Lead Economic Support Specialist

Eau Claire County•Eau Claire, WI

3d•Remote

About The Position

The Lead Economic Support Specialist provides training and technical and program assistance for the multi-county Great Rivers Consortium (GRC). This position determines eligibility and level of supportive services needed in a timely and accurate manner in accordance with the policy and procedures established for public assistance programs such as Medical Assistance, BadgerCare Plus, Food Share/SNAP, Caretaker Supplement (CTS) and Wisconsin Shares Child Care subsidies.

Requirements

Associate degree in human services, public/business administration, economics, accounting, communication, or related field
Two (2) years of paid, full-time experience determining eligibility for income maintenance and/or childcare assistance programs.
Two (2) years of experience in personal computer use with Microsoft Office software.
Keyboarding skills of 45 w.p.m.
Must have valid driver’s license, an acceptable driving record, and access to private transportation for work-related duties.
Must possess and maintain personal automobile insurance in the amount of $100,000/$300,000.

Nice To Haves

Previous leadership or training experience

Responsibilities

Assists in coordinating and interpreting economic support policies, procedures, rules, regulations, and mandates; completes ongoing trainings regarding changes in the federal and state regulations and technical advancements; updates policies and procedures in response to changes and advancements.
Demonstrates effective motivational leadership techniques to support staff in daily functions; assists in providing direction to staff engaged in making eligibility determinations, referrals to employment resources, mental health and other human services related agencies; assigns and monitors work to assure efficient and timely case processing; coordinates and provides extensive new worker and ongoing worker training; develops written and verbal training content delivered individually or in group settings; provides input to Economic Support Leadership team on employee performance; assists in supervision in the absence of the Economic Support Manager.
Contributes to the Economic Support Specialist’s and GRC’s quality control efforts; ensures compliance of programs; reviews casework of GRC staff to assure correct benefits are issued.
Coordinates the provision of services to ensure that required program standards for service delivery are met to identify areas where further training is needed.
Creates and generates workload and performance reports to measure timeliness of staff and consortium partners to ensure state and federal performance standards are being met.
Directs expertise in public assistance programs, policies, and procedures to determine eligibility for assistance; conducts intensive investigative interviews to obtain and evaluate financial and non-financial information; researches and responds to financial and non-financial cross matches and alerts; obtains and verifies third-party information; collaborates with various agencies and support services; verifies appropriate levels of benefits and/or services.
Researches, interprets, and applies federal, state, and local policies governing eligibility, legal rights, and responsibilities of applicants; determines correct public assistance benefits through direct client contact via office interview and telephone in compliance with required state and federal time frames; assesses individual and family needs to provide referrals to other agencies and community support services.
Assures high level of customer service emphasizing the department core values of welcoming, ethical, compassion, appreciation, respect, and excellence; answers phones in a call center setting; responds to questions; provides case status updates; processes changes; troubleshoots problems; responds to emergency needs; re-determines eligibility and processes verifications.
Utilizes skill in personal computer operations including a variety of standard and specialized software programs; records, maintains, reviews, and regularly corrects benefit levels and other documentation regarding applicants, using Community Alternative Response Emergency Services (CARES) and CARES Worker Web (CWW) systems.
Identifies risk factors such as AODA, domestic abuse, disabilities, or suspected child abuse and reports to appropriate services.
Demonstrates critical thinking to examine potential fraud, waste, and abuse as well as complaints and concerns regarding publicly funded and supported services; determines need for and prepares Fraud and Program Integrity referrals; performs basic math calculations to recalculate benefits for publicly funded and supported services; prepares for and provides effective and credible testimony at administrative hearings and during the Fair Hearing Process.
Organizes work and establishes priorities to manage multiple projects and make appropriate decisions independently; prepares and responds to Second Party Reviews, FoodShare Quality Control Reviews, Child Care Targeted Case Reviews; develops and implements GRC/agency targeted case reviews based on high error prone case processing trends.
Establishes and maintains effective working relationships with internal and external partners; represents Eau Claire County and GRC by participating on local, state, and consortium committees and workgroups; receives and responds to technical questions from staff, consumers, and the general public about unit programs and services.
Performs other related duties as required or assigned.