Residence Requirements:

CANDIDATES MUST HAVE BEEN LEGAL RESIDENTS OF ERIE COUNTY FOR AT LEAST ONE MONTH IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE DATE OF THE WRITTEN TEST AND MUST BE LEGAL RESIDENTS OF ERIE COUNTY AT THE TIME OF APPOINTMENT. There is one anticipated vacancy at the Erie County Department of Mental Health. 

Examples of Duties:

A Director of Planning and Evaluation develops, coordinates and  implements a program of planning and evaluation for the mental health, mental retardation/developmental disabilities, and substance abuse services provided to the communit;

Directs a management information system; assures that State and local service reporting  requirements are fulfilled in an accurate, timely and competent manner;

Plans and develops annual local government plans for service and service operations in Erie County and prepares grant proposals and RFP's to State and Federal government agencies and private foundations for the support of such services;

Compiles and prepares periodic and special reports to other offices of the Department, other County officials and contract agencies;

Develops and supervises a plan for collecting, processing and reporting required information needs for all County sponsored mental disability service providers;

Coordinates the implementation of data collection and information reporting arrangements on behalf of Information and Support Services, State agencies and the Department of Mental Health;

Oversees the training of participating groups to insure that accurate, timely data is provided and maximum benefits from the information system occur for the local system and the Department of Mental Health;

Analyzes information reports and consults with Department staff on behalf of preparing annual plans, program development, service monitoring and evaluation;

Analyzes information reports relative to service forecasts to assure that service objectives have been met;

Seeks and identifies source of funds for research in mental disability services; 

Prepares application and RFP's for grant awards;

Conducts research projects and special studies as required. 

Qualifications:

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

Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with a Master's degree in an administrative, health related, or social or behavioral science supplemented by five (5) years of professional or administrative experience in the field of mental disabilities or healthcare services of which four (4) years must have involved planning, administration and system development experience in a comprehensive mental disabilities or healthcare service system. 

Notes:

1. Verifiable part-time and/or volunteer experience will be pro-rated toward meeting the 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 the United 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 'General Guide to Written Tests' helpful in preparing for this test. This publication is available on line at:https://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/testguides.cfm.

Subjects of Examination:

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

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.

Understanding and interpreting written material
These questions test for the ability to understand and interpret written material. You will be presented with brief reading passages and will be asked questions about the passages. You should base your answers to the questions only on what is presented in the passages and not on what you may happen to know about the topic.

Administrative supervision
These questions test for knowledge of the principles and practices involved in directing the activities of a large subordinate staff, including subordinate supervisors. Questions relate to the personal interactions between an upper level supervisor and his/her subordinate supervisors in the accomplishment of objectives. These questions cover such areas as assigning work to and coordinating the activities of several units, establishing and guiding staff development programs, evaluating the performance of subordinate supervisors, and maintaining relationships with other organizational sections.

Administration
These questions test for knowledge of the managerial functions involved in directing an organization or an organizational segment. These questions cover such areas as: developing objectives and formulating policies; making decisions based on the context of the administrator's position and authority; forecasting and planning; organizing; developing personnel; coordinating and informing; guiding and leading; testing and evaluating; and budgeting.

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.