Recreation Assistant
What you'd do
This position is in Recreation and Creative Arts Therapy (RCAT) Service at the Miami VA Medical Center. RCAT services provide therapeutic programming to improve//maintain physical, social, emotional and cognitive the functioning of patients. Services also include direct and indirect diversional programming to allow practice of concepts learned through therapy and appropriate outlets for leisure. RCAT uses Music Therapy and Art Therapy to provide quality programming for patients.
Major duties
Duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to: Conduct individualized therapeutic activity interventions based on comprehensive patient assessments. Plan and carry out individual and group activities for the rehabilitation of patients with physical and psychiatric conditions. Monitor, order, and track inventories for recreational supplies and equipment. Organize community outings. Report patient progress and overall leisure functioning to the recreation/creative arts therapist and treatment team members. Provie a positive impact on patient/client self-esteem, life satisfaction, confidence, and increased level of independence. Educate patients on the effective use of the equipment to meet their treatment goals. Develop publicity for scheduled special events through using fliers, bulletins, and/or newspapers. Monitor and enforce safety and infection control standards. Carry out initial first aid response and/or alerting emergency services as needed. Participate in quality improvement and reporting infection control and hazard issues. Recommend changes or modifications to the treatment plan based on participant response. Complete a monthly calendar of activities for a recreational therapy unit. Document resident participation and response to activities in progress notes. Work Schedule: 8:30 am - 5:00pm, Friday - Tuesday. Must work weekends, federal and non-federal holidays. Non-negotiable. Telework: Not Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Recreation Assistant/PD084690 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
What you need to qualify
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/11/2026. 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-6 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5. 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: 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: Group leader, counselor, or similar work in public and private recreation programs for adults or children such as summer camps, local playgrounds, YWCA and YMCA clubs, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, urban community centers, or resort recreational activities; teacher's aid in elementary school recreation or physical education program; aid or assistant assignments in recreation while on active military service; aid or assistant in the organization and administration of recreation activities, such as preparing activities calendars, maintaining attendance records, and providing information concerning schedules and activities; summer aid in a State or national park, with duties related to the recreational activities of visitors to campsites, trails, picnic areas, nature and raft centers, boating and fishing areas, etc.; aid or assistant in the issuance of authorized property, and in the maintenance/accountability of inventory control for such property in a recreation facility; or aid or assistant in a hotel or resort recreation service, with duties such as setting up areas for games, tournaments, and other organized group recreational activities. This experience must be detailed in your resume to receive credit. ~OR~ Education: Graduate education or an internship meets the specialized experience required above GS-5 only in those instances where it is directly related to the work of the position. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended. Transcripts required. ~OR~ Combination of Experience and Education: An equivalent combination of specialized experience and graduate education as described that demonstrates your ability to perform the duties of this position. Experience must be detailed, and transcripts required. 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/.
Before you apply
Federal applications are different: your resume should be 3–5 pages and mirror the language of this announcement. Read our federal resume guide first — it's the #1 reason qualified people get screened out.
Don't miss the next one.
Get an email the moment a similar federal job opens — postings can close in as little as 5 days.