Community Social Services Technician

This position will assist adults who are elderly and/or disabled with essential home management tasks and supervision to enable them to remain and function effectively in their own home. Work involves demonstrating, accompanying, and working alongside clients to show them how to manage money, select and prepare nutritious and inexpensive meals, care for their personal health and cleanliness, assisting in light housework, and taking clients to medical and non-medical appointments / programs.  Employees may be required to perform other duties as assigned to meet agency needs. 
Hiring Salary: $36,696.00Responsibilities and Duties:

• Employee will assist in household management and budget.  Employee will assist in making the client aware of comparison shopping but must keep in mind the client’s right to be involved in the decision making process as to how their money is spent.  This employee will encourage and emphasize the necessity of having a budget and can assist in making one.
• This employee will discuss basic health needs and nutritional food planning with the client.   Planning special diets will be done if indicated.  Employee will not only discuss nutritional foods but may also teach client to wisely purchase food that is in season.  Employee may need to demonstrate purchasing food that needs to be weighted and help assist client in understanding the nutritional content in foods.  In some cases, employee will accompany the client to the grocery store to purchase food.  Upon returning home, training on storage and preservation of foods will be taught.  
• This employee will assist with household duties.  Employee is not to be identified as a housekeeper but rather as a homemaker.   Employee’s tasks will be to assist with elderly and disabled in doing chores they are unable to do.  As a teaching process, employee will explain and demonstrate general housekeeping practices as often as indicated with the goal being for the person if possible to be able to do their own housework.  
• Employee will stress personal hygiene and general good health habits.  Employee will explore general need with the client for health care and improvement.  When necessary employee will accompany client to the doctor, medical appointment, mental health treatment and/or clinics. Employee will be available to talk to the doctor if needed.  Employee will follow through with the doctor’s suggestions and help the client to ensure that medication is secured and taken properly.   Worker may assist in setting up future appointments.  Employee must be flexible as it is sometimes necessary to change schedules due to emergencies or late changes.  
• Employee will assist with transportation to medical and non-medical appointments/meetings, grocery stores and other places needed to assist in day to day needs.    

Education/Certification:

High School or General education Diploma (GED) and demonstrated possession of knowledge, skills, and abilities gained through at least one year of experience in performing tasks similar to the ones assigned.  Must possess a valid North Carolina driver’s license.  

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

Basic Knowledge of the social, economic, and environmental conditions of clients to be served, working knowledge of basic household tasks and management functions and the ability to teach those to others.  Must possess a working knowledge of and ability to enlist the aid of available resources.  Employee must have skill in basic reading, writing and simple mathematics and be able to understand and maintain simple reports.  Must possess good communication skills and the ability to establish rapport with social workers, doctor’s offices and other professional and community businesses.  Ability to exercise good judgement in appraising situations and ability to communicate those findings.Work Environment/Location/Physical Demands:

The employees physical work location will be at 311 Cornelius Harnett Boulevard, Lillington NC.   Work space will be provided with regular office equipment such as a copy machine, calculator, computer, and other supplies.  This employee will spend much of the regular work hours in the field, working in the home or transporting clients to and from appointments and/or shopping.  This employee may perform light housework.   Worker will be expected to make home visits and will work closely with community agencies, medical providers, social workers and possibly client’s family members.  Employee will use close visual attention and mental concentration with talking with clients/applicants and accurately recording the information received.  Regular work hours are 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Monday – Friday and one hour for lunch.     Employees are subject to working with agitated clients, heavy workloads, and compressed timeframes.  Clients may at times become agitated, verbally abusive due to the extreme situations or their emotional problems, but generally physical harm is unlikely on an ongoing basis.

Salary : $36,696 - $60,550