Peer Specialist
for section headings (e.g. About the role, Responsibilities, Requirements, Qualifications, Skills, Benefits, Pay, Schedule). Include a section ONLY when posting has real, specific content for it. So we need to map content.
We have Summary: description of position. Could be "About the role". Use About the role
then
with summary. Qualifications: includes basic requirements, time-in-grade, etc. That's "Qualifications" heading. Duties: "Responsibilities" heading. We also have Work Schedule: "Various tours of duty based on the needs of the service Compressed/Flexible: May be available based on the needs of the service Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position". That's schedule info. So we can include a Schedule section. Pay: Not mentioned. Benefits: Not mentioned. Skills: Not explicit separate; but could be part of qualifications. We'll not create empty sections. We must not repeat job title as heading. No Job ID etc. Remove boilerplate like EEO etc. There's none. We need to preserve all substantive info. Must not invent or summarize away detail. Must keep details like dates, requirements, etc. We need to output only HTML fragment, no /, no markdown fences. Let's craft. Structure:
About the role
The Peer Specialist position provides support to the National Center for Warrior Independence at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System in Los Angeles - California.
Qualifications
To qualify for this position - applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement - 10/16/2026. 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. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. For a GS-08 position - you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. For a GS-09 position - you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-08. 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Basic Requirements FOR PEER SPECIALISTS aStatutory RequirementsSection 405 of Public Law 110-387 - as codified in 38 U.S.C. 7402(b)(13) - established that to be eligible to receive appointment to a Peer Specialist position - a person must: (1) be a veteran who has recovered or is recovering from a mental health conditionand(2) be certified by -(a) a not-for-profit entity engaged in peer specialist training as having met such criteria as the Secretary shall establish for a peer specialist positionor(b) a State as having satisfied relevant State requirements for a peer specialist positionbLength of Experience in Recovery: 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 one who manages symptoms of illness and pursues a healthy lifestylelives independentlyis employed or volunteers significant time approximating at least a part-time employment schedulehas meaningful relationships with family members and friendsand is socially involved in the community through clubs - hobby groups - church - civic organizations or Veteran organizations in which the individual provides a service to othersIMPORTANT NOTICE: Veteran is defined as a person who served in the active military - naval - air - or space service - and who was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorableRestricted to VETERANS - You MUST provide copies of your DD-214 and Peer Specialist Certification - with your application packageENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY: In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d) - No person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken EnglishYou must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to meet the requirements of this positionYou may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-6: In addition to the basic requirements - candidates must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience at the next lower graded level - which involved post-personal mental health recovery experience as a mentor providing counseling to support peers in mental health and/or addiction recovery - a recovery advocate directly involved with consumers of mental health services - a psychiatric therapy aide - or equivalent work involving in-person communication to support others in mental health recoveryYour work has been closely monitored including having work checked in progress and reviewing completed work for accuracy - adequacy - and adherence to instructions or proceduresGS-7: In addition to the basic requirements - candidates must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience at the next lower graded level - which involved post-personal mental health recovery experience as a mentor providing counseling to support peers in mental health and/or addiction recovery - a recovery advocate directly involved with consumers of mental health services - a psychiatric therapy aide - or equivalent work involving in-person communication to support others in mental health recoveryAt this level - routine work has been completed with minimal supervisory oversight and review - however close supervision will have been provided for complex and unusual tasksGS-8: In addition to the basic requirements - candidates must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience at the next lower graded level - which involved post-personal mental health recovery experience as a mentor providing counseling to support peers in mental health and/or addiction recovery - a recovery advocate directly involved with consumers of mental health services - a psychiatric therapy aide - or equivalent work involving in-person communication to support others in mental health recoveryAt this level you have the ability to work with general instructions for the performance of routine duties and detailed instructions and/or training in performance of the non-routine functions and special assignmentsNon-routine/novel work will have been reviewed by spot checking and after completion to evaluate the adequacy of methods - procedures - results - ability to solve new and changing problems - etcGS-9: In addition to the basic requirements - candidates must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience at the next lower graded level - which involved post-personal mental health recovery experience as a mentor providing counseling to support peers in mental health and/or addiction recovery - a recovery advocate directly involved with consumers of mental health services - a psychiatric therapy aide - or equivalent work involving in-person communication to support others in mental health recoveryAt this level work will have been performed with considerable independence and you are responsible for making recommendations to the interdisciplinary treatment team that can be relied on for soundness of judgment and maturity of insight on problem situations-OR- EDUCATION SUBSTITUTION: (Transcripts are required with your application package) GS-6: Successful completion Six (6) months of graduate education or a 1-year post-bachelor's degree internship meets the requirements for GS-6. Only education that is directly related to the work of the position is creditableGS-7: Successful completion One (1) full year of graduate education meets the requirements for GS-7. Only education that is directly related to the work of the position is creditableGS-8: Successful completion One and one/half (1 ) years of graduate education meets the requirements for GS-8. Only education that is directly related to the work of the position is creditableGS-9: Successful completion Two (2) full years of graduate education or a master's degree meets the requirements for GS-9. Only education that is directly related to the work of the position is creditable.
But that's huge. Might be okay. However we could break into- for lists? The qualifications includes many sentences; but we could keep as
. The instruction: Use
- for any list of duties/requirements/benefits. The qualifications includes many bullet-like items? Not exactly list; but we could treat each GS level as list items. However we must preserve all substantive info; using
- is okay if we convert. But we need to decide.
Better: Keep qualifications as
with paragraphs; but the instruction says use
- for any list of duties/requirements/benefits. The qualifications is a list of requirements; but not explicitly bullet list. Safer to keep as
. The instruction says "Use
- for any list of duties/requirements/benefits". If we don't have explicit list, we can use
. It's okay. Now Duties section:
Responsibilities
The Peer Specialist performs a variety of therapeutic and supportive tasks including assisting peers in articulating their goals for recovery - learning and practicing new skills - helping monitor their progress - assisting in their treatment - modeling effective coping techniques and strategies based on the specialist's own recovery experienceDuties may include but are not limited to: 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 teamUses personal recovery experiences to model coping techniques and recovery tolls to coach Veterans to relevant skills need for self-management of their health condition(s) and pursuit of their personal wellnessServes as a recovery agent by providing and advocating for effective wellness and holistic - recovery-based services that aid Veterans in daily livingOrients new Veterans to the program's services - hours - locations - staff - and other pertinent information necessary for the Veterans to understand how to effectively utilize the program servicesGuides Veterans to articulate personal recovery and wellness goals through the use of individual or group meetingsUtilizes recovery tools to coach Veterans on relevant skills needed for self-management of their health condition(s) and pursuit of their personal wellnessMonitors progress and assists with the execution of the recovery and wellness plan - makes timely reports of progress - and presents new areas of concern to the treatment teamContributes to the development of an effective discharge plan that is based upon their understanding of the Veteran's goals and interestsObserves behaviors that might indicate difficulty adapting or responding to treatment (e.g. - missed appointments - failure to maintain abstinence - risk to self or others - disruptive behavior) - completes appropriate documentation - and reports concerns to the treatment team in a timely mannerUses 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 experiencesMaintains a working knowledge of current trends and developments in holistic approaches in wellness and recovery by reading books - journals - and other relevant materialsMust be able to operate a government furnished vehicle for the purpose of assisting Veterans with obtaining and retaining housingPerforms other related duties as assigned
Now Schedule section:Schedule
Work Schedule: Various tours of duty based on the needs of the serviceCompressed/Flexible: May be available based on the needs of the serviceTelework: Not AvailableVirtual: This is not a virtual position
We should also maybe include "Promotion Potential" but not a standard heading; could be part of Qualifications? But we can add a section "Promotion Potential" if we want, but instruction only gave examples; we can add other headings if content exists. Might be okay to add a section "Promotion Potential". However we should avoid too many thin sections. Could incorporate into Qualifications. Better to keep only About the role,
- for any list of duties/requirements/benefits". If we don't have explicit list, we can use
- for any list of duties/requirements/benefits. The qualifications is a list of requirements; but not explicitly bullet list. Safer to keep as
- is okay if we convert. But we need to decide.
Better: Keep qualifications as
- for any list of duties/requirements/benefits. The qualifications includes many bullet-like items? Not exactly list; but we could treat each GS level as list items. However we must preserve all substantive info; using