Welfare Fraud Investigator

Welfare Fraud Investigator

The County of Riverside's Department of Public Social Services (DPSS), Special Investigations Unit, is seeking to fill a position for the Welfare Fraud Investigator throughout the Western Region of Riverside County. This recruitment may be used for future vacancies throughout the County. Welfare Fraud Investigators (WFI) are sworn peace officers that enforce the provisions of the Welfare and Institutions Code and are responsible for investigating applicants and/or recipients of public assistance programs, such as CalFresh (SNAP), CalWORKs, General Assistance (GA), Child Care, and other benefit programs administered by the Department of Public Social Services. WFIs gather information, review documents, analyze data, conduct searches, witness interviews, and surveillance when necessary to provide relevant information to authorize, reject, reduce, and/or close fraudulent assistance benefits. WFI's are also responsible for providing support to CPS in conducting missing juvenile investigations as well as transporting high risk wards of the court county-wide, state-wide, and out of state, and performing security detail as needed at the welcome center. Additionally, WFIs may act as a witness during criminal court proceedings and administrative appeal hearings. The ideal candidate for this position will have sworn law enforcement experience or a background in public assistance investigation, as well as, working knowledge of public assistance laws, rules, and regulations. Bilingual Spanish skill is desired, but not required. POST certified, lateral candidates, from other law enforcement agencies are encouraged to apply. Incumbents must either possess Basic POST Certifications at date of hire or obtain a basic POST Certificate within 12 months from date of hire. The County of Riverside sends newly hired Welfare Fraud Investigators who do not possess a Basic POST Certificate through Riverside Community College's Ben Clark Training Center to obtain the certification.

The County of Riverside Department of Public Social Services is comprised of employees who work collectively and in partnership with community-based organizations to serve the needs of the community. Can you see yourself here?

Examples Of Essential Duties

Review case files to locate alleged violations, determine validity of allegations and extract case file information useful to the investigation.

Locate and interview suspected persons, absent parents, witnesses and company and agency representatives to obtain and verify information and evidence; analyze and evaluate statements, information and evidence obtained through interviews and investigations.

Examine a variety of records to secure information concerning suspected violations; gather and assemble reports, statements, affidavits, and other forms of evidence for use in legal actions; gather, preserve, analyze and evaluate physical evidence for presentation in hearings and court; use electronic and electronic data processing equipment to collect evidence.

Prepare and serve search warrants; prepare legal and general correspondences, investigative reports and other documents as directed.

Interpret, explain and apply provisions of ongoing and new laws, rules, and regulations related to the investigations of welfare fraud and/or other special investigations.

Prepare subjects for photo line-up to identify suspects; prepare and process extradition forms; identify, investigate, detain, and arrest suspects and appear in court to provide required information; file criminal complaints with the District Attorney's Office.

Acts as a liaison between DPSS and the District Attorney's Office; correspond with County departments, other departmental staff, as well as various external agencies in the coordination of investigations.

Conduct special investigations of internal affairs matters, applicant's background, alleged civil rights violations, DPSS court dependent problems, and other issues as directed.

Conduct investigations of missing/runaway juveniles; locate and transport juveniles to and from group homes, hospitals, mental facilities, juvenile detention centers, family residences and airports, all of which may be both within or out of the County of Riverside and the State of California; comply and enforce appropriate safety guidelines to ensure officer safety, public safety, and the security of the juvenile.

Respond to lobby security panic alarms and incidents involving members of the public creating a public safety risk to themselves, staff or others located in assigned DPSS County facilities; serve in a sworn peace officer capacity and tactfully deal with escalating situations until local law enforcement agencies respond.

Assist with court-ordered juvenile visitations and monitoring of dependent care.

Minimum Qualifications

Option I

Education: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a bachelor's degree, preferably with a major in criminal justice, law enforcement, administration of justice, police science, criminology or a related field to the assignment.

Option II

Education: Graduation from high school or attainment of a satisfactory score on a G.E.D. test.

Experience: Two years performing non-sworn investigative work, which included conducting interviews, preparing investigative reports, identifying, and locating witnesses, suspects or claimants and conducting preliminary field investigations.

Option III

Education: Graduation from high school or attainment of a satisfactory score on a G.E.D. test.

Experience: Two years conducting criminal investigations in a sworn status, in a governmental law enforcement agency, which included as a primary responsibility the performance of field investigations or law enforcement patrol enforcing the general criminal laws of a state.

Option IV

Education: Graduation from high school or attainment of a satisfactory score on a G.E.D. test.

Experience: Three years conducting eligibility casework, which included as a primary responsibility an advanced level of case auditing in public assistance programs or performing casework in protective services, which included as a primary responsibility complex investigative work and writing court reports.

Other Requirements License/Certificate: Possession of a valid California Driver's License is required. Incumbents will required to drive to various facilities throughout the County of Riverside on a regular basis for field investigations, court hearings, and transportation of high risk wards of the court. Possession of a valid State of California Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Basic Certificate MUST be obtained within 12 months of appointment. Applicants must meet the following State of California Peace Officers Standards and Training (P.O.S.T) requirements: Age: Applicants must be 21 years of age at the start of the academy. (Applicants with POST Certifications can request a copy of their POST Profile at Incumbents will be required to successfully pass a physical agility test: THE PHYSICAL AGILITY CONSISTS OF: - Sit-ups: A minimum of 30 sit-ups must be completed within 60 seconds. - Push-ups: A minimum of 30 push-ups must be completed within 60 seconds. - 1 mile run: The run must be completed within 13 minutes, with no stopping or walking. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS : Prior to employment, candidates will be required to pass a thorough Class II background investigation, which includes a polygraph examination, an extensive Class I physical examination and a psychological evaluation. The physical examination will include, but is not limited to: Vision: Applicants must have no worse than 20/200 correctable to 20/20 and must have normal peripheral fields and normal color vision. Hearing: Applicants must not have hearing loss greater than 30dB at any of the first three frequencies and an average loss no greater than 30dB for all four frequencies. Hearing aids are not permitted to meet these requirements. Schedule: Incumbents may be required to participate in a mandatory on-call schedule which may include working nights, holidays, and weekends.

Background Check: Individuals in identified positions must undergo and pass a background investigation prior to being permitted access to Federal Tax Information (FTI) such as BEER and Assets abstracts and are subject to reinvestigation. Reinvestigation is required of each individual with access to FTI within five (5) years from the date of the previous background investigation.

Must be able to pass an extensive background check and Preliminary Investigative questionnaire (PIQ) as part of the interviewing and hiring process.

A felony or misdemeanor conviction may disqualify the applicant from employment with the Department of Public Social Services.

ALL OPTIONS

Knowledge of: Diverse interviewing techniques; research methods and techniques; investigative techniques and procedures; the principles of identification, preservation and presentation of evidence; the legal rights of citizens; policies and procedures regarding the safety and security of juveniles; ongoing and new rules of evidence and court procedures; methods of collaborative problem solving; ongoing and new state and local laws and regulations governing sworn peace officer legal authority; commercial and property laws and credit transactions; legal procedures; the methods of financial record keeping.

Ability to: Conduct a variety of welfare fraud and departmental investigations; obtain information and evidence by observation, record examination, interviews and use of electronic and electronic data processing equipment; analyze and evaluate the statements of witnesses or suspected violators and draw logical conclusions; secure and present information and evidence in both verbal and written form; identify, detain and arrest suspects in accordance with sworn peace officer status; deal with citizens and public officials under conditions requiring tact; establish and maintain effective working relationships with the members of the public and other law enforcement personnel; communicate clearly and effectively with