#69017 SOCIAL WELFARE EXAMINER TRAINEE

 Ulster County Personnel Department

Civil Service Examination Announcement


 

 

FILING FEE $20.00

#69017 SOCIAL WELFARE EXAMINER TRAINEE

OPEN-COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION

LAST DATE FOR FILING APPLICATIONS:  May 2, 2012

EXAMINATION DATE:  June 16, 2012

SALARY:  The starting salary is currently listed at $16.97 per hour.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:  Candidates must meet the following requirement(s) on or before the date of the examination:

Either:

A.      Possession of an associate’s degree; OR

B.      Graduation from high school or possession of a high school equivalency diploma and two (2) years of full-time paid experience examining, investigating or evaluating claims for assistance, veterans or unemployment benefits, insurance or a similar program operating under established criteria for eligibility; OR

C.      An equivalent combination of training and experience as indicated in A and B above.

Special Requirement: At time of appointment, and throughout employment in this title, candidates must possess a valid New York State driver’s license.

Note: College level study may be substituted for the above required work experience; thirty (30) semester credit hours are considered the equivalent of one year of full-time work experience.

ANTICIPATED ELIGIBILITY (FOR MINIMUM QUALIFICATION ‘A’ ONLY):

If you expect to complete the educational requirement within six months of the date of examination, you may apply.  If successful on the examination, you will not be certified for appointment until you have submitted proof of completion of the requirements to the Ulster County Personnel Department.

WHERE COLLEGE IS A REQUIREMENT, YOU WILL BE EXPECTED TO SUBMIT COLLEGE TRANSCRIPTS NO LATER THAN JULY 2, 2012 OR YOU WILL BE UNCONDITIONALLY DISQUALIFIED.  IF COLLEGE TRANSCRIPTS ARE ALREADY ON FILE WITH OUR OFFICE, INDICATE THIS ON YOUR APPLICATION.  ONCE SUBMITTED, COLLEGE TRANSCRIPTS WILL BE HELD ON FILE IN OUR OFFICE FOR A PERIOD OF TEN YEARS. TRANSCRIPTS NEED NOT BE OFFICIAL COPIES; HOWEVER, THEY MUST CONTAIN ALL INFORMATION NECESSARY TO QUALIFY YOU FOR THIS POSITION.

NOTE:  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.

  

APPLICATION REVIEW TOLERANCE POLICY

For the purposes of this policy, "tolerance" shall mean the leeway given regarding work experience when reviewing an application. Applicants lacking a small amount of work experience when applying for promotional or open-competitive examinations may qualify under the following conditions:

1)   Candidates will be given a maximum tolerance of one (1) month.

2) Tolerance will be given only when the minimum qualification requires one or more years of work experience.

3) Tolerance Policy does not apply to education or licensure/certification requirements. (See particular examination announcement for "Anticipated Eligibility" information).

4) Tolerance Policy does not apply where required work experience is set forth by law or rules.

5) Tolerance Policy does not apply to enable applicants to meet residence requirements.

For more information regarding Tolerance Policy, please contact our office at (845) 340-3550.

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF THE CLASS:  This is an entry level traineeship in the Department of Social Services. Appointees to this class are provided training for a period of not less than one year consisting of classroom and on the job segments designed to provide essential knowledges and some skills in connection with determining eligibility for financial service programs and verifying continued eligibility.  The appointee will be assigned limited duties and gradually, as experience in the social welfare programs is gained, the workload will be increased and the employee will take on more complex duties and greater independence in the delivery of financial service programs including: Public Assistance, Medical Assistance and Food Stamps.  In order to be promoted to the full performance position of Social Welfare Examiner, an incumbent must have met the following criteria: (1) served at least one year in the Trainee title; (2) attained permanent appointment in the Trainee title; and (3) successfully completed their probationary period.  Work is performed under the direct supervision of a higher level employee.  Supervision is not a function of this class.  Does related work as required.

SUBJECT OF EXAMINATION:  Written test will cover knowledge, skills, and/or abilities in such areas as:

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 food stamps.

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.

A Guide for the Written Test for Social Welfare Examiner is available at the New York State website: www.cs.ny.gov/testing/localtestguides.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.

CALCULATORS:  "Unless specifically prohibited, 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’ and any similar devices are prohibited."

*FEES*:  Send your check or money order for twenty dollars ($20.00) (made payable to COUNTY OF ULSTER) with your application.  Please include the examination number, title, and applicant’s name on your check or money order. DO NOT SEND CASHNO REFUNDS WILL BE ISSUED, therefore, you are urged to compare your qualifications carefully with the qualifications for admission and apply only for those examinations for which you are clearly qualified.

EXCEPTION TO FEE REQUIREMENT:  An exception to the processing fee will be made for persons receiving Supplemental Social Security payments or public assistance (Safety Net Assistance or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families), provided Foster Care or certified Workforce Investment Act of 1998 eligible through a state or local social service agency, and for those who are currently unemployed.  Individuals wishing to claim this waiver of fee on the basis of Supplemental Social Security, Safety Net Assistance or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, must certify on their application, under number 20 Remarks, that they are receiving public assistance and must indicate the type of assistance they are receiving, the agency providing the assistance and their case numbers. Persons claiming this waiver through Foster Care or Workforce Investment Act of 1998 Certification must specify the program and name of their contact agency. Persons claiming this waiver, who are currently unemployed must certify on their application, under number 20 Remarks, that they are currently unemployed and must provide documentation that they are receiving unemployment benefits or other unemployment documentation deemed appropriate by the Ulster County Personnel Officer. Such claims are subject to later verification and, if not supported by appropriate documentation, are grounds for barring appointment.

Applications may be obtained at the Ulster County Office Building, Personnel Department, 244 Fair Street ‑ 5th Floor, P.O. Box 1800, Kingston, NY 12402‑1800 OR by mail (INCLUDE A STAMPED SELF‑ADDRESSED, LEGAL‑ SIZE ENVELOPE) OR from our website at: http://ulstercountyny.gov/personnel/index.html.  Applications must be received by the Ulster County Personnel Department or postmarked no later than the ‘LAST DATE FOR FILING APPLICATIONS’ stated on page one of this announcement.

For those applications submitted in person on the last file date, please submit no later than 4:30 PM. All applications must be in our office no later than 5:00 PM on the last file date. Applications postmarked by the last file date will also be accepted.

This examination is being prepared and rated by the New York State Department of Civil Service in accordance with Section 23‑2 of the Civil Service Law.  The provisions of the New York State Civil Service Rules and Regulations dealing with the rating of examinations will apply to this test.

CRIMINAL BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION POLICY:  In accordance with Ulster County Local Law Number 14 of 2007, a criminal background check (including fingerprinting) will be initiated by the Ulster County Personnel Department upon initial employment or re-hire to Ulster County positions, and conducted by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), the New York State Office of Court Administration, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Verification Information System (IMAGE Program), or any law enforcement agency.

SPECIAL NOTE:  All public agencies are required by law to provide full and equal opportunities for minorities, women and to people with disabilities. All qualified candidates are encouraged to compete without regard to race, creed or national origin. Applicants requesting special testing arrangements as a Saturday Sabbath Observer, alternate test date candidate (in accordance with Alternate Test Date Policy), or an active member of the military away from the area on the scheduled test date must clearly indicate this fact on the application. All such requests must be supported by appropriate documentation.

  

VETERANS: Non-disabled and disabled veterans who wish to claim additional credits must request a Veterans Credits application from our office. This form must be completed and submitted along with a war service (DD214) form prior to the establishment of the resulting eligible list. Veterans credits may only be added to a passing score and may only be used for appointment once. Candidates currently in the armed forces may apply for and be conditionally granted veteran’s credits.  Any candidate who applies for such credits must provide proof of military status to receive the conditional credits.  You may not claim additional Veterans Credits after the eligible list has been established. It is the candidate’s responsibility to request the Veterans Credits application forms and submit these forms and any required supporting paperwork before the eligible list is established.

ADDITIONAL CREDITS FOR CHILDREN OF FIREFIGHTERS AND POLICE OFFICERS KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY:  In conformance with section 85-a of the Civil Service Law, children of firefighters and police officers killed in the line of duty shall be entitled to receive an additional ten points in a competitive examination for original appointment in the same municipality in which his or her parent has served.  If you are qualified to participate in this examination and are a child of a firefighter or police officer killed in the line of duty in this municipality, please inform this office of this matter when you submit your application for examination.  A candidate claiming such credit has a minimum of two months from the application deadline to provide the necessary documentation to verify additional credit eligibility.  However, no credit may be added after the eligible list has been established.

APPLYING FOR CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATIONS IN MULTIPLE JURISDICTIONS WHEN EXAMINATIONS ARE SCHEDULED ON SAME DATE:  If you have applied for any other Civil Service examinations for employment with New York State or any other local government jurisdiction, you must make arrangements to take all the examinations at one test site.

If you have applied for both State and Local government examinations, you must make arrangements to take all your examinations at the State examination center by calling (518) 457‑7022 no later than two weeks before the test date.

If you have applied for other local government examinations, call or write to each Civil Service Agency to make arrangements.  You must make your request for these arrangements no later than two weeks before the date of the examinations.  You must notify all local government civil service agencies with whom you have filed an application of the test site at which you wish to take your examination(s).  For this examination call (845) 340‑ 3531 OR write to Ulster County Personnel Department, 244 Fair Street ‑ 5th Floor, P.O. Box 1800, Kingston, NY  12402‑1800.

*If candidates have not received notification of this examination within four (4) days of the examination, they should contact this office immediately.

#69017

ORIGINAL COPY:  YELLOW

ISSUED:  April 2, 2012