Exam Bulletin - Community Program Specialist II

Department of Developmental Services - Headquarters

Exam Code: EX-4104

Examination Plans Included:

  • COMMUNITY PROGRAM SPECIALIST II - Open

Final Filing Date: Applications are accepted on a continuous basis.

Classification Details

COMMUNITY PROGRAM SPECIALIST II: $5,855.00 - $7,327.00 per Month

View the COMMUNITY PROGRAM SPECIALIST II classification specification.

Application Instructions

Upcoming Filing Cutoff Dates:

  • 2/24/2025
  • 3/6/2025
  • 3/20/2025
  • 4/3/2025
  • 4/17/2025
  • 5/1/2025
  • 5/15/2025
  • 5/29/2025
  • 6/12/2025
  • 6/26/2025
  • 7/10/2025
  • 7/24/2025
  • 8/7/2025
  • 8/21/2025
  • 9/4/2025
  • 9/18/2025
  • 10/2/2025
  • 10/16/2025
  • 10/30/2025
  • 11/13/2025
  • 11/27/2025
  • 12/11/2025
  • 12/23/2025

Examination/Employment Application (STD 678) must be received or postmarked by the filing date indicated above. Applications postmarked, personally delivered or received via interoffice mail after the filing date will be processed in the next group.

Who Should Apply:

The information below will help you determine which classification(s) is(are) appropriate for you. Applicants must meet the Minimum Qualifications as stated on this bulletin to compete in this examination.

Open and Open, Non-Promotional Examination(s):

  • COMMUNITY PROGRAM SPECIALIST II - Open

For all Classifications, once you have participated in any of the following examinations, you may not recompete for 6 months:

Exam Code(s):

    4104

For COMMUNITY PROGRAM SPECIALIST II, once you have participated in any of the following examinations, you may not recompete for 6 months:

Exam Code(s):

  • EX-04104

How To Apply:

Submit an Examination/Employment Application (STD 678) to apply for this examination.

Electronic applications can be submitted through your account at www.CalCareers.ca.gov.

You may apply by mail to:

  • Department of Developmental Services - Headquarters
    Exam Unit - DR
    1215 O Street, MS 10-40
    Sacramento, CA 95814

Indicate the Examination Code and Classification(s) on your Examination/Employment Application (STD 678).

You may drop off your application and any applicable or required documents at:

  • Department of Developmental Services - Headquarters
    Exam Unit - DR
    1215 O Street, MS 10-40
    Sacramento, CA 95814
    8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Indicate the Examination Code and Classification(s) on your Examination/Employment Application (STD 678). All applicants must provide proof of identification. Accepted forms of identification are: 1) a photo identification card or 2) two forms of signed identification.

The following items must be submitted with your Examination/Employment Application form. Failure to submit these items may result in rejection of your application.

  • Transcript (Official or Unofficial)

Special Testing Arrangements:

If you require assistance or alternative testing arrangements due to a disability, indicate on your application that you need reasonable accommodation. You will be contacted by a representative of the testing department to make the necessary arrangements. If you have not been contacted by the time you receive notification of testing, please contact the testing department listed in the Contact section of this bulletin.

If you are unable to submit your application or complete the test due to a disability, please contact the testing department listed in the Contact section of this bulletin.

Minimum Qualifications

All applicants must meet the education and/or experience requirements as stated on this exam bulletin to be accepted to the examination.

Unless otherwise stated in the Minimum Qualifications, qualifying experience may be combined on a proportionate basis if the requirements stated below include more than one pattern and are distinguished as "Either" 1, "or" 2, "or" 3, etc. For example, applicants possessing qualifying experience amounting to 50% of the required time of Pattern 1 and additional experience amounting to 50% of the required time of Pattern 2 may be accepted to an examination as meeting 100% of the overall experience requirement.

00108352 - COMMUNITY PROGRAM SPECIALIST II

Either I

 

One year of experience in the California state service performing the duties of the class of Community Program Specialist I.

Or II

 

One year of experience in the California state service performing budget, personnel, or administrative analysis duties in a class with a level of responsibility equivalent to that of Staff Services Analyst, Range C.

Or III

 

Two years of experience performing analytical staff work in the field of developmental/mental disabilities including such areas as direct client care programming, program planning, and implementation of services and?supports, budget analysis, personnel management, or administrative analysis. All of this experience must have included responsibility for defining problems, analyzing facts, and preparing recommendations for action with supporting material.

 

(Possession of a Master's Degree in Public Administration, or a closely related field, may be substituted for one year of the required experience under Pattern

Position Description

00108352 - COMMUNITY PROGRAM SPECIALIST II

This is the fully qualified journey level in the series. In departmental headquarters and State developmental centers, incumbents at this level, in various positions, may act as a leadperson over a small group of lower level positions, under direction as an independent journeyperson, or assist a Community Program Specialist III/IV in an assigned program. A Community Program Specialist II may be responsible for: (1) serving as the primary liaison between the Department and regional centers on all program and fiscal matters, including providing the staff work for all administrative appeals of denial of expenditures; interpreting laws and Department policy and regulations; assisting in problem solving and program implementation; reviewing and determining appropriateness of requests for leases, equipment and administrative assistance; and assisting in the coordination of emergency placement in the community and developmental center system; (2) conducting the monitoring and evaluating of community programs and regional center operations, which includes: using evaluation instruments approved by the Department; reviewing community program and regional center case files, organizational structure for service delivery, and operational and administrative procedures of the regional centers; assessing the program operations of the community programs; assisting in determining the appropriateness of program rate exceptions; and reviewing program proposals for specialized services; (3) providing technical assistance, advice, and consultation to appropriate departmental staff, regional center and/or project staff, and other public and private agency staff toward the development and maintenance of comprehensive community living arrangement programs (e.g., project start-up, models development, and systems shaping and maintenance). This also may include: providing technical assistance to applicant agencies and individuals in acquiring funding from alternative funding programs such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Small Business Administration, California Housing Finance Agency, PDF, Federal and State grants; providing technical assistance in the premonitoring development of ICF/DD programs by assisting in the start-up of facilities and expanding and maintaining larger facilities through consulting on facility licensing, funding, and treatment programs; providing technical assistance and consultation to community placement facilities and support program services in solving crisis problems, licensing-zoning disputes, and in rectifying deficiencies identified by either a facility audit or monitoring; (4) performing the more complex functions of rights assurance for persons with special developmental needs; and (5) collecting, compiling and analyzing data pertaining to the Community Living Option initiative, i.e., assessment information, placement planning and deflection activities, training and technical assistance, and related activities; working with regional centers to prevent admissions into State developmental centers, and to increase client movement to appropriate living arrangements in the community; assessing needed services and/or supports to maintain individuals in the community; preparing and delivering training and technical assistance to community care providers, regional center staff, developmental center staff, parents, and consumers on a variety of topics related to the individual needs of persons with developmental disabilities and necessary community services and supports; coordinating activities with regional center and developmental center staff and other outside entities in regard to transitioning clients into the community and other specific activities and assignments.

For information regarding position location(s), please refer to the Eligible List Information section.

Examination Information

This examination consists of the following component(s):

Component OrderComponent TypeComponent DuePercentage of Final Score
1Supplemental ReportWith Application100%

Components that are due with your application will be scored and will count toward your final examination result. Failure to submit these items may result in disqualification or elimination from the examination.

A final score of 70% must be attained to be placed on the eligible list.

In addition to evaluating the applicant's relative knowledge, skill and ability as demonstrated by quality and breadth of education/experience, emphasis in each test component will be on measuring competitively, relative to job demands, each applicant's:

Knowledge of:
1. The principles and practices of public administration, budgetary preparation and control.
2. Processes of community and group interaction in developmental disabilities planning procedures.
3. Current trends in developmental disabilities, public health, and public welfare; governmental accounting procedures.

Ability to:
1. Develop cooperative and harmonious relationships with departmental, regional center, and developmental center administrators and others.
2. Analyze, review, and provide consultation on budgets.
3. Work with professional personnel in the field relating to developmental disabilities professions in coordinating and developing services for persons with special developmental needs.
4. Analyze situations accurately and take effective action.
5. Communicate effectively.

Eligible List Information

A Departmental Open eligible list for the COMMUNITY PROGRAM SPECIALIST II Classification will be established for:

  • Department of Developmental Services - Headquarters

The names of successful competitors will be merged onto the eligible list(s) in order of final score regardless of test date. Eligibility expires 12 months after it is established. Applicants must then retake the examination to reestablish eligibility.

Resulting Eligibility List(s) will be used to fill vacancies throughout the State of California.

Veterans' Preference will be granted for this examination. Veterans' Preference is an assistance program for veterans, veteran widows and widowers, and spouses of 100% disabled veterans who seek employment with the state. Veterans' Preference is also extended to currently serving military members nearing their retirement or separation date.

You are not eligible for Veteran's Preference if you are:

  • A veteran who has been dishonorably discharged or released.
  • A veteran, widow or widower of a veteran, or spouse of a 100 percent disabled veteran who currently has permanent civil service status. (Permanent civil service status is the status of an employee who is lawfully retained in his/her position after completion of the applicable probationary period. This does not include limited term).

Veterans' Preference is codified in Government Code Sections 18973 – 18979.

Veteran status is verified by the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR). Directions to apply for Veterans' Preference are on the Veterans' Preference Application (Std. Form 1093), which is available at www.CalCareers.ca.gov, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Career Credits are not granted for examination(s) administered on an Open basis or a Promotional basis.

Testing Departments

  • Department of Developmental Services - Headquarters

Contact Information

Questions regarding this examination should be directed to:

Department of Developmental Services - Headquarters
Exam Unit - DR
1215 O Street, MS 10-40
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-8333
examhelpdesk@dds.ca.gov

California Relay Service: 1-800-735-2929 (TTY), 1-800-735-2922 (Voice). TTY is a Telecommunications Device for the Deaf, and is reachable only from phones equipped with a TTY Device.

Equal Opportunity Employer

The State of California is an equal opportunity employer to all, regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability (mental and physical), exercising the right to family care and medical leave, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religious creed, sex (includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and related medical conditions), and sexual orientation.

Drug Free Statement

It is an objective of the State of California to achieve a drug-free State work place. Any applicant for State employment will be expected to behave in accordance with this objective, because the use of illegal drugs is inconsistent with the law of the State, the rules governing civil service, and the special trust placed in public servants.

General Information

Examination and/or Employment Application (STD 678) forms are available at the California Department of Human Resources, local offices of the Employment Development Department, and through your CalCareer Account (www.CalCareers.ca.gov).

If you meet the requirements stated on this examination bulletin, you may take this examination, which is competitive. Possession of the entrance requirements does not assure a place on the eligible list. Your performance in the examination described in this bulletin will be rated against a predetermined job-related rating, and all applicants who pass will be ranked according to their scores.

Department of Developmental Services - Headquarters reserves the right to revise the examination plan to better meet the needs of the service, if the circumstances under which this examination was planned change. Such revision will be in accordance with civil service laws and rules and all applicants will be notified.

General Qualifications: Applicants must possess essential personal qualifications including integrity, initiative, dependability, good judgment, the ability to work cooperatively with others, and a state of health consistent with the ability to perform the assigned duties of the class. A medical examination may be required. In open examinations, investigation may be made of employment records and personal history and fingerprinting may be required.

Eligible Lists: Eligible lists established by competitive examination, regardless of date, must be used in the following order: 1) sub-divisional promotional, 2) departmental promotional, 3) multi-departmental promotional, 4) service-wide promotional, 5) departmental open, 6) open. When there are two lists of the same kind, the older must be used first. Eligible lists will expire in one to four years unless otherwise stated on the bulletin.

High School Equivalence: Equivalence to completion of the 12th grade may be demonstrated in any one of the following ways: 1) passing the General Education Development (GED) Test; 2) completion of 12 semester units of college-level work; 3) certification from the State Department of Education, a local school board, or high school authorities that the competitor is considered to have education equivalent to graduation from high school; or 4) for clerical and accounting classes, substitution of business college work in place of high school on a year-for-year basis.

Accepted applicants must provide proof of identification at each in-person test session. Acceptable identification consists of a photo identification card or two forms of signed identification.

Application Methods:
Electronic (Your CalCareer Account)
By Mail
In Person (see bulletin for details)
Alternate Application Process

While we recommend that you utilize your CalCareer Account to take advantage of all the tools available, you may choose to apply for this examination without using your account. In this case, print and complete the Exam Application Package Checklist and include it if you submit a hard copy application.

Exam Application Package Checklist

Blank Application Form (STD678)

Accommodation Request (STD679)