This occupation includes positions which require application of specialized program knowledge and service skills in providing assistance to individuals and families served by social welfare programs. This work involves such functions as obtaining selected background information through interviews and home visits, establishing eligibility to make use of agency resources, helping individuals identify needs that are related to services the agency can provide, explaining and encouraging the use of agency and community resources as means of dealing with identified problems, and making appropriate referrals to sources of additional help. These functions may be performed either (a) in conjunction with professional social work or (b) in conformity with agency procedural instructions and standards of service. Although these positions require a specialized knowledge of the social service program, they do not require a broad theoretical approach to social problems acquired through professional education in social work or in other recognized disciplines in the social sciences.