Social Welfare Examiner

May perform any or a combination of assignments in connection with determining financial eligibility, categorical classification, continued financial eligibility and income maintenance depending on the size, organizational structure and work activity needs of the social service district. The work involves the review and evaluation of applications and records and direct interviews with applicants. Work is performed under the supervision of a higher-ranking Social Welfare Examiner, except in smallest agencies where work is supervised by a high-ranking administrator, may act as a lead worker and may oversee clerical staff.

Either:
(a) Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered two year college with an Associate’s Degree or higher, OR;
(b) Graduation from high school or possession of a high school equivalency diploma and two (2) years of full time experience or its part- time equivalent examining, investigating or evaluating claims for assistance, veterans or unemployment benefits, insurance or a similar program operating under established criteria for eligibility, interviewing, collecting and compiling data, account keeping or related work, OR;
(c) Graduation from high school or possession of a high school equivalency diploma and three (3) years of full time or its part-time equivalent clerical experience OR;
(d) An equivalent combination of training or experience as defined by the limits of (a), (b), or (c) above.

A written test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and/or abilities in the following areas:
1. INTERPRETING AND APPLYING WRITTEN SOCIAL WELFARE PR OGRAM 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. Test guide: 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.

There are no residency requirements for this examination. However, preference in appointment may be given to successful candidates who have been residents of Otsego County for at least one month immediately preceding the scheduled date of the written examination.

The eligible list resulting from this examination will be used to fill vacancies as they occur in the Otsego County Department of Social Services under the jurisdiction of the Otsego County Personnel/Civil Service Department.