Eligibility Worker

Human Services

Dept/Div: Human Services/Income Maintenance FLSA Status: Non-Exempt

General Definition of Work

Performs intermediate skilled administrative support work evaluating and explaining program benefits and eligibility requirements to applicants and clients, processing applications and recertification, according to county, state and federal policies, statutes and guidelines, and related work as apparent or assigned. Work is performed under the limited supervision of the Financial Assistance Supervisor I.

Qualification Requirements

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable an individual with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Essential Functions

• Interviews clients; explains program benefits and requirements to clients; obtains and verifies information necessary to process applications and recertification.
• Enters case specific information for applications, recertification and unscheduled reported changes into state databases.
• Determines eligibility for a variety of county, state and federal public assistance programs.
• Advises clients on viable life options; promotes self sufficiency.
• Works in cooperation and coordination with other county staff, local, state and federal agencies, service providers or vendors.
• Assists with case, file and records maintenance.
• Responds to client concerns and complaints; informs clients of their appeal rights and the appeals process.
• Assists with the preparation of case materials required for presentation in court.
• Mastery of the EDMS system and revisions to subsystems.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

Thorough knowledge of county, state and federal policies and rules associated with each program the individual administers; thorough knowledge of the operation of state databases; thorough knowledge of state resources that may assist with correct interpretation of policies and correct eligibility determinations; general knowledge of the principles and practices of public social service organizations; general knowledge of cooperative community resources and programs; general skill operating standard office equipment and related hardware and software; general skill composing standard and specialized business correspondence related to case management; general skill creating and maintaining applicable file, case and program records; ability to operate standard office equipment and related hardware and software; ability to operate specialized database systems; ability to analyze data and exercise sound judgment in arriving at conclusions; ability to follow complex oral and written instructions; ability to manage workload and meet frequent deadlines; ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing; ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with clients, coworkers, comparable agencies at other levels of government, business partners and the general public.

Education and Experience

High school diploma or GED and moderate experience working in customer service, financial services, or equivalent combination of education and experience. Associates/Technical degree preferred.

Physical Requirements

This work requires the occasional exertion of up to 10 pounds of force; work regularly requires sitting, speaking or hearing, using hands to finger, handle or feel and repetitive motions, frequently requires reaching with hands and arms and occasionally requires standing, walking, climbing or balancing, stooping, kneeling, crouching or crawling, pushing or pulling and lifting; work has standard vision requirements; vocal communication is required for expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word; hearing is required to perceive information at normal spoken word levels; work requires preparing and analyzing written or computer data, operating machines and observing general surroundings and activities; work has no exposure to environmental conditions; work is generally in a moderately noisy location (e.g. business office, light traffic).

Special Requirements

Financial worker certification preferred.

Minnesota Merit System eligible.

Valid driver's license in the State of Minnesota.

Minimum Qualifications

High School Diploma or GED. 

Other Requirements

The incumbent may encounter not public data in the course of these duties. Any access to not public data should be strictly limited to accessing the data that are necessary to fulfill the employment responsibility. While data are being accessed, incumbent should take reasonable measures to ensure the not public data are not accessed by individuals without a work reason. Once the work reason to access the data is reasonably finished, incumbent must properly store the not public data according to the provisions Ch. 13. If a new work assignment requires access to not public data, the incumbent is permitted to access not public data for the work assignment purposes only. Any access to not public data must be strictly limited to the data necessary to complete the work assignment and after the assignment is completed, the employee’s work assignment no longer requires access.