Personnel Department
CHILD SUPPORT SPECIALIST I
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF THE CLASS: This is responsible work of a difficult nature which involves the use of the Child Support Management System (CSMS) to collect child support from individuals legally responsible for the support of dependents. The incumbent is responsible for the establishment of a court order and subsequent monitoring of all aspects of a specific caseload. The position requires that the incumbent exercise a considerable amount of independent judgment and initiative in the performance of assigned duties. Work is performed in accordance with established policies and procedures under general supervision of the Coordinator of Child Support Enforcement. Performs related work as required.
TYPICAL WORK ACTIVITIES: (Illustrative only)
- Interviews welfare recipients and private applicants to obtain information concerning the whereabouts of responsible individuals;
- Interviews unwed mothers to determine the feasibility of pursuing court action to establish paternity;
- Determines the eligibility of applications for child support services;
- Determines and prepares appropriate petitions for filing with local or interstate courts on all DSS and private cases;
- Uses statewide Child Support Management System (CSMS) to maintain entire history of case, including several complex program components;
- Uses personal computer to address case details, i.e., correspondence, account audits, etc.;
- Monitors support payments as ordered by the court and follows up with various enforcement tools;
- Builds accounts on CSMS in accordance with the court orders, makes adjustments to various ledgers, applies and/or transfers money, conducts account audits and computes interest on judgments;
- Accepts monies and issues receipts of payments made under special circumstances;
- Prepares various documents of a legal nature for submission to Courts, County Clerk, Department of Motor Vehicles, County Attorney, employers, etc.;
- Reviews court calendar, prepares case notes, attends hearings and testifies on account records;
- Updates computer after hearings and follows up on Hearing Examiner directives;
- Handles all calls and correspondence from clients; absent parents, attorneys, employers, DSS staff and other SCU personnel;
- Maintains a continuous case file of progress and results of investigations;
- Performs a variety of related activities as required.
Typical Work Activities are intended only as illustrations of possible types of work that might be appropriately assigned to an incumbent of this title. Work activities that do not appear above are not excluded as appropriate work assignments, as long as they can be reasonably understood to be within the logical limits of the job.
FULL PERFORMANCE KNOWLEDGES, SKILLS, ABILITIES AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS: Good knowledge of the principles, practices and methods of child support investigation and collection; good knowledge of Family Court and/or other laws and regulations as they affect child support investigation and collection; skill in interviewing techniques; ability to gather and analyze facts and to arrive at sound conclusions; ability to operate statewide computer system and personal computer; ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of individuals and agencies; ability to obtain information from individuals who may be uncooperative or hostile; a facility with numbers and mathematical concepts.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Either
- Associates degree; or
- Graduation from high school or possession of a comparable diploma and two (2) years experience in interviewing or investigation work involving public contact which must have included at least one (1) year experience using a computer system or a personal computer; or
- An equivalent combination of training and experience as stated in a) and b).
PLEASE NOTE: Your degree must have been awarded by a college or university accredited by a regional, national, or specialized agency recognized as an accrediting agency by the U.S. Department of Education/U.S. Secretary of Education.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Access to transportation may be required to complete possible field work assignments in a timely and efficient manner.
- Employees in this class will be required to obtain a Notary Public license after appointment.
1/97; 8/01; 4/09
Competitive Class
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Mission Statement
Our mission is to administer, in a fair and equitable manner, the provisions of New York State Civil Service Law and Putnam County Civil Service Rules with respect to the offices and employments in the classified service of Putnam County and the civil divisions therein, which include the towns, villages, school districts, libraries and special districts.
It is Putnam County Personnel Department’s responsibility to ensure Putnam County taxpayers of a public workforce qualified for their jobs pursuant to the principles of selection according to merit and fitness as set forth in Article 5, §6 of the New York State Constitution.
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Paul Eldridge
Personnel Officer