Bilingual Social Services Specialist

Duties and Responsibilities

Note: The following duties are illustrative and not exhaustive. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related, or a logical assignment to the position. Depending on assigned area of responsibility, incumbents in the position may perform some or all of the activities described below.

• Interviews clients on the job site or through home visits, reviews documents, investigates, researches and completes forms to acquire a more than limited amount of readily available financial and other information which may be used for comparing against a variety of standards to determine eligibility for financial, medical, interment, head start, job placement, legal representation or other socioeconomic or health program.
• Collaborates with clients to develop, implement and follow-up on holistic socioeconomic case plans that address vocational, occupational, housing, food, and health needs; provide for continuity of care, effective service and progress toward self-sufficiency.
• Provides some social service program information to clients.
• Provides some social services directly to clients where program eligibility may be determined through established guidelines; refers clients to others where program eligibility requires more in-depth analysis; or refers clients to internal or external service providers.
• Schedules and administers client health screenings, coordinates client transportation needs, schedules meetings and public workshops, and monitors the status of these activities.
• Schedules meetings of clients, neighborhood groups, social services providers, and public officials to provide an opportunity for the exchange of information.
• Obtains information from service providers to authorize payment for their services.
• Performs data entry, report writing, filing, mail handling, photocopying, distribution, record keeping and other clerical duties.
• May supervise the work of others by assigning and reviewing work.
Performs other related duties as required.

Job Specifications

• Knowledge of Federal, State, County, and community social service programs for which most clients are eligible: eligibility requirements, application procedures, and other relevant program policies.
• Knowledge of generally accepted social service case management procedures.
• Skill in interviewing clients to identify deficiencies in elementary personal, legal, social, economic, and health needs.
• Skill in dealing with social service clients under stressful situations.
• Skill in conducting speech, hearing, and other routine physical tests and documenting findings.
• Ability to work effectively with others.
• Ability to collect and compare data to established guidelines.
• Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.
Ability to use a computer terminal to quickly and accurately enter data.

Physical Requirements

• Performing duties while under pressure to meet unexpected deadlines, dealing with hostile and/or upset clients in person and on the telephone.
• Sitting, standing, working in front of computer screen, and noise associated with office equipment.
• Nature of this position is mentally demanding and at times chaotic, levels of patience and communication are tested on a daily basis.

Work Category

• Light work - Exerting up to 20 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 10 pounds of force frequently, and/or a negligible amount of force constantly to move objects. If the use of arm and/or leg control requires exertion of forces greater than that of sedentary work and if the worker sits most of the time, the job is considered light work.
  

Minimum Qualifications Required

• Graduation from high school or possession of a GED Certificate; AND
• One year of experience interacting with clients in a social services environment gathering and providing information and developing case plans;

OR

• An equivalent combination of education, training, and experience that would reasonably be expected to provide the job-related competencies noted above.