State of Maryland

A Social Service Administrator III is a managerial level of administrative social work within the Social Services Administration in the Maryland Department of Human Services.  Employees in this classification, in local departments, administer large and complex social service components or administer the operations of a decentralized center of the Baltimore City Department of Social Services.  Employees in this classification, in the Social Services Administration, direct a section responsible for policy development or field operations.  Employees in this classification that function as Administrators of social service components in a local department provide supervision to professional, paraprofessional, clerical and other support staff.  Employees providing administrative staff services may be required to supervise professional, paraprofessional, clerical and other support staff.

Employees in this classification receive managerial supervision from a higher level Social Service Administrator or other designated administrator.

Position allocation within the Social Service Administrator I-VI series is determined on the basis of relative job evaluation among similarly functioning positions.  The job evaluation factors include: qualifications; nature and purpose of personal contacts; nature of recommendations, commitments, decisions and conclusions; creative thought; responsibility for planning; responsibility for administration; and nature of supervision received.

Plans, develops, coordinates and evaluates social service and other programs and resources;

Develops, implements and monitors program policies, regulations, procedures and proposed legislation;

Interprets and explains State and federal policies, procedures, rules and regulations to agency staff;

Provides technical assistance and social work consultation on problematic cases;

Represents the agency at meetings with other public and private agencies and community groups;

Reviews case material to evaluate the quality of casework services rendered;

Monitors casework for adherence to State, federal and Social Services Administration programs, policies, procedures, rules and regulations;

Participates in the annual program planning and evaluation process;

Coordinates systems of service delivery within the agency and with other public and private agencies and community groups;

Supervises professional, paraprofessional, clerical and other support staff;

May act as a District Manager administering social and income maintenance services in a decentralized center of Baltimore City Department of Social Services;

May act as a Division Chief in Adult Services, Protective Services or other centralized services in Baltimore City Department of Social Services;

May act as a Division Chief or Assistant Director in a medium or large-sized local county department of social services;

May act as a Policy Section Chief or Manager within the Social Service Administration;

May act as the Chief of Field Operations for Social Services at the Social Services Administration;

May review agency policies and procedures and initiate changes where needed;

May develop plans in compliance with State and federal requirements;

May act as liaison with cooperating federal agencies;

May formulate plans for and implement public assistance and social service programs;

May assess training needs and arrange or provide training for current and future departmental staff;

Performs other related duties.

Class Descriptions are broad descriptions covering groups of positions used by various State departments and agencies.  Position descriptions maintained by the using department or agency specifically address the essential job functions of each position.

Class Descriptions provide information about the Nature of Work, Examples of Work, General Requirements and Acknowledgements.  The Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities; Minimum Education and Experience Requirements; Special Requirements; and recruitment and testing procedures are set by the using agency.

This is a Professional Service classification in the State Personnel Management System.  All positions in this classification are Professional Service positions.  Some positions in Professional Service classifications may be designated as Special Appointment in accordance with the State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 6-405, Annotated Code of Maryland.

This classification is not assigned to a bargaining unit, as indicated by the designation of S (Supervisor), M (Manager), T (Agency Head), U (Board or Commission Member), W (Student), X (Used by Agency or Excluded by Executive Order), or Z (Confidential).  As provided by State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 3-102, special appointment, temporary, contractual, supervisory, managerial and confidential employees are excluded from collective bargaining.  Additionally, certain executive branch agencies are exempt from collective bargaining and all positions in those agencies are excluded from collective bargaining.