Income Maintenance Technician

POSITION SUMMARY

Job Description Summary:

Employees in this class are responsible for determining client/applicant eligibility for income maintenance programs of limited variety and complexity such as Adult Medicaid, Children's Medicaid, Work First, Day Care, Food Nutrition Assistance and Child Protective Services in the County Department of Social Services. Employees are responsible for interviewing clients to obtain the required information, explain the programs, accept change information and enter into NC FAST, notify the ongoing caseworker, and verify a limited amount of qualifying data. Work may also involve referring clients to other agency staff. Work at this level also recognizes positions in formally structured training units where employees do not have assigned responsibility for the intake, processing or review of ongoing income maintenance cases. The work performed is normally subject to close supervision by a higher level Income Maintenance Caseworker. Income Maintenance Technician is to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of departmental data by behaving in a manner consistent with DHHS's mission and complying with all applicable laws, regulations, policies, standards and guidelines.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Responsibilities and Duties:

• Accountability

• Employees' work involves direct contact with clients who have applied or are recertifying for these programs in order to gather and verify any information necessary to implement changes in NC FAST/Compass of address, PCP, replacement Medicaid cards, household composition changes, etc.

• Consequence of Action

• Employees' decisions impact the well-being of the clients who are the recipients of program benefits

• Employees' incorrect decisions regarding client eligibility for the Adult Medicaid, Children's Medicaid, Work First, Day Care, Food Nutrition Assistance, and Child Protective Services are limited in the negative impact they have on an agency and/or client when compared to the regular income maintenance programs

• Review

• Work is reviewed frequently by a lead worker or a first line supervisor usually through the evaluation of processed cases.

• The frequency of these reviews will vary from agency to agency. Federal and State guidelines which ensure compliance to program regulations are more limited in scope than would be seen in the regular income maintenance programs.st as bulleted items)

• Answering main switchboard lines, screen and directing calls

• Taking and relay messages

• Provide information to callers

• Greet persons entering organization

• Direct persons to correct destination

• provide general administrative and clerical support

• Receive, sort and distribute incoming mail

• Photocopying/scanning Program Integrity cases into Compass

• Generating/responding to emails

• Verify any information necessary to implement changes in NC FAST/Compass

• Agrees to support employer's policy with respect to confidentiality

• Employees serve during natural emergencies in County Emergency Management Shelter as needed and assigned

• Protection of Confidential Information

• Safeguarding the information entrusted to the Department form unauthorized use, disclosure, modification, damage or loss

• Employees may receive other duties assigned by Supervisor

• Employees serve during natural emergencies in County Emergency Management Shelter as needed and assigned

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Must obtain good mathematical reasoning and computational skills

• Ability to communicate with clients, applicants, and the public to obtain data, and to explain rules and procedures

• Ability to understand the needs and problems of clients/applicants

• Ability to learn the program area of assignment

• Knowledge of relevant software applications including MS Office proficient in use of email and internet

• Accurate keyboard skills

• Knowledge of office management systems and procedures

Minimum Training and Experience Requirements

• Graduation from high school and two years of paraprofessional or clerical public contact experience which should have included negotiating, interviewing, explaining information, gathering and compiling of data, analysis of data, and/or the performance of mathematical or legal tasks; or graduation from high school and one year of experience in an income maintenance program; or an equivalent combination of training and experience. Course work at a Community College, Business or Technical School or at a four-year college or university may be substituted for general experience on a year for year basis for this class, but not for experience in an income maintenance program.

Subject Matter

• Employees provide information to clients on program requirements based upon the information provided in the Adult Medicaid, Children's Medicaid, Work First, Day Care, Food and Nutrition Assistance, and Child Protective Services policy/procedure manuals. Information contained in these regulations is clear but must be explained to clients with varying levels of understanding. Purpose

• Work with clients includes the gathering of information through the interview process for the purpose of determining applicant/client eligibility as well as to inform the client of their rights and obligations as prescribed under program policies and to assist in initiating reported change(s) in NCFAST/Compass.

Complexity

• Employee determines impact of reported changes or information needed for client eligibility for an income maintenance program which is characterized by the limited number and complexity of program regulations applied in making the eligibility decisions. The verification of supporting applicant data does not normally require as extensive research as would be seen in processing regular income maintenance cases. Employees are responsible for initiating reported changes in NC FAST that may impact the eligibility determination decision; however, the qualifying program requirements are not as complex as those of the regular income maintenance programs, thereby limiting the employee's decision-making process. Guidelines

• Employees refer to the Adult Medicaid, Children's Medicaid, Work First, Day Care, Child Protective Services and Food and Nutrition Assistance regulations in performing all functions required to complete the eligibility determination or application process. Guidelines are fairly stable and subject to only periodic changes.

Education/Certification:

Graduation from high school and two years of paraprofessional or clerical public contact experience which should have included negotiating, interviewing, explaining information, gathering and compiling of data, analysis of data, and/or the performance of mathematical or legal tasks; or graduation from high school and one year of experience in an income maintenance program; or an equivalent combination of training and experience.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

Work Environment/Location/Physical Demands:

Nature of Working Conditions

• Employees are periodically subject to working with agitated clients,

heavy workloads, and compressed time frames.

Nature and Potential of Personal Hazards

• Clients may at times be verbally abusive due to their extreme situations or their emotional problem, but generally physical harm is unlikely on an ongoing basis.

Work Schedule:

Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and other hours as needed.

Supervision Received by Employee:

Employee receives direct supervision by the Clerical Unit Support Supervisor