Income Maintenance Caseworker I-Energy (Part-Time Seasonal)

Job Description Summary:

We are currently seeking an eligibility caseworker to become a part of the Harnett County DSS team.  The primary purpose of this position is to interview and complete applications for the Crisis Intervention Program (CIP) and Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP).   CIP is a program that provides assistance to low-income families who are experiencing or are in danger of experiencing a heating or cooling related emergency.  The LIEAP program is a seasonal program that is designed to assist individuals due to the high cost of heating with a one-time credit to their main heating vendor during the months of December – March.  This work unit also administers additional private funding sources and programs to assist individuals with their utilities.  Because work in this unit is very high paced and busier during certain seasons this position will be temporary.  This individual must be a highly motivated team player, flexible, possess excellent communication skills, and have computer knowledge.  Employee must be able to explain program criteria and advise clients of other programs if appropriate.  

Hiring Range: $19.4509 hourlyResponsibilities and Duties:

• Information Gathering / Interviewing – 25%

This employee will be responsible for gathering information from the applicant in order to assist families in an emergency situation.   It is very important that the interviews be conducted in a tactful manner and at the same time lead the recipient to stay within the range of information that is needed by the employee and client.  Employee must apply prudent judgment to evaluate each emergency situation on its own merits.  However, the employee must always consider whether any of the household members are at life threatening risk.  Employee must obtain information regarding, crisis, residence, income, bank accounts, and resources.  Some home visits may need to be made for various reasons and will ultimately be decided by the Supervisor or Program Manager.  All applicants must be made aware of their rights and responsibilities such as assisting with necessary paperwork, appeal and hearing rights and reporting all changes.  In addition to working with the assistance unit to alleviate the current emergency or crisis situation the employee must
refer for any other services within the agency such as Medical Assistance, DSS Social Workers, Food and Nutrition Services and Child Day Care services.

• Verification – 25%

Employees must verify certain Information to be able to determine eligibility.  Employee will need to determine what the immediate crisis is and the last time the client received any type of emergency assistance.  Other information that must be verified is the assistance unit, citizenship, countable income, contributions and resources.   Verification of the emergency may be accomplished by legal notification of eviction or foreclosure status, utility bills, contact with the landlord, statement form doctors and as a last resort possibly clients statement.  Other contacts to verify information may be employers, landlords, mortgage companies, computer programs, medical records, register of deeds and financial institutes.   Contacts are necessary to ensure that the recipient is receiving all the benefits and services that he / she is entitled to receive.
 
 

• Determining Eligibility – 50%

Employee must compile information and apply regulations to determine eligibility.   When verifications are received by the applicant they must be reviewed to ensure that they were properly completed and not questionable.  Once the employee is satisfied that the verifications are correct a budget must be established.  All areas of this position are affected by deadlines.  Each program has its own varying deadline such as, Crisis Intervention Program is 18-48 hours depending on the situation, and Low Income Energy Assistance is 10 days from receiving all information.  Once the client is approved for any of the Energy Emergency Programs the employee must then send some form of approval to the vendor.   This may be either a verbal pledge or letter of approval based on the program and vendors requirement.  
 
This position may also be required to perform any other duties assigned by the Supervisor, Program Manager or Director in order to meet the agency needs.  Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Caseworker must have some knowledge of casework and general knowledge of community programs, federal, state and local programs, concepts and techniques of social planning, crisis intervention and advocacy techniques that could affect the applicant.
• Caseworker must have good mathematical reasoning and computational skills.
• Caseworker must be able to read, analyze, and interpret rules, regulations and procedures.
• Caseworker must be able to communicate well with clients / applicants, the public at large and public officials.  Caseworkers must have skills in listening to others and obtaining and assembling facts for case evaluation.  Caseworkers must be able to interpret verbal and non-verbal behavior, and engage clients in an effort to resolve and discuss sensitive emotional subjects with clients / applicants.
• Caseworker must be able to speak and write clearly.
• Caseworkers must be able to maintain and organize a workload effectively.  

 
Education/Certification:
 

• Minimum training and experience requirements- 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 and two years of paraprofessional, clerical or other public contact experience which included negotiating, interviewing, explaining information, gathering and compiling data, analysis of data, and / or performance of mathematical maintenance program or graduation from high school and three years of paraprofessional, clerical or other public contact experience which included negotiating, interviewing, explaining information, the gathering and compiling of data, the analysis of data and / or the performance of mathematical or legal tasks or an equivalent combination of training and experience.  

Work Environment/Location/Physical Demands:

The caseworker’s 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.  The physical effort required in this job is the same that is required in any office job.   This caseworker will use close visual attention and mental concentration talking with clients/applicants and accurately recording the information received.  This position may work full time during the fall / winter months when there is a high volume of applications.  Hours of work may be  8:00 AM - 5:00 PM Monday-Friday but could vary.

Salary : $19 - $22