Recreation Therapy Assistant

Recreation Therapy Assistant

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Lexington, Kentucky

Salary Range: $45409 - $59031 Per Year

Job Summary: The Recreation Therapy Assistant (RTA) is located within Patient Care Services at the Lexington VA Healthcare Systems; a dual campus-facility. The incumbent is charged with responsibility for a range of recreation programs for assigned patient care program (s). They play a crucial role in supporting the primary recreation or creative arts therapist (RCAT) in carrying out recreation services.

Major Duties:

• Duties of the position include, but may not be limited to the following: Provide treatment which has been prescribed as a part of the patient's physical, mental, social, and/or emotional rehabilitation program. Carrying out a full range of Therapeutic Recreation programs and interventions inclusive of recreation treatment modalities and general recreation (diversional) activities. Provide therapy to patient individually, in small groups or in large groups, depending on the patient's functional abilities, the needs of the patients and the appropriate number of patients and staff needed to properly administer the therapy. Monitor and document the patient's responses to the treatment as part of the treatment evaluation process. Work closely with therapists in planning and evaluating treatments offered, there will be a large amount of autonomy in the work performed. Organize social gatherings and community programs for veterans. Responsible for managing and maintaining a healthy and socially therapeutic environment during all treatment and services provided for the patients. Work independently with patients and responsible for minimizing all potential risks to patients and following safety policy/procedures. Prepares documents with word processing and associated software, selecting the appropriate program for office needs including but not limited to, MS Office Suite. Provide phone coverage and ensure telephone calls, office visitors, and patients are screened and referred to appropriate individuals. Complete and maintain patient records. Prepare/Lead the many activities sponsored by volunteer organizations for the patients. Submit work orders and inform the supervisor, Recreation and Creative Arts Therapy when major repairs are needed. Maintain equipment used in treatment and services through proper use, cleaning, preventative maintenance and minor repairs. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, may include weekends or holidays depending on scheduled activities. Available Tours of Duty: 0700-1530, 0730-1600, 0800-1630 Position Description/PD#: Recreation Therapy Assistant/PD304550 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Qualifications: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/10/2026. 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-6 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5. 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: For the GS-6 Recreation Assistant: Specialized Experience - Applicants 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. Specialized Experience for this position is defined as below: Knowledge of the standard techniques and treatment procedures, adapting recreation programs for patients of various ages and disabilities meeting their individual needs. Knowledge of medical terminology and basic health care issues to be able to report to the progress and reactions of the patients in treatment, utilizing insight and judgment obtained through experience working with veterans. Knowledge of and skill in applying rehabilitation process, motivational techniques, disabilities and their impact on employability and work performance/potential. Knowledge of and skills in the maintenance and sue of recreation equipment and supplies. Knowledge and skill in the use of a variety of computer software to include but not limited to data entry, VISTA, CPRS, MS Office, telephone, copier, and fax machine. Knowledge of in-house and community recreation delivery systems to plan a varied diverse recreation program including sports, socials, music, physical exercise, etc.; to plan and oversee a recreation program during evenings, weekends, and holidays; to plan activities using various community resources and to greet volunteers. Practical knowledge of maintaining a recreation calendar which involves interaction and scheduling of civic and service organizations who volunteer and ensuring the coordination of these activities with appropriate staff. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Attention to Detail Clerical Patient Care 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: Reaching, lifting, carrying, pushing, and pulling: 1 - 10 pounds constantly, 10 - 25 frequently, and 25 - 50 pounds occasionally. Specific examples include: Picking up, carrying, and placing folders, charts, books, and binders. Setting up equipment for patients such as weights or durable medical equipment. Lifting and carrying adaptive equipment ranging in weight from negligible to 50 pounds. Pushing and rolling equipment such as walkers, wheelchairs, and supply carts. Assisting patients in mobility such as ambulation and transfers, from minimal assistance to dependent transfers, which may be up to 50 pounds. RTA must be able to push patients in wheelchairs on level and incline ground. 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/.

How to Apply: All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 03/10/2026 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12899442. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at: https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/merit-hiring-plan-resources/applicant-guidance-on-the-two-page-resume-limit/ 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/. During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

Application Deadline: 2026-03-10