[Hiring] Lead Peer Specialist @Office of Suicide Prevention, Veterans Crisis Line

Role Description

This Lead Peer Specialist position may only be filled with a Veteran that meets statutory requirements listed in the qualifications section. This position is part of the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL). The VCL is a 24-hour, 7-days-a-week, 365-days-a-year service aimed at connecting callers worldwide to a caring, qualified VA employee. The VCL's mission is to provide 24/7, world-class suicide prevention and crisis intervention services to Veterans, Service Members, and their family members.

The position leads a team comprised of Peer Specialists and may lead Without Compensation (WOC) peer support employees, within a common supervisory structure, to provide services, integrate processes, and meet goals of peer support service programming at the facility. As the leader of a team of peer support staff, the position facilitates, coordinates, coaches, and problem solves with the members of the peer support staff team. The position also acts as the recognized liaison to and from the peer support staff team and the supervisor. The work of the position enables the peer support provider team as a whole to deliver improved quality, quantity, and timely services to Veterans.

• Ensures that the organization's strategic plan, mission, vision, and values are communicated to the peer support staff they lead and integrated into the team's strategies, goals, objectives, work plans, products, and services.
• Articulates and communicates to the peer support staff they lead the assignments, projects, problems to be solved, actionable events, milestones, and/or program issues under review as well as the deadlines and time frames for completion.
• Coaches the peer support staff they lead in the selection and application of appropriate problem-solving methods and techniques, provides advice on work methods, practices and procedures, and assists the team and/or individual members in identifying the parameters of viable solutions.
• Maintains awareness of the status and progress of peer support staff's work and makes day-to-day adjustments to ensure their work aligns with program goals and processes.
• Leads the team in identifying, distributing, and balancing workload and tasks in accordance with established workflow, skill level and/or occupational specialization; makes adjustments to accomplish the workload in accordance with established priorities to ensure timely accomplishment of assigned team tasks; and ensures that each team member has an integral role in developing the final team products and services.
• Identifies training needs and assists in the development of training for peer specialists and Veterans seeking to become peer specialists.
• Serves as a coach, facilitator and/or negotiator in coordinating team initiatives and in consensus building activities among team members.
• Maintains working knowledge of treatments and services available for the purpose of appropriate referrals.
• Represents the team in dealings with the supervisor for the purpose of obtaining resources (e.g., computer hardware and software, use of overtime or compensatory time), and securing needed information or decisions from the supervisor on major work problems and issues that arise.
• Participates in the service, training, consultation, and other professional activities of VA health care services and functions as a fully vested member of the multidisciplinary team.
• Uses personal recovery experiences to model coping techniques and recovery tools to coach Veterans on relevant skills needed for self-management of their health condition(s) and pursuit of their personal wellness.
• Observes behaviors that might indicate difficulty adapting or responding to treatment (e.g., missed assessment appointments, failure to attend or maintain abstinence, risk to self or others, disruptive behavior), completes appropriate documentation, and reports concerns to the treatment team in a timely manner.
• Uses ongoing individual and group meetings to teach Veterans how to identify and combat negative self-talk and overcome fears by providing a forum that allows Veterans to share their experiences.
• As necessary, handles crisis interventions for Veterans and addresses other emergent situations.
• Informs Veterans about VA and community support and resources, including how to effectively utilize them in the recovery and wellness process.
• Maintains knowledge of current trends and developments in holistic approaches in wellness and recovery by reading books, journals, and other relevant materials.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Must be a veteran who has recovered or is recovering from a mental health condition.
• Must be certified by a not-for-profit entity engaged in peer specialist training or a State as having satisfied relevant State requirements for a peer specialist position.
• Must have at least 1 year of recovery from a mental health condition (mental illness and/or substance use disorder).
• Successful recovery is exemplified by managing symptoms of illness, pursuing a healthy lifestyle, living independently, being employed or volunteering, and having meaningful relationships.

Requirements

• Must meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
• Must provide copies of DD-214 and Peer Specialist Certification with application package.
• Must be proficient in basic written and spoken English.
• Must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-09) in the Federal Service.

Benefits

• This is a remote position. Selectees will work 100% of the time in a non-VA-owned space outside of the local commuting area of a parent station.
• Remote employees are expected to provide a secure, distraction-free home-based worksite with reliable high-speed internet connectivity.