CONTINUOUS RECRUITMENT

OPEN COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION

CASEWORKER #280

Examinations dates to be determined by Allegany County Human Resource/Civil Service Department

Distinguishing Features of the Class: This work involves responsibility for providing social work services to individuals and families. An incumbent assists people who have economic, emotional, social and/or environmental difficulties by making the necessary service referrals to address the problems identified throughout the life of a case. The Caseworker, in consultation with a supervisor and other service providers, formulates and carries out plans to meet individual and/or family problems of the cases assigned. The work is performed under the direct supervision of a Case Supervisor, Grade B. General supervision may be received form a Senior Caseworker. Extensive mandated training is provided as appropriate through the State and the agency. Does related work as required.

Vacancy: The eligible list established as a result of this examination will be used to fill present and future vacancies as they occur in Allegany County Department of Social Services.

Salary: Starting Rate: $17.57/hour

Minimum Qualifications: Graduation from a regionally accredited college or university or one accredited by the New York State Board of Regents to grant degrees with a Bachelor’s degree.

Special Requirement: Possession of a valid driver’s license appropriate to the vehicles operated.

Residency: Candidates must be residents of Allegany or a surrounding county for at least one month prior to the date of exam. Preference in certification may be given to successful candidates who have been legal residents of Allegany County.

Application forms may be obtained from, and must be filed with the Allegany County Human Resource/Civil Service Department, 7 Court Street, Belmont, NY 14813; (585) 268-9212. You can download the forms from the Allegany County website at http://www.alleganyco.com; however, e-mail or faxed applications are not accepted.

Application Fee: In accordance with Civil Service law Sect. 50, this Civil Service Department will be collecting a fee of $10.00 from examination applicants for each separate open-competitive exam for which they apply. The $10.00 fee applies to this examination. The required $10.00 fee must accompany your application and must be in the form of either cash (exact amount only) or money

order payable to the Allegany County Treasurer. Write the number of the examination and your Social Security Number on your money order. As no refund will be made, you are urged to compare your qualifications carefully with the specified minimum qualifications and file for the examination only if you are clearly qualified.

Application Fee Waiver: A waiver of the application fee will be allowed if you are unemployed and primarily responsible for the support of a household. In addition, a waiver of the application fee will be allowed if you are determined eligible for Medicaid or receiving Supplemental Security Income payment or Public Assistance (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families/Family Assistance or Safety Net Assistance) or are certified Job Training Partnership Act/Workforce Investment Act eligible through a State or local social service agency. ALL CLAIMS FOR APPLICATION FEE WAIVER ARE SUBJECT TO VERIFICATION. If you can verify eligibility for application fee waiver, complete a “Request for Application Fee Waiver and Certification” form and submit it with your application. Contact the Allegany County Civil Service Department, 7 Court Street, Belmont, NY 14813, Phone: 585-268-9212 for the Application Fee Waiver and Certification form.

Additional Information for Candidates: For free copies of the booklet, “A Guide to Taking the Examination for Caseworker Series,” visit our website at: (http://www.alleganyco.com). This guide will be sent to all approved candidates no later than two weeks before the test date.

Veteran’s Credit: Veterans or disabled veterans who are eligible for additional credit must submit an application for veteran’s credit with their application for examination or at any time between the date of their application for examination and the date of the establishment of the resulting eligible list. Applications for veteran’s credit are available from this office. Veteran’s credit can only be added to a passing score on the examination.

Effective January 1, 1998, the State Constitution was amended to permit a candidate currently in the armed forces to apply for and be conditionally granted veteran’s credit in examinations. Any candidate who applies for such credit must provide proof of military status to receive the conditional credit. No credit may be granted after the establishment of the list. It is the responsibility of the candidate to provide appropriate documentary proof indicating that the service was in time of war, as defined in Section 85 of Civil Service Law, and that the candidate received an honorable discharge or was released under honorable conditions in order to be certified at a score including veteran’s credit.

Time and Place of Examination: Accepted candidates will be contacted by admission notice 7 to 10 days prior to the examination, when and where to appear for this examination. If notice of acceptance or disapproval is not received at least three days prior to the examination date, please call this office at (585) 268-9212.

Note: You must bring positive identification to the written examination such as a driver’s license, passport or student identification which contains a photo and your signature.

Saturday Sabbath Observers/Disabled Persons and Military Personnel called to Active Duty: If special arrangements for testing are required, indicate this on your application form.

Subject of Examination: The written test will cover knowledge, skills and/or abilities in such areas as:

1) Establishing and Maintaining Effective Helping Relationships in Social Casework Setting – A test of your understanding of the factors contributing to the development and maintenance of positive and productive client-worker relationships. The questions will describe specific client-worker interactions designed to evaluate your judgment regarding appropriate responses and/or reactions. Questions will also include, but not necessarily be limited to, a basic understanding of areas such as confidentiality, time management, professional ethics and referral techniques.

2) Interviewing – A test designed to evaluate your understanding of the principles and techniques of interviewing and their application to specific client-worker situations. The test will consists of questions concerning procedures that are part of the interviewing process and some knowledge of various interviewing techniques. Also included will be a series of concrete interviewing situations for which you will be required to select an appropriate course of action based on an analysis of the situation, the application of the information provided and the ramifications of various interviewing principles and strategies.

3) Preparing Written Material – These questions test for the ability to present information clearly and accurately and to organize paragraphs logically and comprehensibly. For some questions, you will be given information in two or three sentences followed by four restatements of the information. You must then choose the best version. For other questions, you will be given paragraphs with their sentences out of order and then asked to choose from four suggestions the best order for the sentences.

Unless otherwise notified, candidates are permitted to use quiet, hand-held, and solar or battery powered calculators. Devices with typewriter keyboards, “Spell Checkers”, “Personal Digital Assistants,” “Address Books”, “Language Translators”, “Dictionaries”, or any similar devices are prohibited. You may not bring books or other reference materials.

The written test is being prepared and rated by the New York State Department of Civil Service in accordance with Section 23-2 of the Civil Service Law. The provisions of the New York State Civil Service Rules and Regulations dealing with the rating of examinations will apply to the written test.

Eligible Lists: Successful candidates will have their names placed on the eligible list in accordance with the requirements of the New York State Civil Service Department. The names of qualified candidates will remain on the eligible list for one year.

***IMPORTANT CANDIDATE NOTICE***

A candidate is permitted to take a Caseworker examination prepared by the New York State Department of Civil Service only once during each of the following defined periods:

January 1 – June 30 or July 1 – December 31

1. A candidate who applies and is approved for more than one Caseworker examination during the same six-month period (January 1-June 30 or July 1-December 31) is required to use the score resulting from a single test administration for all examinations held during the same six-month period.

2. The candidate must inform the civil service agency if he/she has previously taken a Caseworker examination in any other civil service agency and provide the location and date the examination was taken.

3. A candidate must pay application fees for each examination requiring such fees.

4. A candidate’s placement on resultant eligible list(s) and duration of eligibility for appointment will be determined by the civil service agency conducting the examination(s).

2009