Residence Requirements:

RESIDENCE REQUIREMENTS: THERE ARE NO RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATION IN THIS EXAMINATION. There is one anticipated vacancy at the Erie County Medical Center Corporation.

Examples of Duties:

A Caseworker-AIDS Center performs social casework services at the AIDS Center, Erie County Medical Center;

assists with case management services provided by social work staff of the AIDS Designated Center under the direction of the Social Casework Manager (CM Unit Coordinator);

provides a mechanism within the community to assure early medical intervention for the HIV positive person; provides HIV counseling, education, emotional support, reinforcement, encouragement, advocacy and guidance for persons living with HIV infection;

assists the AIDS Center Clinical and Case Management staff with the follow-up of patients who are noncompliant with medical care through the Immunodeficiency and Women's HIV Clinics;

participates in Case Conference and Case Management Review of both inpatients and outpatients receiving services through the AIDS Center;

conducts home visits for patients who have missed clinic appointments to avoid lapse in medical services and assure optimal health status;

assists with the evaluation of patient needs through the outreach mechanism to assist in the development/update of the patient service plan;

increases patient awareness of their HIV status throughout the continuum of illness;

motivates patients to take advantage of community resources to enable empowerment over their HIV status; completes required paperwork, documentation and daily activity logs in conjunction with daily work.

Qualifications:

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:  Candidates must meet one of the following requirements on or before the date of the written test:

A. Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with a Bachelor's degree and one year of social casework experience in a hospital or health care setting; or:

B. Completion of a minimum of 60 semester credit hours from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university and three years of social casework experience in a hospital or health care setting; or:

C. An equivalent combination of training and experience as defined by the limits of (A) and (B).

Notes:

NOTES:  1.   Verifiable part-time and/or volunteer experience will be pro-rated toward meeting full-time experience requirements.   2. Your degree and/or college credit must have been awarded by a regionally accredited college or university or one recognized by the New York State Education Department as following acceptable educational practices.  A grade of “D” or better is necessary for a course to be credited as successfully completed.  If your degree and/or college credit was awarded by an educational institution outside of theUnited States and its territories, you must provide independent verification of equivalency.  You can write to this Department for a list of acceptable companies providing this service; you must pay the required evaluation fee.

Notice to Candidates: Transcripts will now be accepted by the Department of Personnel ONLY at time of application.

All subsequent transcripts must be submitted at time of interview.

The New York State Department of Civil Service has not prepared a test guide for this examination. However,candidates may find information in the publication "How to take a written test" helpful in preparing for this test. This publication is available on line at: www.cs.ny.gov/testing/localtestguides.cfm

Subjects of Examination:

Subjects of examination: A written test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and /or abilities in the following areas:

1. Educating and interacting with the public

These questions test for knowledge of techniques used to interact effectively with individuals and/or community groups, to educate or inform them about topics of concern, to publicize or clarify agency programs or policies, to negotiate conflicts or resolve complaints, and to represent one's agency or program in a manner in keeping with good public relations practices. Questions may also cover interacting with others in cooperative efforts of public outreach or service.

2. Interviewing

These questions test for knowledge of the principles and practices employed in obtaining information from individuals through structured conversations. These questions require you to apply the principles, practices, and techniques of effective interviewing to hypothetical interviewing situations. Included are questions that present a problem arising from an interviewing situation, and you must choose the most appropriate course of action to take.

3. Preparing written material

These questions test for the ability to present information clearly and accurately, and to organize paragraphs logically and comprehensibly. For some questions, you will be given information in two or three sentences followed by four restatements of the information. You must then choose the best version. For other questions, you will be given paragraphs with their sentences out of order. You must then choose, from four suggestions, the best order for the sentences.

4. Principles and practices of social casework

These questions test for knowledge of the principles and practices used to provide casework services. Questions may cover such topics as developmental, mental, physical, and social disabilities and/or impairments; assessing client strengths and needs; building and maintaining relationships with clients and their support network; ability to make and advocate for appropriate service referrals; ability to provide advocacy and support; and professional and ethical concerns in casework practice.

NOTICE TO CANDIDATES:  Unless otherwise noted, candidates are permitted to use quiet, hand held, solar or battery powered calculators.  Devices with typewriter keyboards, "Spell Checkers", “Personal Digital Assistants", "Address Books", "Language Translators", "Dictionaries", or any similar devices are prohibited.  You may not bring books or other reference materials.

**IMPORTANT APPLICATION FEE - READ CAREFULLY**

A $20.00 filing fee is required for this exam. The required fee must accompany your application. Send or bring check or money order made payable to Erie County Personnel Department and write the examination number(s) on your check or money order. Do not send or bring cash, as the County cannot be responsible for cash payment. As no refund will be made, you are urged to compare your qualifications carefully with the requirements for admission and file only for those examinations for which you are clearly qualified.