Social Welfare Examiner-Spanish Speaking

Modified: April 17, 2019 9:14am

COUNTY OF ERIE - DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL
invites applications for the position of:

Social Welfare Examiner-Spanish Speaking

#63-557 - Open Competitive (open to the public)

Salary: $34,412 - $42,576 Annually
Opening Date: April 17, 2019
Closing Date: May 15, 2019
Application fee: $20.00

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 (1) vacancy at the Erie County Department of Social Services.

A promotion examination will be held at the same time as this examination. The list resulting from the promotion examination will be used first but appointments from this open competitive examination are anticipated. Use of the list may be suspended after it is one year old for any position which it is practical to fill through a new promotion examination.

Examples of Duties:

Social Welfare Examiner-Spanish Speaking reviews, investigates, evaluates, documents and determines the eligibility of applications and/or re-applications for public assistance; 

Reviews documents available in the agency's files to verify eligibility and/or to determine the additional action necessary to verify eligibility;

Contacts cooperating agencies to verify client's eligibility;

Makes field visits when necessary, to verify information relevant to the validation process; obtains corroborative written or recorded documentation in cases of possible ineligibility;

Appears at administrative or judicial proceedings when required to interpret decision on application;

Interviews applicants and recipients and, as needed, collateral contacts for documentation of eligibility for public assistance;

Prepares and computes budget for the applicant; 

Reports findings of investigation; makes recommendations for proper disposition of cases reviewed; i.e., reduce grant, close case, release grant, refer to law enforcement, etc.;

Advises applicant of the eligibility determination, the amount of assistance and any documentation or additional information which is necessary for final program classification;

Prepares required statistical reporting appropriate to action;

Makes determination of financial eligibility;

Explains validation process to applicants;

Informs applicants of the range of assistance offered by the agency;

Refers clients to appropriate sections or specialists within the department as required;

Approves referral of clients to Social Services section or services;

May be assigned work which involves employment interviews, placement, or counseling.

Qualifications:

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

A) Completion of 60 credit hours at a regionally accredited or New York State registered two or four year college or university; or:

B) Graduation from high school or possession of a high school equivalency diploma and two years of experience in reviewing, examining, investigating or evaluating claims for assistance, veteran’s or unemployment benefits, insurance or a similar program operating under established criteria for eligibility; Or;

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

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
Successful candidates must demonstrate ability to speak and understand Spanish as spoken in the Buffalo Metropolitan Area.

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. 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.

Examination date:

June 22, 2019

Applications Must Be Postmarked or Hand Delivered By:

May 15, 2019

A Guide for the Written Test for Social Welfare Examiner is available at the New York State website: https://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/testguides.cfm . Candidates not having access to a computer or the internet may request copy of the test guide from the municipal civil service office conducting this examination using the contact information found elsewhere on this announcement.

Subjects of Examination:

This examination includes: 1. A weighted multiple-choice written test; and 2. A qualifying Spanish Language Oral Proficiency Test.

SUBJECTS OF EXAMINATION: A written test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and /or abilities in the following areas:

1. Interpreting and applying written Social Welfare program materials, and using basic arithmetic in determining eligibility for assistance

You will be presented with written passages related to Social Services policies and procedures and be asked to interpret their meaning and/or apply this material to hypothetical case situations. Secondly, you will be given sets of written instructions and regulations regarding such Social Services programs as cash assistance, medical assistance, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

You must read and understand the instructions given, including schedules of arithmetic figures, and apply these instructions to hypothetical case problems. Some questions require using arithmetic to compute the correct amount of assistance.

Previous knowledge of Social Services programs or the eligibility process is not required.

2. Recording case notes

You will be given several sentences from a typical case report paragraph and one additional sentence. You must determine the best place in the paragraph to put the additional sentence in order to make the report coherent and meaningful.

3. Interviewing

You must apply principles and techniques of interviewing to such problems as asking and answering questions, explaining requirements and helping the client understand his or her responsibilities, helping the client feel at ease, structuring and controlling the interview, reacting appropriately to inconsistencies, dealing with a variety of feelings of clients, maintaining confidentiality, and identifying the need for and making appropriate referrals. In addition, some questions may deal with contacting or interacting with other community organizations and agencies to benefit the client or the general public

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.

THE SPANISH LANGUAGE ORAL PROFICIENCY TEST is designed to evaluate the candidate's proficiency in the Spanish language, at the level appropriate for the title being filled. A Level 2 proficiency in the above language is required to pass this qualifying test for this title. This is equivalent to having a working oral language proficiency with understandable, smooth expression at a conversational level of communication.
Based on the ranking on the written test, only a sufficient number of candidates needed to fill the present vacancies will be called to take part in the qualifying language oral proficiency test. As additional vacancies occur, other candidates who were successful on the written test portion of the examination will be invited to take the qualifying language oral proficiency test. The language oral proficiency test will be rated on a pass-fail basis. Candidates must pass both the written test and the qualifying foreign language oral proficiency test in order to be eligible for appointment.

**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.