Social Services Assistant - Whole Health Partner

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; West Palm Beach (FL); On-site; USD 42,000 - 54,000; Full time

Job summary

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in West Palm Beach, FL, seeks a Social Services Assistant – Whole Health Partner to join an interdisciplinary team assisting physicians and staff in a whole health partnership.

The position requires English proficiency and involves coordinating group activities, trainings, and patient education within the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center. The role emphasizes documenting patient goals, facilitating individual and group sessions, and guiding patients through

Qualifications

• Proficient in written and spoken English as required.
• Experience facilitating group activities, classes, briefings, or discussions.
• Graduate education or internship related to social services can count toward qualifications.

Responsibilities

• Provide information and advocate for patients' health goals to the care team.
• Orient new patients to the Whole Health program, its services, hours, locations, staff, and resources.
• Assist patients in personal health planning, goal setting, and follow-up actions.
• Conduct one-to-one or group sessions to support health goals.
• Facilitate group programs and connect patients with community supports.
• Work full-time schedule; 7:30am–4:00pm, Monday–Friday.

Skills

Group activities leadership

Presentations

Microsoft Office

Education

Graduate coursework or internship in social services

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Summary

The employee will serve as a Social Services Assistant - Whole Health Partner at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center in West Palm Beach - FL. The primary purpose of this position functions as an interdisciplinary team member - assisting physicians and other professional/non-professional personnel in a whole health partnership.

Summary

The employee will serve as a Social Services Assistant - Whole Health Partner at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center in West Palm Beach - FL. The primary purpose of this position functions as an interdisciplinary team member - assisting physicians and other professional/non-professional personnel in a whole health partnership.

Qualifications

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. ~AND~ A Quality Ranking Factor has been requested by the facility to help determine which of the basically qualified applicants are likely to be better qualified for a position. The quality ranking factor for this position is: experience facilitating group activities - classes - briefings - or discussions to support learning or participation; using common technology platforms - including Microsoft Office applications (such as Word - Excel - Outlook - PowerPoint) to perform administrative support duties; and delivering presentations or speaking to groups in workplace - community - educational - or military settings? This experience must be detailed in your resume to receive credit. Quality Ranking Factors are skills - knowledge - abilities - or other worker characteristics which could be expected to result in superior performance on the job. Quality ranking factors will not be used for screening - but may be used as ranking criteria. Applicants with higher proficiency levels may rank above those with lower proficiency levels on a quality ranking factor. To qualify for this Social Services Assistant - Whole Health Partner - GS-6 position - applicant(s) must meet at least one of the following: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Requires at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-5) in the Federal Service that has given me the particular knowledge - skills and abilities required to successfully perform the duties of a Social Services Assistant - Whole Health Partner and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Qualifying specialized experience includes: serving as a group leader in community or residential recreation or training programs; serving as a counselor in a youth summer camp; serving as an instructor in a training program for the development of job skills; performing work that demonstrated the ability to be responsible for and to lead and train members of a job crew; serving as a group activities leader in the Armed Services; serving as a unit leader-monitor-proctor for a dormitory group in a boarding school or other residential facility; serving as an 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; serving as an 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; serving as an aid or assistant to professional or specialist staff working with individuals who are addicted to or abuse alcohol and/or drugs. NOTE: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title - duties - month and year start/end dates AND hour worked per week. ~OR~ EDUCATION: Successfully completed at least one-half year of graduate level education (9 semester hours above a Bachelor's degree) or an internship in course matter that must include courses directly related to the work of the Social Services Assistant position. This education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. ~OR~ COMBINATION: Equivalent combinations of successfully completed graduate level education and specialized experience - as described above - which meet the total experience requirements for this grade level. The education portion must include graduate courses directly related to the work of the Social Services Assistant position. This education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: The work involves using a laptop at docking stations in staff cubicles/office space - outpatient treatment rooms - and group/conference rooms. Requires walking around to different workspaces within the clinic and thus conveying a patient-centered environment where providers go to the patient. Must present oneself in an energetic way to create positive attitudes about health and well-being for veterans - families - employees and stakeholders. Participates in and facilitates group-based and individual classes for patients and must be able to move from site to site to facilitate such classes. 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/.

Duties

• ***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION - YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** Duties include - but may not be limited to the following: Provides information and advocates for patients' personal health goals and plan - and shares/communicates goals with clinical care team
• Functions as the steward of how to navigate the whole health system and orient new patients to the program about the services - hours - locations - staff - tools - resources - and other pertinent information
• Assists patients to explore core elements of personal health planning - exploration of what matters to the patient - self-assessment using the components of health and well-being - identification of goals and potential actions in self-care areas - and identification of support and follow-up to implement a plan
• Assists patients in this exploration through one-to-one or group sessions
• Facilitates group programs aimed at exploring the components of health and well-being - informs patients about community and mutual supports and how to use these to support health and well-being goals
• Performs other duties as assigned
• Work Schedule: Full-Time - Monday - Friday - 7:30am - 4:00pm Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved