Social Service Assistant

About the Position: Vacancies are located at Darnell Army Medical Center, Fort Hood, Texas. This is a Direct Hire Solicitation. Salary negotiation may be available for those candidates who are new to Federal service.

Major duties

• Provide mental health initial screening and follow-up care for a high-risk population.
• Participate as a member of the mental health multidisciplinary team that coordinates care for military members and assists patients in accessing the appropriate level of mental health care.
• Identify problems and seeks resolution by collaborating with mental health providers, other multidisciplinary providers and team members, the service members command, and case managers to ensure maximum utilization of mental health care resources.
• Facilitate psycho-educational and/or support groups to enable group care.
• Develop support caseload as directed by the clinical mental health providers.
• Perform direct patient support through patient referrals and education.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: US Citizens In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below. 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; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document. Basic Requirements for Social Services Assistant: Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes evaluating mental health clients to determine required services; facilitating psycho-educational or support groups; and maintaining patient files. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-07). OR Education: One and a half years of graduate level education in a field directly related to the work of the position, such as Social Work, Psychology, Human Services, Child & Family Welfare, Counseling (ex. crisis, substance abuse, mental health, chemical dependence), Family and Community Services, Behavioral Science, Human Development, Sociology, Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling. OR Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the first year (total semester hours minus 18) by 9. Add the two percentages.

Education

FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.