Income Maintenance Caseworker II

Description

Employees in this class are responsible for the total process of determining/redetermining applicant/client eligibility in a County Department of Social Services (1) for a single income maintenance program which includes the intake, processing, and review functions; or (2) performing one of the above functions for three or more of the income maintenance programs; or (3) performing two or more functions in the Medicaid-Long Term Care Program; or (4) serving as a lead worker at least 25 percent of the time over Income Maintenance Caseworkers I involved with one or two of the income maintenance programs and performing one or two of the intake processing or review functions in the income maintenance programs. Work at this level includes such tasks as the interviewing of clients to obtain required information, completing initial applications, verifying the information obtained, determining eligibility or completing scheduled program reviews. Employees must explain program(s) requirements and options and advise or refer clients to other program services as appropriate. Employees usually report to an Income Maintenance Supervisor.

I. DIFFICULTY OF WORK: 

Complexity - Work involves performing all of the following functions; (intake, processing and review) in one of the following income maintenance programs; (Food Stamps, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Medicaid or County Special Assistance); or in performing all functions in one of the income maintenance programs; oil' in performing two or more functions in the Medicaid-Long Term Care Program; and/or acting as a lead worker over Income Maintenance Caseworkers I. In the intake process, employees are responsible for obtaining all pertinent data concerning the clients' family composition, financial, employment and health status. Employees may also be involved in processing clients' application through the verification of all information obtained during intake. Work may also involve the redetermination or review of the clients' case on a periodic basis, in order to reverify the clients' eligibility for continued participation in the program. The employees' responsibility for determining the clients' initial or continuing eligibility for any given program will depend upon the function or combination of functions performed. Employees with lead worker responsibilities require greater familiarity with program policies and processing functions in order to correct any errors detected during second party reviews.

Guidelines - Employees refer to the Food Stamps, AFDC, Medicaid, and County Special Assistance Manuals in performing all functions required to complete the eligibility determination process. Guidelines are subject to periodic and frequent changes. Employees also utilize agency procedural guidelines in accomplishing the work. Correspondence and memoranda from State regulatory agencies are also used in interpreting policy directives.

II. RESPONSIBILITY:

Accountability - Work involves direct contact with the client and direct or indirect contact with the clients' family or representative and collaterals in order to gather and verify any information necessary to determine clients' eligibility for the program(s). Employees' decisions are usually subject to a second or third party review. Employees are seen as representatives of the agency and eligibility decisions commit the agency to providing clients with public assistance.

Consequence of Action - Employees' decisions impact upon the well-being of the clients who are the recipients of program benefits. Work involves a greater potential for client or agency loss due to the employees' responsibility for the total process of determination/redetermination in a single program area or for their responsibility for performing one or more functions in multiple program areas. Lead worker responsibilities also have a greater impact upon ensuring the appropriate processing of cases. Employees' decisions, if incorrect, can also have a negative impact upon the agency error rate and ultimately the State if incorrect decisions place the State out of compliance with pre-established Federal tolerance levels for errors. Management review procedures limit the consequence of the employees' decisions.

Review - Work is reviewed periodically by a lead worker or first line supervisor usually through a random evaluation of processed cases. The frequency of these second party reviews will vary from agency to agency. Federal and State guidelines require regional quality reviews which ensure that the procedures and processes used to reach the eligibility decisions) are correct.

III. INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS:

Subject Matter - Employees provide information to clients on program requirements based upon the information provided in the Food Stamp, AFDC, Medicaid and County Special Assistance Manuals. Information contained in these manuals is detailed and must be explained to clients with varying levels of understanding. Employees are required to explain information regarding clients' status or to provide policy interpretations to lower level staff when functioning in a lead worker capacity.

Purpose - Work with clients includes the gathering of information through the interview process for the purpose of determining applicant/client eligibility as well as to inform the client of their rights and obligations as prescribed under program policies. Lead worker responsibilities require employees to provide information to lower level staff regarding program policies and regulations for more difficult or complex cases.

IV. WORK ENVIRONMENT:

Nature of Working Conditions - Employees are frequently subject to working with agitated clients, heavy workloads, and compressed time frames.

Nature and Potential of Personal Hazards - Clients may at times be verbally abusive due to their extreme situations or their emotional problems, but generally physical harm is unlikely on an ongoing basis.

V. RECRUITMENT STANDARDS:

Knowledges, Skills, and. Abilities - Considerable knowledge of the program/areas of assignment. General knowledge of all agency and community programs and services which could affect the client/applicant. Good mathematical reasoning and computational skills. Ability to read, analyze, and interpret rules, regulations and procedures. Ability to communicate with clients/applicants, the public at large, and public officials to obtain data, and to explain and interpret rules, regulations and procedures. Ability to instruct and to evaluate the work of lower level employees. Ability to perform caseworker functions within structured time frames.

Minimum Training and Experience Requirements - One year of experience as an Income Maintenance Caseworker; or an equivalent combination of training and experience.