Therapy Assistant

The VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System is recruiting for a Therapy Assistant. The Therapy Assistant will function in Recreation Therapy Service. The incumbents performs a crucial role in supporting the primary recreation therapist or creative arts therapist in carrying out treatment services for Veterans with complex medical, physical, behavioral and/or mental deficits.

Qualifications:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 calendar days of the closing date listed on the announcement, 06/22/2026.

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-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. 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. 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 one-year time-in-grade.

Note:

Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. Applicants must be eligible under the VA Interchange Agreement, having served continuously for at least one year in the other merit system under this interchange agreement. For more information regarding the VA Interchange Agreement please visit: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-authorities/competitive-hiring/ . All Title 38 Veterans Canteen Service (VCS) employees must have served in their Excepted Service position for at least 90 days in order to be eligible for a position within the Competitive Service. Applicants who were previously selected under a Competitive Delegating Examining Office (DEO) announcement must have served in their position for at least 90 days prior to being eligible for other positions within the Competitive Service. This occupational series has an Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR). In order to meet the IOR you must meet the following: Specialized Experience (For positions at GS-4 and above): Examples of qualifying specialized experience include work as an assistant to one of the specialized therapies such as occupational, physical, manual arts, corrective, or educational therapy; or experience gained as an assistant or aid in social work, or psychology where the duties involved actual participation in physical medicine and activities of a hospital or clinic. In addition to the qualifications and IOR above, you must also meet the following: above you must also have:

Specialized Experience:

You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-5 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Knowledge of recreation therapy processes and programs; assists with implementing treatment plans for patients; working with patients one on one or in small group settings; provides assistance to recreation therapist; and assists with creating patient notes in their electronic medical record. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/ .