting. Constant alertness is required to ensure consumer safety during recreation activities, to ensure health is not compromised, and to be always aware of the actions/condition of consumer which point toward possible medical/psychological problem. 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 West Palm Beach VA Medical Center 7305 North Military Trail West Palm Beach, FL 33410 US
• Name: Mary Guthrie
• Phone: 813-816-7155 X110408
• Email: [email protected]