Pasquotank County Job

 

1. PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THE POSITION:  The primary purpose of this position is to determine the eligibility and continuing eligibility of individuals who receive Food and Nutrition Services based on Food and Nutrition Services policy and regulations. This position will also assist in determining eligibility for the Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP) a one-time, annual benefit paid to the client’s heating vendor.

 

2. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:  This job involves constant contact with the public. Examples of duties performed in this position would be:

1. Interviewing clients,
2. Verifying factors that relate to initial and ongoing eligibility such as income, residence, ownership of property, etc,
3. Explaining the program to applicants and to the public,
4. Maintaining an ongoing caseload of Food and Nutrition Services cases,
5. Coordinating with other agencies and organizations such as the Employment Security Commission, Food Bank and child support agency, Social Security Administration etc.
6. Maintaining statistical information, computer generated forms, and organized cases.

 

The major function of this job is to determine and re-determine eligibility for persons applying for Food and Nutrition Services assistance based on income and/or other factors.

 

The person in this position will also serve on a rotational basis, within the unit, to provide intake services to interview clients who are requesting benefits. These interviews are conducted to assist clients in applying for initial benefits and screening each applicant for emergency service.

 

As rules and regulations in the Food and Nutrition Services program are continually changing, the Income Maintenance Caseworker (IMC) must be able to learn new manual material, be able to apply it and interpret it to the public.

 

Extreme accuracy is required, so as to guarantee the client and agency that benefits provided are correct.

 

Unit meetings, regional and state level conferences are attended for refining knowledge and skills and learning better work habits in order to provide better service.

 

Cases are referred to this staff by the IM supervisor and/or the lead worker. The size of the caseload will vary from time to time but an average caseload would be approximately 425 cases.

 

Responsibilities for decision making fall on the staff person who occupies this position. If there is a question about eligibility or program policy, the IMC discusses the situation with the lead worker, the supervisor, program administrator and possibly the director. In most instances, the IMC would make the final decision in each case based on program rules and regulations. All decisions made are subject to monitoring and/or intervention by the lead worker, supervisor, program administrator, director or quality control.

 

When making decisions or carrying out the duties of this position, the IMC utilizes the following equipment: computer, adding machine, telephone, copier, fax machine, a vehicle for transportation, pens/pencils, manuals, filing cabinets, and other equipment as needed. The IMC may refer to other materials of even other agencies to perform the functions of this job. The IMC regularly communicates in person, by telephone, or in writing with the tax office, Register of Deeds and the Clerk of Court to secure information from records in their custody. The IMC is required to refer to policy and computer manuals regularly in making eligibility decisions or for completing computer forms.

 

The individual in this position would rarely represent the agency in court, but if necessary would be required to testify in court on cases that are in the caseload and that had been referred for suspected fraud and where Program Integrity investigations have resulted in court hearings. The person in this position would have no responsibility for doing suspected fraud investigations but would be expected to be alert to suspected fraud and to suspicious situations. The individual would make referrals of suspected fraud to the Program Integrity investigators.

 

The staff person in this position would be expected to prepare summaries for State hearings.

 

The individual in this position is expected to maintain the confidentiality of all agency records. Failure to adhere to provisions of the Privacy Act could result in lawsuits against the agency and the individual and further disciplinary action.

 

In addition, staff work in shelter management when the agency is called upon in times of disaster relief or emergency. The emergency shelters are managed by the Red Cross. Social Services assists in registration and the distribution of blankets and cots. Their responsibilities may include assisting with meal preparation and the monitoring of the shelter to assure safety of the individuals and families.

 

3. OTHER WORK CHARACTERISTICS:  Extreme accuracy and exactness is required in performing the work of the IMC.  This position requires mental concentration as the IMC is constantly doing calculations of income, assets, and expenses. Each case is different: therefore, a different method of calculation may be used depending on the circumstance of each individual case. If the IMC determines inaccurately the eligibility or non-eligibility of an individual, it could cost both the agency and/or the client. 

 

       The individual in this position is required to meet state deadlines for completing applications, reviews and changes that occur in a case because Federal and State Quality Control persons review cases for error and accuracy. Agency deadlines include completing and submitting monthly time sheets and expense vouchers to the supervisor at the end of each month. Failure to meet program deadlines can delay the issuance of benefits to the client. Failure to meet agency deadlines could result in the worker not being paid timely.

 

4. SPECIFIC WORK ACTIVITIES:

• Interviewing: (20%) Obtaining information from the client and/or the responsible person.
• Verifying Information: (20%) Thorough research and contacts with necessary sources to verify the accuracy of information provided.
• Re-determining Eligibility: (25%) Reverifying established income and assets and assessing any changes in the situation to determine the impact this would have on continuing eligibility or the amount of assistance received.
• Determining Original Eligibility: (20%) Applying manual procedures, assessing verified information per program regulations on a case-by-case basis.
• Public Relations: (5%) Referring clients to the various agencies in the county, i.e., the health department, food bank and other community programs. Being available to answer questions and explain the Food and Nutrition Services and Low Income Energy Assistance programs to interested individuals as well as the general public.
• Meetings: (5%) Unit, staff, and individual conferences with the supervisor.
• Administrative Activities: (5%) Filing, sending appointment letters and other similar desk type activities.

 

5. ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH THE INCOME MAINTENANCE CASEWORKER WORKS:

 

       Composition of Unit: Food and Nutrition Services is a program that promotes the general welfare and safeguards the health and well being of the nation’s population by raising the levels of nutrition among low income households. The Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP) allows qualifying families to have a one-time, annual payment for heating assistance be paid directly to their heating vendor. The Food and Nutrition Services Staff consists of 1 (one) full time administrative support person, 1 (one) full time IMCIII, 9 (nine) full time IMCII’s and 1 (one) IM Supervisor II.

 

       Characteristics of Clients: Clients are United States citizens or legal aliens who reside in Pasquotank County. Clients include children and parents with low income who are in need to help with expenses. Some clients have limited education and have lived most of their lives in deprived conditions. Others are well educated but have not accumulated enough resources to meet the cost of feeding themselves and their family. Some are cooperative and others are uncooperative. Clients come from varied backgrounds with many varied experiences.

 

Hours of Work: The work hours for this position are from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p. m. Monday through Friday with an hour for lunch each day. A flex schedule may be available. There are occasions when the IMC may be required to work outside of these hours, for example, to assist in operating disaster shelters or to work overtime in order to complete the daily activities of the job.

 

6. SECURITY DESIGNATION:  All data/information maintained by the employee in this position is considered confidential and shall be protected according to the specific program policy and procedures. Access is allowed as determined by the specific program policy and procedures. Disclosures other than as allowed by the specific program policy are forbidden. Unauthorized disclosure constitutes a felony and is punishable upon conviction by a fine and/or imprisonment.

 

The employee in this position will be assigned a password for use in computer assisted information systems which include EIS, FSIS, ACTS, SOLQ, ESC, Bendex, SDX and other state and local systems. All information obtained/disclosed to the employee (hard copy or electronic) is to be used solely for the purpose of tracking and/or determining eligibility for applicants and recipients of public assistance or other services. The employee is responsible for the security of the computer terminal and password assigned to them. The employee will be held totally accountable for any improperly issued benefits or release of information that occurs from use of their assigned computer password.

 

The internet is used to access policy manuals as well as computer assisted information systems. The individual in this position is considered a public employee and is expected to use the Internet responsibly and professionally and shall make no intentional use of these services in an illegal, malicious or obscene manner.

 

Because of the Personally Identifiable Information that this employee has access to and the potential damage that could occur from unauthorized disclosure, this position is considered to have a high sensitivity security level.

 

7. SPECIFIC TRAINING AN EXPERIENCE FOR THIS POSITION:  The individual must be able to interact with the public and must have experience in interviewing people, explaining information, gathering and compiling data, analyzing data and performing mathematical computations. This individual must be able to understand certain legal terms and how to apply program rules and regulations to specific individual situations.  The individual must possess skill in relating to people and be able to interpret intricate rules and regulations. One of the most important aspects of this position is the awareness of and protection of confidentiality. The staff person in this position must be able to clearly and accurately document facts and figures. The individual must have the ability to learn increasingly complex policies, procedures and forms.

 

       Skill in organizing both time and the workload is essential. Flexibility in work habits and the ability to digest and implement changing rules and regulations related to the different public assistance programs is necessary. Some skills related to computer programs are useful.

 

       This individual must be bondable. The individual must be in good health and able to work overtime when required. This individual must be able to work under stress and short time frames as the Food and Nutrition Services program has many deadlines that the IMC is required to meet.

 

       This staff person must have a good general knowledge of human behavior and a basic understanding of social and economic problems. The worker must be interested in people and have an ability to use tact and diplomacy with people. The worker must have the ability to present oral and written information clearly and factually.

 

8. KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS/ABILITIES, EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS:  This worker must have considerable knowledge of the program/area(s) of assignment and general knowledge of all agency and community programs and services that could affect the client/applicant. The employee in this position needs good mathematical reasoning and computational skills and an ability to read, analyze and interpret rules, regulations and procedures. This worker must have the 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. This person also needs to have an ability to instruct and evaluate the work of lower-level employees and to perform caseworker functions within structured time frames.

      

IX.  MINIMUM TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS: One year of experience as an income maintenance caseworker; or an equivalent combination of training and experience.