Duties

Summary

The position is located at the Hampton VAMC, Social Work Service in Hampton, Virginia. The position supervises a team comprised of Peer Specialists, and may supervise Without Compensation (WOC) Peer Specialists, to provide services, integrate processes, and meet program goals. The position ensures that peer support services are delivered to Veterans in an effective manner and coordinated with other treatment services as part of holistic, recovery-oriented, best health care practices.
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Responsibilities

Provides leadership to the peer support provider team, makes difficult decisions, solves day-to-day unique operational and personnel problems, represents peer support services as a subject matter expert at internal and external meetings.

Manages individual peer support providers and team performance using various approaches such as quality reviews and in-person observations;

Provides new employee orientation to accelerate integration and productivity; trains or provides training for peer support providers on systems, appropriate peer support counseling techniques, new initiatives, ethics, privacy, etc.; coaches and motivates employees to advocate for the and provide comprehensive care.

May approve leave and review and sign timesheets; ensures the peer support provider team follows facility-specific and VHA standard operating procedures, administrative practices, and policies.

Recruits and selects new peer support providers using standardized position descriptions and interviewing techniques and formats; conducts peer support providers' mid-year and annual evaluations; effects performance improvement plans or takes additional disciplinary measures to address performance concerns when needed.

Maintains program and administrative reference materials, project files, and relevant background documents and makes available policies, procedures, and written instructions; distributes written instructions, reference materials, and resources; and maintains extensive knowledge of best practices, therapies and resources.

Maintains extensive knowledge of best practices, tools and resources related to peer support.

Maintains working knowledge of treatments and services available for appropriate referrals.

Instructs peer support providers in specific tasks and peer support counseling techniques, including community outreach efforts when required; ensures peer support providers function as full members of interdisciplinary teams and participate in treatment planning.

Serves as a recovery agent by providing and advocating for effective wellness and holistic recovery-based services that aid Veterans in daily living.

Assists Veterans to articulate personal goals for recovery through the use of individual and group meetings.

Collaborates with Veterans to develop and implement a personal wellness and recovery plan.

Assists Veterans in determining the steps needed to achieve their goals and self-directed recovery and wellness.

Observes behaviors that might indicate difficulty adapting or responding to treatment (e.g., missed assessment appointments, failure to attend or maintain abstinence, risk to self or others, disruptive behavior), completes appropriate documentation, and reports concerns to the treatment team in a timely manner.

Assist Veterans in developing empowerment skills, identifying strengths, and combating stigma through self-advocacy. This is accomplished through regular individual or group meetings and using role playing/modeling techniques.

Serve as liaison to community-based organizations to develop and/or foster Veterans' community integration, natural supports and self- reliant strategies.

Assists Veterans in crisis situations or addresses other emergency situations without benefit of specific instructions. These interventions are carefully documented and communicated to the multidisciplinary team in a timely manner.

Performs other related duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: 8:00am - 4:30pm, Monday - Friday
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Peer Specialist/PDS0015-A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Travel Required

Not required

Supervisory status
Yes

Promotion Potential
11

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/03/2021.

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-09. 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.

Please note: CFR 300.604 (Part 3) "No more than one or two grades lower (or equivalent), as determined by the agency, when the position to be filled is in a line of work properly classified at 1-grade intervals but has a mixed interval promotion pattern." Since the Peer Specialist series does not have a GS-10 interval between the GS-9 and the GS-11 supervisor positions, those GS-9 Peer Specialists applying for GS-11 positions will be able to use their GS-9 level experience to meet the TIG and specialized experience requirements for the GS-11 Peer Supervisor and will not be required to have TIG or a year of specialized experience at the GS-10 level.

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.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR PEER SPECIALISTS:

a. Statutory Requirements. Section 405 of Public Law 110-387, as codified in 38 U.S.C. 7402(b)(13), established that to be eligible to receive appointment to a Peer Specialist position, a person must:
(1) be a veteran who has recovered or is recovering from a mental health condition; and
(2) be certified by - (a) a not-for-profit entity engaged in peer specialist training as having met such criteria as the Secretary shall establish for a peer specialist position; or
(b) a State as having satisfied relevant State requirements for a peer specialist position.

b. Length of Experience as a Consumer of Mental Health Recovery Services. Veterans eligible under 38 U.S.C. 7402(b)(13) must have spent a minimum of 1 year in personal recovery from a mental health condition.

NOTE: You MUST provide copies of your DD-214, Peer Specialist Certification and documentation from your mental health provider verifying that you have spent a minimum of 1 year personal recovery from a mental health condition with your application package.

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-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: assisting veterans in recovery, participates in the service, training, consultative and other professional activities of rehabilitation treatment program and functions as a full professional member of the multidisciplinary. Serves as a recovery agent by providing and advocating for any effective recovery based services that will aid the veteran in daily living. requires a comprehensive understanding of a wide range of principles, methods and techniques of psychology, social work, sociology, counseling but do not require specific formal education. Must have and apply a comprehensive professional knowledge of counseling, including counseling related to crisis situations, short-term, in-depth counseling, and of various related maladies. suffered by patients with behavioral or adjustment disorders (This experience must be well documented in your resume or application package.)

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Conscientiousness
• Customer Service
• Oral Communication
• Self-Direction
• Veteran and Customer Focus

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 primarily sedentary; the position sits to do the work. However, there may be some walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items (such as books, papers), accessing transportation, and/or driving a government vehicle. The work requires patience and control of emotions. The work may require occasional use of appropriate techniques with Veterans who present a danger to them self or others.

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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html .

Additional information

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 telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.

Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified : applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/ .

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

If you are unable to apply online view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application .

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview.Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Not Required

Drug test required
No

Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk

Trust determination process
Suitability/Fitness

Required Documents

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• Resume

The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please use this checklist to make sure you have included other documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), documentation to support Veterans Preference claims, or ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees). You will not be contacted for additional information.

• Cover Letter
• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Disability Letter (Schedule A)
• Disability Letter (VA)
• Resume
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action

SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (if applicable for Time in Grade and/or Eligibility):

• Most recent SF-50 if you are a current or former Federal employee
• An SF-50 showing 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
• Award 50's do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade.
• Examples of appropriate SF-50's include:
  • Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or
  • Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or
  • SF-50's at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.

Veterans' Preference: When applying for Federal Jobs, eligible Veterans should claim preference for 5pt (TP), 10pt (CP/CPS/XP), or for Sole Survivor Preference (SSP) in the questionnaire. You must provide a legible copy of your DD214(s) which shows dates and character of service (honorable, general, etc.). If you are currently serving on active duty and expect to be released or discharged within 120 days you must submit documentation related to your active duty service which reflects the dates of service, character of service (honorable, general, etc.), and dates of impending separation. Additionally, disabled veterans and others eligible for 10-point preference (such as widows or mothers of eligible Veterans) must also submit an SF-15 "Application for 10 Point Veteran Preference" with required proof as stated on the form. Documentation is required to award preference. For more information on Veterans' Preference, please visit http://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/vetpref/index.aspx .

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education .

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.