Peer Specialist

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/15/2024. 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-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06 level. For a GS-08 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07 level. For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-08 level. 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. 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 one of the following:( 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 (b) a State as having satisfied relevant State requirements for a peer specialist position. 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. Quality Ranking Factor: Two years experience working with Substance Use populations and previous experience working as a Peer Support Specialist. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-6 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-5 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: post-personal mental health recovery as a mentor providing counseling to support peers in mental health and/or addiction recovery; a recovery advocate directly involved with consumers of mental health services; a psychiatric therapy aide; or equivalent work involving in-person communication to support others in mental health recovery. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have completed Six (6) months of graduate education or a 1-year post-bachelor’s degree internship. GS-7 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-6 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: post-personal mental health recovery as a mentor providing counseling to support peers in mental health and/or addiction recovery; a recovery advocate directly involved with consumers of mental health services; a psychiatric therapy aide; or equivalent work involving in-person communication to support others in mental health recovery. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed One full year of graduate education. GS-8 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-7 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: post-personal mental health recovery as a mentor providing counseling to support peers in mental health and/or addiction recovery; a recovery advocate directly involved with consumers of mental health services; a psychiatric therapy aide; or equivalent work involving in-person communication to support others in mental health recovery. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed One and one/half years of graduate education. GS-9 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-8 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: post-personal mental health recovery as a mentor providing counseling to support peers in mental health and/or addiction recovery; a recovery advocate directly involved with consumers of mental health services; a psychiatric therapy aide; or equivalent work involving in-person communication to support others in mental health recovery. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed Two full years of graduate education or a master’s degree. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Communication Problem Solving Teaches Others 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. Typically, the employee sits to do the work. There may be some walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items (such as books, papers), and accessing transportation. The work may require occasional use of Department of Veteran’s Affairs approved behavioral management techniques with Veterans who present a danger to self or others. Veterans demonstrate varying levels of wellness, recovery, and symptoms. This position must be equipped to be flexible and accept that work areas are often noisy, irregular, unpredictable, and stressful. Work is performed in a wide range of settings, including the Medical Center, group or family homes, community-based outpatient settings, community organizations, or in transport vehicles (public or government). 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/.
This Peer Specialist position may only be filled with a Veteran that meets statutory requirements that are detailed in the qualifications section.