Senior Social Welfare Examiner

This is an experienced worker who can assume responsibility for (1) supervision of a group of workers establishing financial eligibility for the various programs administered by the local social services district; (2) supervision of a unit within the eligibility section; (3) supervision of an entire section responsible for establishing financial eligibility; or (4) verification including field review of a sample of the initial financial eligibility determination in the validation section. The role that this individual assumes depends upon the workload and organization structure of the agency. Work is performed under supervision of a higher-level social welfare examiner or under the general supervision of Director of Income Maintenance.

Either:
(a) Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered two year college with an Associate’s Degree or higher and one (1) year of full time or its part time equivalent experience in examining, investigating or evaluating claims for assistance, veterans or unemployment benefits, insurance or a similar program operating under established criteria for eligibility and interviewing; OR
(b) Graduation from high school or possession of a high school equivalency diploma and three (3) years of full time or its part time equivalent experience as defined in (a) above; OR
(c) Two (2) years of full time satisfactory paid experience or its part-time equivalent as a Social Welfare Examiner or similar title in a local social service agency in New York State; OR
(d) An equivalent combination of training or experience as defined by the limits of (a), (b), and (c) above.

A written test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and/or abilities in the following areas:
1. 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.
2. 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.
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.
4. SUPERVISION - These questions test for knowledge of the principles and practices employed in planning, organizing, and controlling the activities of a work unit toward predetermined objectives. The concepts covered, usually in a situational question format, include such topics as assigning and reviewing work; evaluating performance; maintaining work standards; motivating and developing subordinates; implementing procedural change; increasing efficiency; and dealing with problems of absenteeism, morale, and discipline. 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.