Residence Requirements:

THIS EXAMINATION IS OPEN TO ALL QUALIFIED EMPLOYEES OF DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES.   The eligible list resulting from this examination will be used to fill future vacancies within the Erie County Department of Social Services.  The eligible list resulting from this examination will not supersede currently existing promotional eligible lists for this title, if any.  The duration of all promotional eligible lists is four years from date of establishment unless otherwise indicated.

List certification- Candidates who are successful in this examination will be certified at the trainee level (Job Group VII). Persons appointed at the trainee level will be advanced to Child Protective Worker Job Group VIII) without further examination upon satisfactory completion of the applicable traineeship period.

Examples of Duties:

This is a trainee position in the competitive class. The term of training is one year, during which time the incumbent is required to satisfactorily complete the training program of the Erie County Department of Social Services that will enable them to be promoted without further examination to the position of Child Protective Worker. Relevant experience or possession of a Master's Degree in Social Work, may be substituted for all or part of the training term.

A Child Protective Worker Trainee receives on-the-job training by participating under direct supervision in:

Making field visits at direction of Intake Supervisor to gather preliminary information in cases which seem inappropriate for Child Protective Services Investigation;

Organizing and reporting information from field visit for Supervisor's determination of further investigation and investigating reported cases of child abuse and neglect, for approval by supervisor;

Investigation of reports of child abuse/neglect within twenty-four hours, including: contacting relatives, neighbors, collateral service agencies, home visits, and/or interviewing the child, parents and others;

Assessing needs for protection and safety of affected child; assists with emergency actions to protect safety of child, and arranges for alternative placement and medical examination/treatment and transport child to placement/hospital, for immediate review by Team Leader;

Formulating goal-oriented treatment plan, including objectives to be met, services to be provided, involvement of family and other individuals and agencies, and plan for reviewing treatment progress;

Providing case management under the direction of higher level staff;

Providing concrete services and supportive counseling to child and family to assist in resolving economic and social problems affecting the safety and development of the child;

Initiating court interventions and participating in the Family Court process under the direction of higher level staff;

Referring and linking families to other appropriate service agencies, such as mental health counseling, health and foster care;

Receiving local and out-of-area classroom training to develop job-related knowledge and skills;

Maintaining all required service and administrative records, forms, documents and correspondence for assigned cases, for approval by Team Leader;

Providing community education about child abuse and neglect.

Qualifications:

QUALIFYING EXPERIENCE FOR TAKING THE TEST: Candidates must be permanently employed in the competitive class and must be serving and have served continuously on a permanent or contingent permanent basis in the competitive class for 12 months immediately preceding the date of the written test in the position of  Job grade I, II, III, IV, V, VI or VII* and in addition candidates must meet the following degree and special requirements on or before July 14, 2018: 

Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered four (4) year college or university with a Bachelor's degree.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
Eligibility for a New York State driver’s license at the time of application. Possession of the license and use of a private automobile required at time of appointment and throughout period of employment.

Applicants for designated positions in the Department of Social Services that may have regular and substantial unsupervised or unrestricted contact with children shall be subject to background checks according to the New York State Justice Center’s Staff Exclusion List (SEL) and New York State Office of Children and Family Services Statewide Central Register of Abuse and Maltreatment (SCR). Inquiries on current employees shall be made annually and prior to promotion but no more often than once in any six month period (N.Y. Social Services Law 424-A.) Candidates/applicants with conditional offers of employment may be required to submit the necessary fee(s) for background screening and inquiries shall be completed prior to employment hiring/start date. Refusal to sign the necessary clearance forms, submit the required associated fees and/or participate in the review process shall be cause for an automatic non-selection. In addition, inquiry responses are subject to evaluation and may result in disqualification pursuant to Section 50 of the New York State Civil Service Law.

Applicants for designated positions in the Department of Social Services that may have access to federal tax information to perform his/her job duties shall be subject to a suitability background check investigation, including FBI fingerprinting, local law enforcement check, and verification check of citizenship/residency. A criminal record does not necessarily disqualify applicants from employment, rather an individualized determination will be made. The cost of the background check will be assumed by the Department of Social Services.

Notes:

 1.  *Eligibility for this promotional examination has been extended to employees in Job Group VII because appointment from this list will result in promotion to Job Group VIII without further examination.  We have not altered our longstanding policy of prohibiting participation in promotion examinations on a lateral basis.  

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.

A copy of A Guide to the Written Test For The Caseworker Series may be viewed and/or downloaded at the New York State Civil Service web site located at https://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/testguides.cfm If you do not have Internet access, you may obtain a copy by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope (size required to accommodate the guide – manila 10" x 13") to the Erie County Personnel Department,95 Franklin Street,Buffalo,New York 14202 or by picking one up in person at Room 604.

Subjects of Examination:

SUBJECTS OF EXAMINATION:  The written test is designed to test for knowledge, skills, and/or abilities in such areas as:

1. ESTABLISHING & MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE HELPING RELATIONSHIPS IN A SOCIAL CASEWORK SETTING – These questions test for an understanding of the factors contributing to the development and maintenance of positive and productive client-worker relationships.  You will be provided with descriptions of specific client-worker interactions and asked to select the appropriate responses.  The questions cover such topics as confidentiality, time management, professional ethics and referral techniques.
2. INTERVIEWING (CASEWORKER): These questions test for an understanding of the principles and techniques of interviewing and their application to specific client-worker situations. You will be provided with a series of concrete interviewing situations for which you will be required to select an appropriate course of action based on an analysis of the situation, the application of the information provided and the ramifications of various interviewing principles and strategies. You will also be asked questions about the interviewing process and various interviewing techniques.
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.

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.

INFORMATION FOR PROMOTION CANDIDATES

Unless otherwise indicated, the eligible list resulting from this examination will have a duration of four years and will not supersede existing promotional lists, if any.

RATINGS REQUIRED:  Test is rated on a scale of 100 with a passing mark at 70.  Test instructions may further divide the tests into parts and set minimum standards for each part.  Seniority: Points will be added to scores of candidates who achieve a passing mark as follows:

For each year of service in the classified service:

Less than 1 year.....................................0 points

1 year up to 6 years...................................1 point

Over 6 years up to 11 years.........................2 points

Over 11 years up to 16 years.....................3 points

Over 16 years up to 21 years......................4 points

Over 21 years.......................................5 points

**IMPORTANT APPLICATION FEE - READ CAREFULLY**

A None 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.