Social Service Specialist III (#UDDO33)
$44,019.00 Yearly Min / $47,513.00 Yearly Mid / $57,016.00 Yearly Max

An incumbent in this class performs specialized social service work involving emergency assistance and/or crisis intervention, aiding the client in dealing with specific problem areas and/or life threatening situations.

A class incumbent reports to a technical or administrative supervisor and is responsible for providing immediate assessment assistance and advice to clients facing crisis situations and client intervention.  An incumbent may authorize appropriate funds to eliminate or alleviate the situation.  A class incumbent also refers clients to immediate or scheduled counseling and/or hospitalization, treatment and needed services.  An incumbent schedules appointments for clients desiring follow up professional care; aids individual to see appointments are kept and/or works with resources such as landlords and utility companies to obtain financial concessions and/or extensions; directs clients to other private and public resources.  Work in this class includes interviewing, determining needs of clients seeking assistance, recording, reporting, and providing accurate documentation of all client contact for use by other workers and dealing with a variety of people in diverse and/or crisis situations.

Essential functions are fundamental, core functions common to all positions in the class series and are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all job duties for any one position in the class.  Since class specifications are descriptive and not restrictive, incumbents can complete job duties of similar kind not specifically listed here.

• Interviews, assesses and advises clients to determine eligibility, needs and course of action to meet needs.  May provide phone counseling evaluations and crisis intervention to determine admission of clients to hospitals or other special treatment facilities.
   
• Documents, verifies, records and reports client information.
   
• Refers ineligible clients to appropriate agencies and resources.
   
• May provide coverage for other agency assistance programs as assigned.
   
• Utilizes the resources of social services/other agencies, and community resources as a means of dealing with identified needs/problems.
   
• Maintains adequate records of provided services including case files and related material.
   
• Provides referral information to individual and general public, promotes effective public relations for agency.

The intent of the listed knowledge, skills and abilities is to give a general indication of the core requirements for all positions in the class series; therefore, the KSA’s listed are not exhaustive or necessarily inclusive of the requirements of every position in the class.

• Knowledge of applicable state/federal rules, regulations and guidelines.
• Knowledge of the operation of various resources systems such as tenant code, utilities, community agencies.
• Knowledge of crisis intervention and/or needs assessment techniques.
• Knowledge of basic math computations.
• Skill in written and oral communication.
• Skill in interviewing and interpersonal relations.
• Skill in applying accurate and appropriate information.
• Ability to coordinate services on individual basis to meet needs of clients.
• Ability to prepare reports, document facts and maintain records.

JOB REQUIREMENTS for Social Service Specialist III
Applicants must have education, training and/or experience demonstrating competence in each of the following areas:

1. Three years experience in health or human services support such as interviewing clients and assessing personal, health, social or financial needs in accordance with program requirements or coordinating with community resources to obtain client services.
2. Three years experience in applying laws, rules, regulations, standards, policies and procedures.
3. Six months experience in making recommendations as part of a clients service plan such as clinical treatment, counseling, or determining eligibility for health or human services/benefits.
4. Six months experience in record keeping.
5. Six months experience in using an automated information system to enter, update, modify, delete, retrieve/inquire and report on data.