Social Services Assistant

Social Services Assistant

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Tucson, Arizona

Salary Range: $45812 - $59553 Per Year

Job Summary: The Southern Arizona VA Healthcare Network is recruiting for a Social Service Assistant (SSA) of the Housing and Urban Development Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program and provides support services to Veterans in the Homeless Program. The primary goal is to move Veterans and their families out of chronic homelessness with case management services designed to improve Veterans' physical and mental health and enhance their ability to remain stable, housed and community integrated.

Major Duties:

• Documenting Patient Encounters in Electronic Health Record & Patient Data Entry Use MS Word processing software to execute several office automation functions such as storing and retrieving electronic documents and files; activating printers; inserting and deleting text; and formatting letters, reports, and memoranda. Document in appropriate reporting systems all clinical, quality and patient safety needs/concerns. File a Disruptive Behavior Report when a patient or employee engages in behavior that is disruptive while at SAVAHCS, including CBOCs or the community. Utilize Homeless Operations Management and Evaluation System (HOMES), an online data collection system that collects data as homeless Veterans move through the VA's homeless programs. Direct Patient Care & Screening Provide assistance as liaison for Veterans' needs and communicate these concerns to the HUD-VASH Case Managers and/or HUD-VASH Program Coordinator or designated HUD-VASH Supervisor. Meet with Veterans individually in the office, community and during home visits. Respond to phone calls in a courteous and timely manner, determine the nature of requests, and provide the information desired using privacy rules and established clinic processes to both the Veteran, Veteran's family, VA staff and the public. Review Veteran referrals who have not succeeded in maintaining housing to address contributing factors which may impact on their housing such as budgeting, mental health, substance use and legal issues. Collaborate by providing feedback and insight to determine what conditions need to be in place for a more successful outcome in the future. Directly Assisting Patients with Housing Process & Community Supports Provide psycho-educational groups on housing and mental health related issues using printed, audiovisual, and/or modular material. Maintain a valid Driver's License and transport Veterans to find suitable and affordable housing; attend their medical appointments, social activities, community resources; and apply for employment. Assist Veterans in obtaining decent and affordable housing of their choice in the most integrated, independent, and least intrusive or restrictive environment by taking them out to view housing, either driving them or riding with them on public transportation. The SSA models effective coping techniques and self-help strategies in collaboration with homeless outreach/HUD-VASH Program staff. Referrals to other Agencies, Liaison for Services & Provide Required Documentation Provide assistance as a liaison for Veterans' needs on multiple caseloads and communicate these concerns to the HUD-VASH Case Managers and/or HUD-VASH Program Coordinator or designated HUD-VASH Supervisor. Meet with Veterans typically individually in the office, community and during home visits. Utilize SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access and Recovery (SOAR) training to assist Veterans in the completion of Social Security applications and/or VA service-connected compensation and/or non-service-connected pension applications. SOAR is a program designed to increase access of social security benefits for eligible adults who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness and have a mental illness, medical impairment, and/or a co-occurring substance use disorder. Use the HEAPlus online platform to help Veterans apply for Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) Health Insurance, Nutrition Assistance and other benefits. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 07:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Social Services Assistant/PD14853-A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved 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, 12/18/2025. 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 as described below: Individual Occupational Requirement: Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: 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. Grade level Requirement 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: Utilizing automated systems to maintain case records, and preparing reports; assisting in interviewing clients to identify their needs and refer them to appropriate community resources, programs or services; explaining policies, procedures, or program requirements. Preferred Experience: Previous experience working with individuals and /or Veterans experiencing homelessness, familiarity with resources available to Veterans experiencing homelessness and knowledge of HUD and housing rules and regulations. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and Management Clinical Data Collection/Documentation Customer Service Database Administration 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 incumbent must have a current, valid driver's license and be able to drive a government-owned or leased vehicle. There will be walking; standing; bending; carrying light items such as books, papers, etc.; accessing transportation; and driving a government-owned or leased vehicle. 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 12/18/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12843235. 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. If initial application submission is updated and resubmitted with a new resume, only the most current resume will be reviewed for consideration. 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: 2025-12-18