Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor – (Quality Review Specialist) (QRS)

Summary Serves as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor Quality Review Specialist (VQRS) located within the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E). The primary focus of the incumbent is to conduct Individual Quality Reviews (IQRs) and employ various tools to assess individual performance and to improve the quality and consistency of services. Responsibilities Duties include, but are not limited to: Conduct Individual Quality Reviews (IQR) and evaluations of direct counseling, casework, accounting, and eligibility decisions processed by the Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors to assess performance, and ensure compliance with all applicable statutes, regulations, directives, and procedures. Analyze, evaluate, and identify deficiencies of elements of a case including application, entitlement, evaluation, planning, case management, fiscal activity, and case closure. Conduct Higher Level Reviews (HLRs), in accordance with the Appeals Management Act (AMA), as well as analyze and track the HLR findings for remediation activities. Provide explanation of errors to the Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors to include recommendations for corrections when warranted. Conduct statistical analysis of quality review data to identify trends and significant problems for the purpose of making improvements. Communicate quality trend data to VR&E management and staff, to identify needs for training, use in operations, decision making a planning as well. Develop reports and discuss report findings with local leadership to address corrective actions, trends in case review and disagreement s in findings. Collaborate with VR&Es Service Systematic Technical Accuracy Review (STAR) Team to ensure consistent policy application to all quality reviews. Provide training to VR&E staff and management regrading finds of case reviews, best practices in service delivery and opportunities to improve quality of service. Serve as an advisor and consultant to VR&E Services and Regional Office management on precedent determinations involving individual decision cases and/or on technical and operational matters related to program deficiencies, best practices, or improvement recommendations. Work Schedule: Full-time, Monday through Friday Compressed/Flexible: Not available Telework: Available Virtual: This is a virtual position Position Description/PD#: Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor/41867-A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Relocation expenses are not authorized. Financial Disclosure Report: Selectee will be required to complete a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report, OGE-450, under 5 CFR 2634.904(a) prior to entering on duty and annually thereafter. Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/09/2024. 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-13 position, you must have served 52-weeks at the GS-12 grade 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. BASIC REQUIREMENTS: To qualify for the Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist (QRS) position, candidates must meet the following basic requirements: a. Education. Successful completion of a masters degree (or higher) in rehabilitation counseling, rehabilitation services, clinical rehabilitation counseling, counseling psychology, mental health counseling, career counseling or social work from an accredited college or university. b. Internship or Experience Requirement. The required (1) supervised internship or (2) post-masters degree experience is described as follows: (1) Supervised Internship: The education in paragraph 3a must have included a supervised internship in rehabilitation counseling or case management specialization. The internship must have been supervised by a professional in vocational rehabilitation or a closely related professional field that typically has oversight for vocational rehabilitation programs. OR (2) Experience: One-year post-masters degree experience in direct delivery of professional vocational rehabilitation services to individuals with disabilities. In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, applicants must also meet the specialized experience below: Specialized Experience Requirement: GS-13: Specialized experience is defined professional vocational rehabilitation counseling work in delivery to adults with disabilities. Experience reflects the management of vocational rehabilitation counseling or case management workload involving persons with a wide variety of disability conditions (e.g., mental health, physical, cognitive, visual/auditory, substance abuse). 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: No special physical requirements are required for this position. The incumbent works primarily in an office setting, but will occasionally travel for conferences and trainings. Work may consist of extended hours and lengthy periods of concentration. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Managements website at http://://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/. Education There is no educational substitution for the indicated experience at this grade level. However, there is an education requirement as described above under BASIC REQUIREMENTS. A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html. Additional Information VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced 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 (have a final rating of 85 or more) for this vacancy. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPMs Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position. It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members. For more information on the “Who may apply” eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicants criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer (TJO). Please visit the Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP), https://www.va.gov/EMPLOYEE/docs/The-Fair-Chance-to-Compete-Act.pdf.If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.