Residence Requirements:

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 Forensic Mental Health Specialist I : Adult Mental Health is responsible for providing direct mental health services to persons under custody in the Holding Center or Correctional Facility;

Provides direct and continuing mental health treatment to persons with mental health conditions held in custody; Assesses the need for psychiatric examination and treatment determinations;

Renders direct treatment, including crisis intervention, consultations, linkages to community-based services and reports to referring entities;

Conducts preliminary Court-ordered examinations to determine need for Formal Competency, sanity determinations by Psychiatrists, and prepares written reports on such preliminary examinations for review by supervisor;

Consults with attorneys, families, penal officers and the Courts to help determine appropriate alternatives for sentencing, treatment or other medical/legal dispositions;

Provides case consultation to legal-penal and mental health agencies on treatment planning for clients in custody.

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 Social Work, Psychology, Psychiatric Nursing, Rehabilitation Counseling, Education, or closely related field and one (1) year of experience providing services to persons with mental health conditions.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENT: New York State Department of Education license eligible as a Social Worker or Mental Health Counselor at time of appointment and holding a license at time of permanent appointment.

Notes:

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 "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. Developing & implementing treatment in a social work program

These questions test for knowledge, understanding, and ability to apply social work concepts, theories, principles, and practices in a mental hygiene program which provides services to clients who have various mental hygiene conditions such as mental illness, developmental disabilities or addiction. Questions may cover such topics as assessment, development, and implementation of treatment; coordination of treatment; evaluation of treatment; coordination of services; social work standards; roles of treatment team members; individual, family, and group counseling; community services; behavior management; crisis intervention; and patient/client advocacy.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

**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.