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 Social Work Assistant providing assistance to Social Workers and Case Management staff at the Erie County Medical Center Corporation to facilitate efficient utilization of resources;

Assists in locating facilities appropriate for patient’s needs; contacts nursing homes to determine bed availability and communicates this information to social workers;

Assists or arranges for post discharge care to home or facility placement;

Assists the patient, families and/or community agencies to resolve barriers to discharge or successful community living;

Assists patients in securing required appliances through agencies and rentals;

Meets with patients and families to offer transportation options and coordinates the trip;

Meets with patients and families to offer nursing home/rehabilitation options;

Serves as a member of an interdisciplinary health care team and performs a variety of non- professional responsibilities;

Consults and cooperates with other professionals and agency personnel to aid them in recognizing the significant social components of health care and understanding their impact on patients and their families;

Facilitates and provides education (not requiring licensure) on related subject matters to individuals, groups and caregivers;

Evaluates patient needs/requests; reports observations and brings urgent and/or crisis situations to the attention of the team immediately;

Collects and revises information on community health and welfare resources;

Makes post discharge appointment in collaboration with the patient/family; performs follow-up on post-discharge matters as required;

Documents completion of patient/family tasks and interaction in medical chart;

Assists and advocates for patients to obtain housing, food, insurance, public entitlements, legal representation and other community resources or linkages as applicable to the individual’s needs.

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 Master’s Degree in Social Work, Psychology, Nursing, Counseling or closely related field and one (1) year of experience in healthcare, counseling, social work or discharge planning; or:

B) Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work, Psychology, Nursing, Counseling or closely related field and three (3) years of experience in healthcare, counseling, social work or discharge planning; or:

C) Completion of sixty (60) semester credit hours at a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with a major in Social Work, Psychology, Nursing, Counseling or closely related field and five (5) years of experience in healthcare, counseling, social work or discharge planning; or:

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

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

Section 424-A of the Social Services Law requires that local social services district to inquire whether the applicant is the subject of an indicated child abuse or maltreatment report on file with the State Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment. All potential employees for this position will be requested to sign the necessary clearance form prior to being advised that they will be hired. Refusal to sign will be cause for automatic non-selection.

IN ADDITION, SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR APPOINTMENT TO AN INPATIENT CARE SETTING:

Possession of Basic Life Support (BLS) Certification within thirty (30) days of appointment and maintenance throughout duration of appointment; and:

Completion of New York State Office of Mental Health Preventing and Managing Crisis Situations (PMCS) Training as provided by a New York State-authorized training agency within thirty (30) days of appointment and maintenance throughout duration of appointment.

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:

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

Applying information
These questions test for the ability to apply simple information. You will be given a Resource Directory that describes community agencies, their purposes and the type of client each serves.
Questions describe clients with a variety of problems and situations. You must determine the appropriate referral for clients based on the services which each agency provides.

Working with people in human services situations
These questions test for a knowledge of general techniques used to deal with common client behaviors such as fear, hostility, shyness, resistance, defensiveness, withdrawal, anxiety and confusion.

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.

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.

NOTICE TO CANDIDATES:  It is recommended that candidates use a quiet, hand held, solar or battery powered calculator.  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.