Family Advocacy Specialist (Clinical) Job in Buzzards Bay, MA

Vacancy No. 20241204-174912-SL-ST Department U.S. Coast Guard
Salary $100,371.00 to $130,488.00 Grade 12 to 12
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 2/27/2025 Close Date 3/10/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Status Candidates
Locations:
Buzzards Bay, MA


Summary

This vacancy is for a GS - 0101 - 12, Family Advocacy Specialist (Clinical) located in the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard, OPERATING LOCATION-BASE CAPE COD BUZZARDS BAY MA.

Duties

You will serve as a/an Family Advocacy Specialist (Clinical) and be responsible for ensuring compliance with the Congressional mandate that the military services take action to prevent and reduce family maltreatment.

Being a Coast Guard civilian makes you a valuable member of the Coast Guard team. Typical work assignments include:

  • Counseling individuals, couples, families, and groups on matters pertaining to family dynamics, physical or emotional abuse or neglect, parent-child interaction, couples communication, stress reduction, and adjustment to military lifestyles.
  • Case management services include the responding, reporting and intervening (through risk assessment, safety planning, psychosocial assessment, and treatment plans), and then following-up on allegations of child and/or spousal physical and emotional abuse for active duty military members and their families.
  • Serving as the primary expert in the assigned geographic area of responsibility for the Family Advocacy Program
  • Serving as a mental healthcare provider for Family Advocacy Program (FAP) abuse cases and Family in Need of Service (FINS) clients. Responsibilities include consultation, differential diagnosis and treatment planning for all disorders defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental disorders, and other conditions.
  • Providing FAP awareness trainings and other prevention programs per policy
  • Engaging clients in a cooperative fashion to work together to prevent subsequent incidents of maltreatment

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement.

Key Requirements:

  1. Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
  2. Must be registered or exempt from the Selective Service. See www.sss.gov
  3. A one-year probationary period may be required.
  4. Suitable for Federal employment determined by background investigation.
  5. Selectee must provide a valid state driver's license and safe driving record.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: This position has a positive Education Requirement in addition to at least one year of Specialized Experience or substitution of education for experience or combination (if applicable) in order to be found minimally qualified. Transcripts must be submitted with your application package. You MUST meet the following requirements:

EDUCATION: Applicants must have a successful completion of a degree in behavioral or social science; or related disciplines appropriate to the position.

OR Applicants must possess a combination of education and experience that provided the applicant with knowledge of one or more of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a major in the field.

Or Four years of appropriate experience that demonstrated that the applicant has acquired knowledge of one or more of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a major in the field.

AND In addition to the positive education and/or experience requirements above, applicants must also have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 level in the federal service.

Specialized experience is experience that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically related to the work of the position to be filled.

NOTE: All experience statements (i.e., duties, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire) copied from this announcement and pasted into your resume will not be considered as a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.

Specialized experience must include the following:

  • Management of Family Advocacy programs, preparing written communications and oral presentations and/or briefings.
  • Providing technical guidance and assistance.
  • Studying, analyzing, and/or evaluating administrative policies, practices, and procedures for development or improvement.
  • Experience in reporting of neglect and violence cases, as well as intervention.
  • Risk oriented case management
  • Referral
  • Child, spouse, significant other, sibling, parent and elder abuse and neglect.
  • Identifying high risk groups for abuse and provides intervention, case management and referrals.
  • Serving as liaison with Federal, State and local agencies on policy and services in family violence situations.
NOTE: Education cannot be substituted for experience at this grade level.
NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with your application.

* Must possess and maintain the following: an unrestricted, independent state license in mental health counseling at the clinical or highest level available in states that have tiered licensing schemes. Examples: Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor. (Please provide a copy with your application.)

* Must also possess passage of one of the following exams: National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination, Clinical Level Association of Social Work Boards Examination for the Licensed Clinical Social Worker, National Counselor Examination for Licensure and Certification, The National Counselor Examination, or, passage of another nationally recognized mental health counseling examination.

National Service Experience (i.e., volunteer experience): 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). 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.

The Office of Personnel management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule, C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office.

Education

This position does have a positive education requirement. If you are including education on your resume, report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. See Required Documents section for detail.

College Transcript: If you are qualifying based on education, submit a copy of your college transcript that lists college courses detailing each course by the number and department (i.e., bio 101, math 210, etc.), course title, number of credit hours and grade earned. You must submit evidence that any education completed in a foreign institution is equivalent to U.S. education standards with your resume. You may submit an unofficial copy of the transcript at the initial phase of the application process. If course content cannot be easily identified from the title of the course as listed on your transcript, you must submit an official course description from the college/university that reflects the content at the time the course was taken.

Transcripts--If this position requires specific educational course work to qualify, or you are qualifying based in whole or part on education, you are required to provide all unofficial transcripts (undergraduate, graduate, etc.) by the closing date of this announcement or you will be disqualified from further consideration. Please ensure that all documentation is legible.

FOREIGN EDUCATION: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet Federal qualification requirements if you can show that your foreign education is comparable to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence with your application. See Recognition of Foreign Qualifications click here

Only experience and education obtained by the closing date of this announcement will be considered.

Additional information

Any Offers of employment made pursuant to this announcement will be consistent with all applicable authorities, including Presidential Memoranda, Executive Orders, interpretive U.S. Office of Personnel Management guidance and U.S. Office of Management and Budget plans and policies concerning hiring. These authorities are subject to change.
E-Verify
DHS uses E-Verify, an Internet-based system, to confirm the eligibility of all newly hired employees to work in the United States. Learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities.

Fair Chance Act
The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act prohibits the Department of Homeland Security and its Components from requesting an applicant's criminal history record before that individual receives a conditional offer of employment. In accordance with 5 U.S. Code § 9202(c) and 5 C.F.R § 920.201 certain positions are exempt from the provisions of the Fair Chance to Compete Act. Applicants who believe they have been subjected to a violation of the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act, may submit a written complaint to shalonda.m.loua@uscg.mil.

Suitability Statement
If you receive a conditional offer of employment for this position, you will be required to complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, and to sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application, prior to entry on duty. False statements on any part of the application may result in withdrawal of offer of employment, dismissal after beginning work, fine, or imprisonment.

Shared Certificates Statement
Applying to this announcement certifies that you give permission for DHS to share your application with others in DHS for similar positions.

Special Employment Consideration
The Department of Homeland Security encourages persons with disabilities to apply, to include persons with intellectual, severe physical or psychiatric disabilities, as defined by 5 CFR 213.3102(u), and or Disabled Veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30 percent or more as defined by 5 CFR 315.707. Veterans, Peace Corps, VISTA volunteers, and persons with disabilities possess a wealth of unique talents, experiences, and competencies that can be invaluable to the DHS mission. If you are a member of one of these groups, you may not have to compete with the public for federal jobs. To determine your eligibility for non-competitive appointment and to understand the required documentation, click on the links above or contact the servicing Human Resources Office listed at the bottom of this announcement.

Recruitment incentives may be authorized.

If you need a reasonable accommodation for the application and hiring process, please contact shalonda.m.loua@uscg.mil. Decisions on granting reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis. Visit Reasonable Accommodation

Benefits

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your resume, optional cover letter and supporting documentation will be reviewed to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications for the position. If you meet the minimum qualifications stated in the job opportunity announcement, we will compare your resume, optional cover letter and supporting documentation to your responses on the scored occupational questionnaire (True/False, Yes/No, Multiple Choice questions). Your resume and/or optional cover letter must support your responses to the scored occupational questionnaire, or your score may be lowered. The best qualified candidates will be identified for referral to the hiring manager and may be invited for an interview.

The assessment questionnaire is designed to measure your ability in the following competencies:

  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Technical Competence
  • Therapy and Counseling
  • Writing


To preview the announcement questionnaire, click here: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12699960

Do NOT include the following types of information in your resume:
  • Social Security Number (SSN)
  • Date of Birth (DOB)
  • Photos of yourself (if included on your resume you will not be considered for this position)
  • Personal information: such as age, gender, religious affiliation, etc.

Required Documents

Resume showing relevant work/volunteer experience, education, and training. Include the start and end dates (from month/date/year to month/date/year) and the number of hours per week worked/volunteered.

SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (if applicable for Time in Grade and/or Eligibility):

  • Most recent SF-50 if you are a current or former Federal employee
  • An SF-50 showing 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.
  • Award 50's do not provide sufficient information. Examples of appropriate SF-50's include:
    • Within grade increases at the highest grade held; Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or
    • SF-50's at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.

Veterans' preference documentation (Member Copy 4 of DD-214, Revised October 2013 SF-15 https://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/sf15.pdf and VA letter, if applicable. NOTE: The revised October 2013 SF-15 is the latest copy and all others are not usable. Please see Feds Hire Vets for detail.

  • Veterans claiming 5 point veterans' preference must submit legible Member 4 Copy DD214(s) indicating Character of Service.
  • 30% Disabled Veterans must submit their Member Copy 4 DD-214(s), which includes Character of Service, and VA Disability Letter with percentage of disability OR documentation of disability determination from a branch of the Armed Forces which reflects a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more.
  • Other 10 point Preference Eligibles must submit applicable Member Copy 4 DD-214(s), which includes Character of Service, and provide documentation of 10 point preference described on the back of the SF-15.
  • If you are a current active duty military member who does not have a DD214 and is claiming eligibility under the Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) Act, you must submit certification from the Armed Forces indicating you will be discharged/released under honorable conditions from active duty within 120 days from the date you submit your certification as part of your application for this announcement. See the "How to Apply" section of this announcement for information on specific requirements for VOW certifications.

CTAP/ICTAP documentation, if applicable.

Schedule A documentation, if applicable. Note: Coast Guard welcomes and encourages applications from persons with disabilities. Qualified applicants with disabilities may be eligible for special hire, non-competitive appointment under Schedule A eligibility.

Military Spouses (if applicable) - You MUST submit verification of the marriage to the service member (i.e., a marriage license or other legal documentation verifying marriage) AND: (1) a copy of your spouse's active military orders; OR (2) verification of your spouse's 100% service-connected disability (VA Letter and/or DD-214); OR (3) verification of the service member's death while on active duty (DD-1300/Death Certificate). You are not eligible if you were not married to the veteran at the time of death or have since remarried.

Interchange Agreement with Other Merit Systems Eligible: Documentation of eligibility as listed in each individual interchange agreement.

Other noncompetitive or special appointing authorities (e.g., Peace Corps, VISTA, Public Land Corp, Military Spouse, VRA, 30% Disabled Veterans, Certain Former Overseas Employees, Foreign Service, etc.) must provide substantiating documentation as required.

Any other supporting documentation required for verification as described in the announcement.

Political Appointees: OPM must authorize employment offers for former or current Political Appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C or Non-Career SES employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

How to Apply

To begin your online application, click "Apply Online" to create a USAJOBS account and follow the prompts or log in to your existing account. Your application packet must include a completed assessment questionnaire, a resume, and any applicable and or required supporting documentation. Please see the "Required Documents" section below for additional information. All application materials, including transcripts, must be in English. We encourage you to apply online.

Applications and supporting documentation will not be accepted by mail or email. The address below is for inquiries only. You may apply more than once, but the most recent application is the only one that will be used. You must submit your resume, your online questionnaire, and any supporting documents by 11:59 PM eastern standard time on 03/10/2025.

It is your responsibility to verify that any information entered or uploaded is received and is accurate. Human Resources will not modify or change any part of your application. Determining your eligibility and qualifications is dependent on the supporting documentation and information provided, which may impact your referral for further consideration. If a document is not legible, you will not be able to view it in your application.

To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account (https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login), all of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/.

If claiming eligibility under the VOW Act: The VOW Act requires Federal agencies to treat active duty service member as veterans, disabled veterans, and preference eligibles, when they submit, at the time they apply for a Federal job, a "certification" of active service in lieu of a DD214. In order to be considered under the VOW Act, the certification must specify that the service member is expected to be discharged or released from active duty under honorable conditions not later than 120 days after the date the certification is submitted with your application package for this job announcement. The certification must be on letterhead from the appropriate military branch and include the following information: military dates of service and expected discharge or release date, character of service, military rank, type of discharge, and date when terminal leave will begin. Certifications must be signed by, or by direction of military members' military personnel offices, unit commanders or higher headquarters. Agencies are required to verify a qualifying separation from military service prior to appointment, through the DD214 or other appropriate documentation. Your preference and/or appointment eligibility will be verified prior to appointment.

If you are unable to apply online, you must request an alternative application which is available from the Human Resources Office. Please contact ShaLonda Loua at shalonda.m.loua@uscg.mil to obtain an alternative application.

Agency contact information

ShaLonda Loua
Address
OPERATING LOCATION-BASE CAPE COD BUZZARDS BAY MA
DO NOT MAIL
BUZZARDS BAY, MA 2542
US

Next steps

Once you submit your application, we will assess your experience and training, identify the best-qualified applicants, and refer those applications to the hiring manager for further consideration and interviews. We will notify you by email after each of these steps has been completed. Your status will also be updated on USAJOBS throughout the process. To check your status, log on to your USAJOBS account, click on "Application Status," and then click "More Information." We expect to make a job offer within 60 days after the deadline for applications. If you are selected, we will conduct a suitability/security background investigation. View more information on applying for federal employment.


Note: We cannot accept applications on behalf of Federal Agencies. Application instructions are listed within the Job Description.


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