PUBLIC GUARDIAN INVESTIGATOR at County of Riverside in Riverside, California

Job Description:

ABOUT THE POSITION
The Riverside University Health Systems - Behavioral Health department would like to invite you to apply to the Public Guardian Investigator position. This position is located in the city of Riverside, CA and will offer a 9/80 work schedule from Mon-Thurs, 8:00 AM-5:30 PM and every other Friday 8:00 AM- 4:30 PM. Candidates who have worked with elderly and/or those with significant medical issues and/or have significant experience with eligibility services are encouraged to apply.

Under general supervision, to evaluate and investigate referrals to the Public Guardian Office to determine the individual's need and eligibility for conservatorship; to evaluate the level of risk of individuals who may be gravely disabled or legally incompetent; to prepare reports recommending conservatorship or a viable alternative; and to do other work as required.

The Public Guardian Investigator investigates and evaluates individual's need and determines eligibility for and if public conservatorship is in the best interests of that individual. This class is allocated only to the Department of Mental Health's Public Guardian's Office. The Public Guardian Investigator class is distinguished from the Deputy Public Guardian in that the latter classification manages the personal and financial affairs of persons who have been placed under guardianship by the court and are responsible for protecting conservatees and their respective estates from exploitation and loss. The Public Guardian Investigator is responsible for investigating referrals and preparing recommendations for conservatorship for County Counsel's review.

EXAMPLES OF ESSENTIAL DUTIES
• Receives and reviews referrals to evaluate and assess the level of risk of individuals who may be gravely disabled or legally incompetent.

• Investigates allegations of abuse, self-neglect, financial loss, or medical or health concerns by making home or facility visits and interviewing the referred individual to collect and verify information; identifies and locates, individual's family, physicians, and others by searching through directories, utility records and other available resources as well as through inquiries of public or private agencies; interviews the potential client's family, neighbors, friends, landlords, physicians, and others to assess that individual's functional capacity, physical and environmental conditions.

• Contacts banks, investment agencies, mortgage and title companies and other agencies to obtain information regarding the potential conservatee's financial assets; collects, reviews, and analyzes legal documents including wills, trusts, Power of Attorney to assess the potential conservatee's need for conservatorship or a viable alternative.

• Interprets department policies and conservatorship procedures to the potential conservatee's family and others as required.

• Consults with doctors, psychologists, other medical providers, and professionals from other department and agencies to determine the potential client's need for medical and medical health services or to assist in facilitating temporary placement of clients; makes arrangements for referrals for immediate medical or mental health treatment and temporary placement.

• Interviews perpetrators of physical or sexual abuse or financial exploitation of potential conservatees; meets with representatives from Adult Protective Services, law enforcement and the District Attorneys office to report investigation findings in cases involving abuse; may testify in Court regarding the facts and findings of investigation.

• Determines if public conservatorship is in the best interest of the potential client, based on that individual's life skills, cognitive abilities, limitations, mental, physical and environmental conditions; recommends public conservatorship or alternatives including persuading relatives to assume conservatorship or guardianship responsibility.

• Maintains case records of investigation findings and prepares and submits a detailed report to County Counsel recommending conservatorship; meets with assigned Deputy Pubic Guardian to review investigation findings and turns over the case file after the client has been placed under guardianship by the court.

• Investigates Orders to Show Cause from Superior Court why the Public Guardian should not be appointed over a case that has a private conservator; reviews the Court file and interviews the client, conservator and attorney to assess the situation; prepares a detailed report including substantiating evidence supporting the reason why the Public Guardian should not be appointed and recommends a viable alternative to the Court.

• Provides In-Service Training to educate hospitals, Care Agencies, law enforcement, APS induction of new employees and other agencies as needed regarding conservatorship requirements.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
OPTION I

Education: Completion of 30 semester or 45 quarter units in law, real estate, finance, accounting, public or business administration social services, human services of closely related field.

AND

Experience: Two years of experience as an Estate Investigator with the County of Riverside. (Additional qualifying experience may substitute for the required education on a year-for-year basis).

OPTION II

Experience: Three years of experience in which the primary duties of the job involved in-depth interviewing and the securing of information from individuals to determine, on the basis of laws and regulations, the proper case action or experience performing case management duties in a health or human services field.

Knowledge of: Basic Public Guardian/Conservator's functions and related laws; investigative procedures, interviewing and analytical techniques for gathering interpreting and evaluating data; language used in documents such as wills, deeds and contracts; various types and uses of documents representing assets and liabilities and techniques to determine assets and liabilities.

Ability to: Conduct effective interviews with individuals to obtain financial, personal and sensitive information pertaining to prospective clients; research, collect and review and verify the accuracy and completeness of information; meet with and effectively communicate investigation findings with representatives from various departments and agencies to resolve issues and develop an effective course of action; make sound and effective decisions and determinations in the best interest of prospective clients; exercise tact, diplomacy, courtesy, and sensitivity when interacting with prospective clients and their family members who are under emotional stress, suffering from mental illnesses or who are uncooperative, inflexible, agitated, upset or hostile.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
Other Requirements
License/Certificate: Possession of a valid California Driver's License may be required.

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 veterans' preference. See the policy here: here (Download PDF reader).

Reasonable Accommodations:
The County of Riverside is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to applicants as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). If you are a qualified individual and need a reasonable accommodation to take this exam, contact the recruiter before taking the exam. For additional information and the accommodation form, visit the Disability Access Office web page at: http://dao.rc-hr.com

Pre-Employment:
All employment offers are contingent upon successful completion of both a pre-employment physical exam, including a drug/alcohol test, and a criminal background investigation, which involves fingerprinting. (A felony or misdemeanor conviction may disqualify the applicant from County employment).

Employment Documents:
Upload a copy of any license(s), official/unofficial transcript(s), degrees, and/or related employment documents to your NeoGov account. If your education was completed outside of the United States, you will need to provide a copy of your Foreign Education Equivalency evaluation from a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services or (NACES) Association of International Credential Evaluators, Inc. (AICE).

What's Next?
This recruitment is open to all applicants. Applicants who are current County of Riverside employees and/or current employees of the County of Riverside's RUHS may be considered before other applicants depending on the volume of applications received.
Qualified applicants may be considered for future vacancies throughout the County.

Application Period:
BASED ON THE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS RECEIVED, THIS POSTING MAY CLOSE WITHOUT NOTICE.
Applications received prior to the closing date will be considered based on the information submitted. Changes or alterations cannot be accepted. All applicants must submit a complete application by the closing date of this recruitment. No late applications will be permitted. Include relevant work experience details on resume and/or application. Applicants who fail to provide information demonstrating they possess the position requirements may not be considered further in the application process. A description of job duties directly copied from the job classification or job posting will not be considered.

Applications will be reviewed in the order of when it was received

Questions: For further information regarding this posting, contact the recruiter:
Edgar Manzo at: emcardenas@Rivco.org

GENERAL APPLICATION INFORMATION:

Please read and follow any special application instructions on this posting. Click the 'Apply' link located on this page to submit your application. For instructions on the application process, examinations, 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 may be required.

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 LIUNA 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 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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