Maintenance Caseworker II

Overview

Employees in this class determine and/or redetermine applicants’/clients’ eligibility for one or two of the income maintenance programs in a County Department of Social Services and/or perform all functions in the AFDC-Foster Care and AFDC-EA Programs. The work reflects the performance of one or two functions within the eligibility process such as interviewing the client, obtaining required information, completing initial applications, verifying information, determining eligibility, or completing scheduled program reviews.

Employees explain program requirements and options and advise or refer clients to other program services as appropriate. Employees usually report to an Income Maintenance Supervisor.

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 obtain all pertinent data concerning the clients’ family composition, financial, employment, and health status. Employees may also process clients’ applications through verification of all information obtained during intake. Work may involve the redetermination or review of the clients’ cases on a periodic basis to reverify eligibility for continued participation in the program.

Employees refer to the Food Stamps, AFDC, Medicaid, and/or County Special Assistance Manuals and agency procedural guides. Correspondence and memoranda from state regulatory agencies are also used in interpreting policy directives.

Work involves direct contact with the client, clients’ family or representatives, and collaterals to gather and verify information necessary to determine eligibility. Employees’ decisions are usually subject to a second‑party review. Employees represent the agency and their decisions commit the agency to providing clients with public assistance.

Employees’ decisions impact the well‑being of the clients and the agency’s error rate. Incorrect decisions can negatively affect the agency’s compliance with federal tolerance levels for errors. Management review procedures limit the consequences of employees’ decisions.

Work is reviewed periodically by a lead worker or first‑line supervisor, typically through random evaluation of processed cases. The frequency of second‑party reviews varies across agencies. Federal and state guidelines require regional quality reviews to ensure correct procedures and processes.

Employees provide information to clients on program requirements, explaining information from manuals. Employees may need to explain client status to other agency staff.

Employees are periodically working with agitated clients, heavy workloads, and compressed time frames. Clients may be verbally abusive, but physical harm is unlikely on an ongoing basis.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities – Good mathematical reasoning and computational skills; ability to communicate with clients, applicants, and the public to obtain data; explain and interpret rules and policies; understand clients’ needs and problems; learn the program area and related agency programs and services.

Graduation from an accredited associate degree program in Human Services Technology, Social Services Associate, Paralegal Technology, Business Administration, Secretarial Science, or a closely related curriculum; or graduation from high school plus two years of paraprofessional or clerical experience in a public contact role, including at least one year in an income maintenance program; or graduation from high school plus three years of similar experience;

or an equivalent combination of training and experience.