Economic Support Specialist

Economic Support Specialist

The Economic Support Specialist determines eligibility and provides ongoing case management for Eau Claire County/Great Rivers Income Maintenance Consortium in a timely and accurate manner for public assistance programs such as Medical Assistance, BadgerCare Plus, Food Share/SNAP, Caretaker Supplement (CTS) and Wisconsin Shares Child Care subsidies.

Qualifications include expertise in public assistance programs, policies, and procedures to determine eligibility for assistance; conducting intensive investigative interviews to obtain and evaluate financial and non-financial information; researching and responding to financial and non-financial cross matches and alerts; obtaining and verifying third-party information; collaborating with various agencies and support services; verifying appropriate levels of benefits and/or services.

Other qualifications include researching, interpreting, and applying federal, state, and local policies governing eligibility, legal rights, and responsibilities of applicants; determining correct public assistance benefits through direct client contact via office interview and telephone in compliance with required state and federal time frames; assessing individual and family needs to provide referrals to other agencies and community support services.

The position also emphasizes a high level of customer service, answering phones in a call center setting, responding to questions, providing case status updates, processing changes, troubleshooting problems, responding to emergency needs, re-determining eligibility, and processing verifications.

Skill in personal computer operations including a variety of standard and specialized software programs is required, as well as authorizing monetary benefits in childcare authorizations, FoodShare, fees for service and capitation rates for medical assistance and BadgerCare Plus; authorizing payment for caretaker supplement; identifying risk factors such as AODA, domestic abuse, disabilities, or suspected child/elder abuse and reporting to appropriate services.

Critical thinking is necessary to examine and report potential fraud, waste, and abuse as well as complaints and concerns regarding publicly funded and supported services; determining need for and preparing Fraud and Program Integrity referrals; performing basic math calculations to recalculate benefits for publicly funded and supported services; providing effective and credible testimony at administrative hearings.

Training in changes in the federal and state regulations and technical advancements is also required, as well as performing other related duties as required or assigned.

Training and professional experience qualifications include an associate degree in a human service, public/business administration, economics, accounting, paralegal, or related field, or an equivalent combination of education and directly related experience; two (2) years of experience dealing with the general public in a position requiring direct customer contact or directly related experience performing similar work in a comparable setting; two (2) years of experience in personal computer use with Microsoft Office software; keyboarding skills of 45 w.p.m.; appointment will be conditional upon successful completion of criminal and caregiver background checks; this position will work remotely with occasional in-office duties; an ergonomically correct and confidential workspace, at own expense, is required for this position when working remotely; employees must provide high speed internet access at own expense when working remotely; employees must live within reasonable driving distance to the agency; ability to meet County employment requirements related to remote work, including limits on out-of-state work hours; 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.