Summary This Program Support Assistant position is being recruited for the VBA /Regional Office, Vocational Readiness and Employment, located in Nashville, Tennessee. The incumbent will provide program, technical and administrative assistance to the VRE Chief Officer and other subordinate management within the division. Responsibilities Major Duties The PSA is responsible for determining Chapter 31 Generated Eligibility Determinations (GED) for Veterans in the state of Tennessee and Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Receives applications for benefits, establishes claims and initiates/maintains Counseling Education and Rehabilitation (CER) folders within the Division. Calculates Chapter 31 entitlement and basic termination dates. The incumbent makes accurate technical decisions referencing subsistence allowances, dependent claims and eligibility status. The incumbent is often the initial point of contact for Veterans requesting VR&E services. Acts as a liaison between Veterans and Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors (VRC) by providing responses to routine requests for information related to eligibility, subsistence and dependent allowances, and receipt/nonreceipt of monies due. Complex questions regarding rules, regulations and laws governing Chapter 31 and adjudication determinations are referred to VRC. The incumbent is tasked with initiating written correspondence, scheduling, and confirming Veterans' appointments for orientation, facilitating group orientations and administering skills assessments when work is not contracted out. Updates BDN/CWINRS when Veterans complete orientation. Contacts Veteran orally and in writing when appointments are missed in connection with initial evaluations. The incumbent accurately processes all incoming Chapter 31 awards. Verifies dependent levels and in school status prior to forwarding award for authorization. Processes requests for Employee Adjustment Allowance (EAA) payments. Designs and updates spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel. Accurately prepares miscellaneous reports for the Division on a recurring basis. The PSA is responsible for general office and clerical duties to include: establishing, maintaining, transferring and retiring CER files. Makes copies, redacts personal identifiable information (PII), scans and faxes documentation to Veterans, schools, finance, contractors, etc. Incumbent sends, receives, date stamps, Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. Time-in-grade: Applicants who are current federal employees and have held a GS-05 grade and above any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05 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 submitter 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 on-year time-in-grade. SF-50: You must submit a copy of your most recent SF-50 (non-award or general adjustment) AND the SF-50 placing you into your current position. To support your claim of time in grade, you must submit your most recent appointment, promotion, within grade increase SF-50 (not an Award or General Adjustment SF-50). See the required documents section for more information. Note: multiple SF-50s may be required to adequately illustrate you have the requisite time-in-grade. Specialized Experience: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. GS-07: One (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. Specialized experience may include performing the following duties in a work environment responsible for human services or general office administration: alpha-numeric filing; Completing telephone outreach; Responding to telephone and written inquiries; Scheduling appointments; Financial transactions to include account reconciliation and documentation of Federal procurement; accurate computer data entry, and appropriate customer and peer relationships/communication. Education There is no education substitution. Additional Information Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer (TJO). Please visit the Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP), va.gov/EMPLOYEE/docs/The-Fair-Chance-to-Compete-Act.pdf for more information. 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. The 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 OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.