GENESEE COUNTY HUMAN RESOURCES

COUNTY BUILDING I, BATAVIA, NEW YORK

 ANNOUNCES

A PROMOTIONAL EXAMINATION FOR:

SUPERVISING MENTAL HEALTH CLINICAL SOCIAL WORKER, PROM,
#74-189

SALARY:  $24.21 - $27.00 per hour (2014) Genesee County.

VACANCY:  Genesee County Mental Health has one (1) vacant position. This examination is also being held to establish an eligible list to fill future vacancies, which may occur during the life of the eligible list.

An eligible may receive only one permanent appointment from this list. Once appointed, there will be a Probationary Period of 8 to 26-weeks based on performance of duties. During this probationary period the Department Head has the ability to terminate employment, without cause.

                    LAST FILING DATE----------APRIL 30, 2014 

                                        EXAMINATION DATE----------JUNE 7, 2014

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Candidates must meet one of the following requirements on or before the date of the written test:

Applicants must be current employees of Genesee County Mental Health with two (2) years of permanent, Competitive status as a Mental Health Clinical Therapist or a Mental Health Clinical Social Worker and must have continued their employment through the period leading to the date of appointment from this Eligible List, [PLEASE INDICATE ALL RELEVANT EXPERIENCE ON YOUR APPLICATION].

NOTE: PHOTO ID WILL BE REQUIRED ON THE DAY OF THE EXAMINATION

CANDIDATES, PLEASE NOTE: It is vital that you submit, with your application, all information necessary to show your qualification for examination.  APPLICATIONS WHICH DO NOT SHOW TRAINING AND/OR EXPERIENCE TO MEET MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS WILL BE DISAPPROVED, AND WE WILL NOT REFER TO OTHER APPLICATIONS ON FILE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.

NOTE – FILING FEES: (The acceptance of your application is dependent upon your following these instructions accurately):

A fee of $20.00 is required for each separately-numbered examination for which you apply.  The required fee must accompany your application.  The fee may be submitted in the form of either CASH (if delivered in person), PERSONAL CHECK or MONEY ORDER, (if by mail).  Personal Checks and Money Orders must be payable to the GENESEE COUNTY TREASURER.  Please write the examination number(s) on your personal check or money order.  YOUR APPLICATION FEE WILL NOT BE REFUNDED if you do not meet the requirements for admission to the examination. Compare your qualifications carefully to the requirements stated on the announcement and file only for those examinations for which you are clearly qualified. A waiver of application fee will be allowed if you are receiving unemployment and primarily responsible for the support of a household.  In addition, a waiver of application fee will be allowed if you are determined eligible for Medicaid, or receiving   Supplemental Security Income payments, or Public Assistance (Temporary Assistance for Needy Family assistance or Safety Net Assistance), or are certified Job Training Partnership Act/Workforce Investment Act eligible through a State or local social service agency.  All claims for application fee waiver are subject to verification.  In order for us to verify your eligibility for an application fee waiver, you must complete a “Request for Fee Waiver” form and submit it with your application by the close of business on the Last Filing Date as indicated on the Examination Announcement. The “Request for Fee Waiver” form can be obtained at Genesee County Human Resources, 15 Main Street, Batavia, NY 14020 or from our website, www.co.genesee.ny.us.

TYPICAL WORK ACTIVITIES:

Provides intensive individual and group therapy to individuals with acute and chronic
     mental illness, emotional, social and related problems;
Participates in the intake and screening of new clients-making a clinical evaluation in
     all areas except psychological and medical; and assigns cases to staff;
Conducts individual supervision of selected clinical staff, regarding treatment and
     management of their caseloads;
Provides intermittent supervision to all unit staff for guidance and direction on
     unexpected clinical needs or crises;
Leads and supervises multiple, weekly unit staff meetings to accomplish case
     conferences and to pass on administrative directives;
Covers clinical supervisory duties in the absence of Clinical Supervisor;
Serves as a member of the clinic team, providing social work or psychological
     expertise, to assist in studying and diagnosing patients and planning for their
     treatment;
Works independently in making complete intake studies of new or readmitted
     patients;
Provides consultation services for other community agencies to assist them in
     understanding and dealing with individual cases;
Attends and participates in in-service training programs for clinic staff and staff
     members of cooperating agencies, and help train new staff;
Takes part in speaking engagements, panel discussions and community meetings
     concerned with community mental health problems;
Refers patients to community agencies which can provide necessary services;
Compiles case records and maintains statistical records on case load and work
     activities;

SUBJECT OF EXAMINATION: The written test is designed to test for knowledge, skills, and/or abilities in such areas as:

1.         Characteristics and Problems of Individuals with Mental Illness;
2.         Developing & Implementing Treatment in a Social Work Program;
3.         Individual and Group Counseling
4.         Preparing Written Material;
5.         Supervision

CANDIDATES ARE PERMITTED TO USE QUIET, HAND-HELD, SOLAR OR BATTERY POWERED CALCULATORS.  DEVICES WITH TYPEWRITER KEYBOARDS SUCH AS COMPUTERS, SPELL-CHECKERS, PERSONAL DIGITAL ASSISTANTS, ADDRESS BOOKS, LANGUAGE TRANSLATORS, DICTIONARIES AND ANY SIMILAR DEVICES ARE PROHIBITED.

EXPANDED SUB-TEST DESCRIPTION:

Characteristics and Problems of Individuals with Mental Illness-These questions test for knowledge and understanding of the symptoms, causes, characteristics, and treatment approaches associated with mental illness.

Developing & Implementing Treatment in a Social Work Program-These questions test for knowledge, understanding, and ability to apply social work concepts, theories, principles, and practices in a mental hygiene program which provides services to clients who have various mental hygiene conditions such as mental illness, developmental disabilities or addiction. Questions may cover such topics as assessment, development, and implementation of treatment; coordination of treatment; evaluation of treatment; coordination of services; social work standards; roles of treatment team members; individual, family, and group counseling; community services; behavior management; crisis intervention; and patient/client advocacy.

Individual and Group Counseling-These questions test for knowledge and understanding of the principles and practices of individual and group counseling. Questions may cover such topics as establishing, maintaining, and terminating client/counselor relationships; organizing and facilitating group counseling; recognizing, interpreting, and responding to individual and group behaviors; and assessing the effectiveness of counseling.

Preparing Written Material-These questions test for the ability to present information clearly and accurately, and to organize paragraphs logically and comprehensibly. For some questions, you will be given information in two or three sentences followed by four restatements of the information. You must then choose the best version. For other questions, you will be given paragraphs with their sentences out of order. You must then choose, from four suggestions, the best order for the sentences.

Supervision-These questions test for knowledge of the principles and practices employed in planning, organizing, and controlling the activities of a work unit toward predetermined objectives. The concepts covered, usually in a situational question format, include such topics as assigning and reviewing work; evaluating performance; maintaining work standards; motivating and developing subordinates; implementing procedural change; increasing efficiency; and dealing with problems of absenteeism, morale, and discipline.

The New York State Department of Civil Service has not prepared a Test Guide for this examination. However, candidates may find information contained in the publication ‘How to Take a Written Test’ helpful in preparing for this examination. This publication is available online at: www.cs.state.ny.us/testing/localtestguides.cfm.

CROSS-FILING: If you have applied for other local government or state examinations, call or write to each civil service agency to make arrangements no later than two weeks before the date of the examinations.  You must notify all local government civil service agencies with whom you have filed an application of the test site at which you wish to take your examinations.  The “Cross-filer Form” for Genesee County can be obtained at Genesee County Human Resources, 15 Main St., Batavia, NY 14020 or from our website, www.co.genesee.ny.us.

NOTE: Religious Accommodations--Handicapped Persons: If special arrangements for testing are required, please indicate this on your application. An explanation of your need for special testing accommodations must be attached to your application.  If due to disability – medical documentation must be provided.

ACTIVE MILITARY MEMBERS: Any member of the armed forces of the United States who has duly filed an application to compete in a scheduled competitive examination but was deprived of the opportunity to compete in the examination due to active military duty could be provided with a special military make-up examination.

Current members of the Armed Forces may apply for Veteran’s credits by filing an “Application for Veteran’s Credits” (Form VC-1).  The “Application for Veteran’s Credits” can be obtained at Genesee County Human Resources, 15 Main St., Batavia, NY 14020 or from our website at, www.co.genesee.ny.us. Proof of military status must also be presented and verified in order for consideration of granting of “conditional” Veteran’s credit.  Acceptable proof may include a military I.D. card, military orders, or other official military document that substantiates active military service at time of exam. This documentation and VC-1 Form must be received prior to the establishment of the Eligible List for this examination.  The “conditional” status of the additional credits will remain until proof is provided indicating that the service was in time of war and that the veteran received an honorable discharge, or was released under honorable circumstances.

VETERANS: Additional credits are available to veterans who meet certain established requirements.  Veterans who have not exhausted their credits should make application for their use, if desired.  A COMPLETED APPLICATION FOR VETERANS CREDITS (FORM VC-1) AND a COPY OF SEPARATION PAPERS (FORM DD-214) MUST BE RECEIVED BEFORE THE ELIGIBLE LIST FOR THIS EXAMINATION IS ESTABLISHED IN ORDER TO UTILIZE ADDITIONAL CREDITS.  DISABLED VETERANS MUST SUBMIT, IN ADDITION, A COPY OF FORM VC-3 (AUTHORIZATION FOR DISABILITY RECORD). The “Application for Veteran’s Credits” can be obtained at Genesee County Human Resources, 15 Main St., Batavia, NY 14020 or from our website at, www.co.genesee.ny.us.