Temporary - Social Services Assistant at County of Riverside in Moreno Valley, California

Job Description:

ABOUT THE POSITION

The County of Riverside Department of Public Social Services is comprised of employees who work collectively and in partnership with community-based organizations to serve the needs of the community. Can you see yourself here?

The Department of Public Social Services is currently recruiting for a Temporary Social Services Assistants (SSA). Social Services Assistants are utilized in both the Children's Services Division (CSD) and the Adult Services Division (ASD). Social Services Assistants provide support to Social Services Practitioners while out in the field or with continuing services.

Social Services Assistants employed with CSD may possess the following responsibilities:

Transporting children throughout Riverside County; monitoring children during visitations and/or monitoring children who are in the office; contacting foster parents to check on their needs; setting up meetings and tracking data; and documenting quality of visitations. Moreover, incumbent may be required to travel to other County or out of state.

Social Services Assistants employed with ASD may possess the following responsibilities:

Transporting the elderly or clients with disabilities to appointments or meetings; assisting with field visits to ensure the safety of clients; assisting clients with completing applications for programs and services; and coordinating care and services to ensure clients are receiving continuous care.

ADDITIONALLY, THE IDEAL CANDIDATE WILL HAVE:

- Experience working with the aging and diverse population.
- Knowledge to determine potential or imminent risk to the safety of children/adults residing in the household.

Meet the Team!

The County of Riverside Department of Public Social Services is comprised of employees who work collectively and in partnership with community-based organizations to serve the needs of the community. Can you see yourself here?

Under general supervision, provides routine social services to a preselected caseload of social service applicants and/or recipients and/or outreach services to community members; acts as liaison between the client, the Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) or Department of Behavioral Health and/or community resources; and performs other related duties as required.

The Social Service Assistant is an entry level paraprofessional classification and typically reports to an appropriate supervisory level position. Incumbents are responsible for providing routine social services and resource referral. Some positions may require supportive counseling, placement services, training, and basic assessment. Under the supervision of professional staff, Social Services Assistants may be assigned preselected caseloads, a variety of routine investigative duties for professional staff and/or outreach work, which do not require the expertise of a professional level social worker.

The Social Services Assistant is distinguished from the Social Services Practitioner series in that the latter represents the professional level classes in the social work series and incumbents perform case management services, which require greater assessment skills and a broader knowledge of social work concepts.

EXAMPLES OF ESSENTIAL DUTIES

• Make home visits to individuals to provide assistance, answer questions, and assess other needs in the home living site.

• Gather data from interviews with clients, physicians, and/or other appropriate concerned individuals.

• Review case records to formulate basic service plans or participates with professional staff in the formulation of service plans; perform a variety of para-professional tasks in the delivery of social service plans, such as referrals to appropriate resources and training in work skills and parenting.

• Complete or assists the client in completing applications for program participation and in obtaining needed services, such as medical care; may act as advocate for the client in securing services or provide encouragement to assist and support clients in securing and/or following through on services.

• Provide supportive counseling and assist clients in recognizing and correcting home, family, and social conditions contributing to problems; instruct clients on appropriate methods of home management, basic health, and nutrition needs.

• Assist clients in developing appropriate parenting skills, job skills and daily living skills; help client resolve training barriers; monitor clients progress in learning and performing basic job skills; teach age appropriate responses to children; support client's efforts in dealing with children including those with medical and/or emotional problems.

• Monitor client's progress and adherence to service plan and make written and/or verbal reports of serious problems to professional staff.

• Act as liaison between the professional staff and the client by clarifying instructions and information; describe basic services, County programs, and other available community resources to clients.

• Act as liaison between the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services or Department of Behavioral Health and other agencies, individuals, organizations or community groups.

• May place clients who are unable to care for themselves in an appropriate care or treatment facility.

• Assist clients in arranging for transportation necessary to obtain services; maintain records and write reports on clients' status; prepare correspondence as necessary; when qualified to do so, acts as an interpreter for non-English speaking clients.

• Supervise children awaiting placement.

• Assist Social Workers with coordinating services provided to clients, phone calls, completing forms, and supervising family visits.

• Maintain up-to-date electronic records of client visitation in a centralized database.

• Positions in the DPSS Children's Services Division may require incumbents to assess the client family environment in order to determine potential or imminent risk to the safety of children/adults residing in the household; when safety needs dictate, remove child from home and transport them, complying with all safety regulations, including the use of age appropriate California safety mandated equipment, when assisting with initial removal or facilitating a placement change or when transporting them to visits with the parents, court hearings, therapy, etc.

• Positions in the DPSS Parent Locator Unit require incumbents to identify and locate missing/absent parents, relatives, and other relevant persons associated to the case and to prepare reports of searches to be used in Juvenile Court custody proceedings. This includes obtaining information through inquiries of public or private agencies, employers, families, neighbors or other individuals; querying various directories, utility records, computer systems and other available sources; and conducting office and field interviews to follow up on possible leads to determine parent or relative residence.

• Positions in the DPSS Adult Services Division may require incumbents to assist transporting an elderly or disabled adult to another location. This may include managing the client's necessary assistive equipment, such as a wheelchair.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
OPTION I
Experience: Six months as a Community Services Assistant with the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services or Department of Behavioral Health.

OPTION II
Experience: One year of full-time experience performing client directed services in either a social service, healthcare, or mental health agency/organization.

OPTION III
Education: Completion of 15 semester or 24 quarter units from an accredited college or university in psychology, sociology, social welfare, social/human services or other behavioral sciences.

ALL OPTIONS
Knowledge of: Basic public social service programs, goals and objectives; problems, needs, and behavioral patterns of the disadvantaged; cultural and ethnic attitudes towards community services; principles of interviewing and problem-solving methods.

Ability to: Work effectively with a wide variety of agencies, organizations and individuals; interview and evaluate clients and recognize the relevant and significant factors pertaining to their needs; implement basic social service plans and monitor client's progress toward established goals; understand and evaluate psychological, cultural, and social factors affecting behavioral patterns; explain department procedures; interpret agency programs and policies to clients, agencies, and organizations; read and interpret information obtained from computers, microfilms, and written documents; obtain information in a non-intrusive but persuasive manner; interact effectively with people from diverse cultures and socio-economic backgrounds.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
Veterans' Preference

The County has a Veterans Preference Policy. Upload a copy of your (or your spouse's) Member-4 Form DD-214 (or NGB-22) indicating dates of service, and a copy of your spouse's letter of disability (if applicable) with your application. For privacy reasons, it is recommended that you remove your social security information from the document (s). A Human Resources Representative will review the materials and determine if you qualify for the veteran's preference. See the policy here (Download PDF reader) .

Veteran's preference, pre-employment accommodation or other employment questions, please refer to our web site, www.rc-hr.com .

A pre-employment physical examination and background check are required. All offers of employment are contingent upon meeting the medical and background standards of the position.

What's Next?

This is a temporary position.

This recruitment is open to all applicants.

Contact"

If you have any questions regarding this position, please contact DeNeen Culberson dculberson@rivco.org

Website:

http://www.rc-hr.com

MEDICAL/DENTAL/VISION INSURANCE: A choice of different medical, dental and visions plan are available to elect. The County provides a Flexible Benefit Credit contribution as governed by the applicable SEIU Memorandum of Understanding to contribute towards the cost of these plans.

Note: Employees on assignment through the Temporary Assignment Program (TAP) receive different benefits. See the list here .
MISCELLANEOUS RETIREMENT: County of Riverside has three retirement Tiers through the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS).

• 
  Tier I (Classic Member - Formula 3% @ 60): Applicable to current and former County of Riverside local miscellaneous employees hired prior to 08/24/2012 and did not withdraw CalPERS contributions. The employee contribution is eight (8%) percent.


• 
  Tier II (Classic Member - Formula 2% @ 60): Applicable to local miscellaneous employees 1) hired after 08/23/2012 through 12/31/2012; 2) Previously employed with another CalPERS contracting public agency or a reciprocal retirement system, with a break in service of less than six months between the separation date with the previous employer and the appointment date with the County of Riverside. The employee contribution is seven (7%) percent.


• 
  Tier III (PEPRA New Member - Formula 2% @ 62): Applicable to CalPERS local miscellaneous new members hired on or after the implementation of the Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA) which took effect January 1, 2013. As of July 1, 2020, the employee contribution is 7.25% and subject to change annually.

A new member is defined as any of the following:

A new hire who enters CalPERS membership for the first time on or after January 1, 2013, and who has no prior membership in any California Public Retirement System.

A new hire who enters CalPERS membership for the first time on or after January 1, 2013, and who was a member with another California Public Retirement System prior to that date, but who is not subject to reciprocity upon joining CalPERS.

A member who first established CalPERS membership prior to January 1, 2013, and who is rehired by a different CalPERS agency after a break in service of greater than six (6) months.

CalPERS refers to all members that do not fit within the definition of a new member as "classic members".

Contribution rates are subject to change based on the County of Riverside annual actuarial valuation.

Note:

This summary is for general information purposes only. Additional questions regarding retirement formulas can be sent to retirement@rivco.org or by calling the Benefits Information Line at (951) 955-4981,
Option 2.

If you have prior service credit with another CalPERS agency or within agencies, please contact CalPERS at (888) 225-7377 to determine which retirement tier would be applicable to you. CalPERS is governed by the Public Employees' Retirement Law. The Retirement Law is complex and subject to change. If there's any conflict between this summary and the law, the law will prevail over this summary.
DEFERRED COMPENSATION: Voluntary employee contribution with a choice between two 457 deferred compensation plan options.

VACATION ACCRUAL (Bi-Weekly Accrual):

0< 3 year = 80 Hours (10 Days)

4< 9 years = 120 Hours (15 Days)

10 or more years = 160 Hours (20 Days)

Maximum Vacation leave accumulation is 480 hours.

SICK LEAVE: Four (4) hours Sick Leave accrual per pay period with unlimited accrual.

HOLIDAYS: Normally 12 paid holidays per year.

BEREAVEMENT LEAVE: Allowed 5 days (3 days are County paid; 2 additional days can be taken from accrued Sick Leave balance).

BASIC LIFE INSURANCE: Equal to one times annual base salary not to exceed $50,000 of term life coverage. Premiums are paid by the County. Additional Supplemental Life plan is available for employee purchase.

DISABILITY: Short-term Disability benefit pays up to a maximum of $461.54 weekly, payable up to a maximum of 52 weeks.

POST RETIREMENT MEDICAL CONTRIBUTION: A monthly contribution is made by the County towards retiree health insurance offered through the County as governed by the applicable SEIU Memorandum of Understanding.

OTHER: There may be other benefit provisions as specified in the applicable Memorandum of Understanding. Please contact the recruiter listed on the job posting directly for more information.

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