State of Alabama Personnel Department
64 North Union Street

Montgomery, AL 36130-4100
Phone: (334) 242-3389 Fax: (334) 242-1110

www.personnel.alabama.gov

Continuous Announcement

DISABILITY SPECIALIST – 50407
Salary: $39,664.80 - $73,209.60

Announcement Date: February 13, 2013
Revised Date: September 14, 2022

JOB INFORMATION
The Disability Specialist is a permanent, full-time position with the Department of Education, Disability Determination Service. Positions
are located in Birmingham and Mobile. This is professional fully functional work in the field of disability adjudication. Employees are
responsible for determining an individual’s eligibility for disability benefits under Title II and Title XVI of the Social Security Act.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENT(S)
• Current, permanent status as a Disability Specialist, Trainee and 18 months of experience as an examiner or adjudicator of claims for
Social Security disability benefits.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT(S)
• Individuals selected for positions with the State Department of Education’s Disability Determination Service (DDS) will go through a
complete federal background investigation. A suitability determination by the Social Security Administration is necessary to determine
whether an employee can be issued credentials in order to have access to Social Security disability data, records, and systems.

Veteran's credits are NOT allowed on promotional examinations.
THE STATE OF ALABAMA IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

• Please refer to the back of this announcement for complete information on State Personnel’s policy for accepting

Except for pretest information provided by State Personnel to all applicants, you should not directly or indirectly
obtain information about examinations. If you do, the State Personnel Director may do several things. One, you may
not be given an examination. Two, you may be disqualified after an examination. Three, your name may be removed
from a register. Or four, your name may not be certified from the register. (Rules of the State Personnel Board,
Chapter 670-x-9). According to the Code of Alabama, 36-26-47, a willful violation of exam security is a
misdemeanor. Any person who is convicted of this type of misdemeanor will be ineligible for appointment to or
employment in a position in State service for a period of five years and, if the person is an officer or employee of the
State, will forfeit his or her office or position.

If you know of anyone who has violated this policy, you should contact the Examination Manager at the State
Personnel Department.

Applicants hired by the State of Alabama on or after January 1, 2012 will be subject to the E-Verify process
pursuant to Act No. 2011-535.

State of Alabama Personnel Department

Policy on Accepting College Coursework, Post-Secondary and Advanced Degrees

1. Specific college coursework required for a job classification, as well as bachelor’s, graduate, post graduate,
and doctoral degrees will be accepted from schools accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission
(DEAC) or any of the six regional accreditation associations in the United States listed below:

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)
Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)
Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU)
Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE)
Western Association of Schools and Colleges –Senior College and University Commission (WASC-SCUC)

College coursework is defined as credit hours leading to a bachelor’s degree or higher.

2. Coursework or degrees from schools that have not been accredited by one of the above accreditation
associations may be accepted if a regionally accredited school* considers the coursework or degree to be an
acceptable prerequisite for admission to an advanced degree program. For example, if a regionally accredited school
accepts an applicant’s bachelor’s degree for admittance into a graduate degree program, State Personnel will accept
the degree. In the case of required college coursework (but no degree requirement), State Personnel will accept the
college coursework if a regionally accredited school accepts the coursework towards a post-secondary degree (e.g., a
bachelor’s degree). This must be documented by a letter of acceptance from the regionally accredited school. State
Personnel will review such requests on a case-by-case basis.

Note: This policy is subject to change. Certain state agencies may have additional requirements.

• The term “regionally accredited school” refers to an institution of higher education accredited by one of the six