Recreation Therapist

About the role

This Recreation Therapist position is in the Sensory & Physical Rehabilitation Service at the VA Central Western Massachusetts Healthcare Systems, located at the Leeds, MA location. This position is full-time at 40 hours per week. To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with 38 U.S.C § 7407 (a)). English Language Proficiency: Must be proficient in spoken and written English, as required by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). Education: The following education requirements apply to the recreation therapist: A bachelor's degree or higher, from an accredited college or university, with a major in therapeutic recreation or recreation/leisure, with an option and/or emphasis in therapeutic recreation. The degree must be approved by the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification (NCTRC); OR, A bachelor's degree or higher in any field from an accredited college or university and must be a certified therapeutic recreation specialist (CTRS). The degree must be approved by the NCTRC. If hired under this education, the certification cannot be waived. Certification: Applicants must be certified in recreation therapy as a CTRS by the NCTRC. If hired under the second Education option, certification cannot be waived. Exception: Non-registered and/or non-certified applicants, who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements for registration and/or certification, may be given a temporary appointment as a graduate recreation or creative arts therapist, under the authority of 38 U.S.C. § 7405(c)(2)(B), for a period not to exceed two years. Applicants who fail to obtain registration and/or certification during this temporary full-time appointment may be terminated. The exception only applies to positions at the GS-7 and GS-9 level. For grade levels at or above the full performance level, the candidate must be registered and/or certified. Failure to Obtain Registration/Certification. In all cases, recreation and creative arts therapists must actively pursue meeting registration and/or certification requirements, starting from the date of appointment. At the time of appointment, the supervisor will provide the unregistered and/or uncertified recreation or creative arts therapist with the written requirement to obtain registration/certification, the date by which the registration and/or certification must be acquired, and the consequences for not becoming registered and/or certified by the deadline. Failure to become registered and/or certified within two years from the date of appointment will result in removal from the GS-0638 recreation and creative arts therapist occupation, and may result in termination of employment. May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria). Grandfathering Provision: All persons employed in VHA as a recreation or creative arts therapist, on the effective date of this qualification standard, are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series, and grade held, including positive education, and registration and/or certification that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed, the following provisions apply: (1) Such employees may be reassigned, promoted up to, and including, the full performance (journeyman) level, or changed to lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the journeyman level, or placed in supervisory or managerial positions. (2) Employees who were appointed on a temporary basis, prior to the effective date of the qualification standard, may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard. (3) Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/registration/certification, that meet all the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation. (4) Recreation and creative arts therapists who are converted to title 38 hybrid status under this provision and subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements, in effect at the time of reentry, as a recreation or creative arts ther

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