Maintenance Caseworker II

Overview

Employees in this class are responsible for determining and/or redetermining applicants'/clients' eligibility for one or two of the income maintenance programs in a County Department of Social Services and/or performing all functions in the AFDC-Foster Care and AFDC-EA Programs. Work at this level reflects the performance of one or two functions within the eligibility process such as interviewing the client, obtaining the required information, completing initial applications, verifying the information obtained, determining eligibility, or completing scheduled program reviews.

Employees 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.

• Difficulty of Work:
  Complexity - Work involves one or two functions such as intake, processing, or review in one or two of the following programs:
  Food Stamps, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Medicaid, or County Special Assistance. 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' applications through the verification of all information obtained during intake. Work may involve the redetermination or review of the clients' cases on a periodic basis in order to reverify the client’s 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.
• 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 information necessary to determine clients' eligibility for the program(s). Employees' decisions are usually subject to a second 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, 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 decision(s) are correct.
• 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 may be required to explain information regarding clients' status to other agency staff.
  
  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.
• Work Environment:
  Nature of Working Conditions
  - Employees are periodically subject to working with agitated clients, and are frequently subject to 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 problem, but generally physical harm is unlikely on an ongoing basis.
• Recruitment Standards:
  Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities - Good mathematical reasoning and computational skills. Ability to communicate with clients, applicants, and the public to obtain data,…