Job Summary

The employee will serve as a Social Services Assistant, located in the Clinical Operations Department, Veteran's Crisis Line (VCL), Veteran's Affair (VA). The VCL is a 24-hour, 7-days-a-week, 365-days-a-year service aimed at connecting callers worldwide to a caring, qualified Veterans Administration employee. The VCL's mission is to provide 24/7, world-class suicide prevention and crisis intervention services to Veterans, Service Members and their family members.

Job Description

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/02/2024. 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. English Language Proficiency: In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), No person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. You must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to meet the requirements of this position. Social Services Aid and Assistant 0186 Series Individual Occupational Requirement: To qualify for positions within the Social Services Aid and Assistant 0186 Series, 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. For the 0186 series, examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to experience as a(n): Group leader in community or residential recreation or training programs; Counselor in a youth summer camp; Instructor in a training program for the development of job skills; Work that demonstrated the ability to be responsible for and to lead and train members of a job crew; Group activities leader in the Armed Services; Unit leader-monitor-proctor for a dormitory group in a boarding school or other residential facility; Aid or assistant to professional or specialist staff in such fields as personnel (private or government), employment guidance in a vocational or academic institution, social service, or manpower development; Aid or assistant to professional or associate staff engaged in work of a social services nature in private, public welfare, government program, or community organizations, or in voluntary activities; Aid or assistant to professional or specialist staff working with individuals who are addicted to or abuse alcohol and/or drugs. Additional Specialized Experience for Social Services Assistant Position: For this position, you may qualify based on your experience and/or education 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. In order to meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must meet at least 2 of the 3 following specialized experience requirements: Identifying emergency services available; Linking emergency services to individuals in crisis; Relaying and/or communicating information to emergency services. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have at least one full year of graduate education (18 semester hours is usually the equivalent of one full year) that included courses directly related to the work of this position that demonstrate your ability to perform the duties of the position. OR, Combination: Applicants may possess an equivalent combination of specialized experience and graduate education with courses directly related to the work of this position that demonstrates your ability to perform the duties of this position. (e.g., 6 months of specialized experience and 9 semester hours of graduate education). You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Communication Interpersonal Skills Manages and Organizes Information Technical Competence 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 and requires no special physical demands. 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/.