Executive Director

Job Description

THE SELECTED CANDIDATE WILL BE OFFERED A SALARY BETWEEN $125,000.00- $135,000.00.

THIS POSITION IS ONLY OPEN TO CANDIDATES WHO ARE PERMANENT (NOT PROVISIONAL) IN THE CIVIL SERVICE TITLE OF ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL SERVICES.

The Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) protects and promotes the safety and well-being of children and families through child welfare and juvenile justice services and community supports. ACS manages community-based supports and foster care services, and provides subsidized child care vouchers. ACS child protection staff respond to allegations of child maltreatment. In juvenile justice, ACS oversees detention, placement and programs for youth in the community.

ACS’ Division of Family Permanency Services (FPS) works with ACS’ contracted foster care provider agencies and other key stakeholders to deliver services to achieve positive safety, well-being and permanency outcomes for children and families in the foster care system. The New York City Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) is seeking an outstanding candidate to serve as the Special Care Unit’s Executive Director in the Office of Provider Agency Collaboration & Engagement (PACE) housed within the Division of Family Permanency Service. PACE is committed to promoting better, more informed case decision-making and service delivery outcomes for children, youth and family involved in our child welfare system. PACE works closely with provider agencies to improve their practice and improve permanency for children.

The SCU Executive Director is responsible for the operations of the Specialized Care Unit, providing oversight to the unit’s case planning and management functions for foster care children/youth with special needs. These children/youth usually reside in long-term or permanent highly specialized clinical treatment settings such as residential treatment facilities and private non-contracted providers. These settings include facilities operated by the Office of Persons with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), Office of Mental Health (OMH), Skilled Nursing Facilities and Specialized Schools. Some of these facilities are located upstate or in other states. The Specialized Care Unit provides case planning/management because these children/youth are not connected to a foster care provider agency.

In addition, the SCU Executive Director is responsible for program leadership and supervisory tasks including, but not limited to program oversight, staff supervision/clinical consultation and reviewing/approving documentation like FASPs and PHRs. At times, the SCU Co-Director may need to cover for case planning staff and take on direct case management tasks accompanying a caseload of SCU clients conducting school, agency and home visits, attend case and family team conferences to plan and coordinate services for the child, attend family court permanency hearings and provide reports to court, explore and develop family and resources supporting permanency and provide timely, relevant documentation in Connections (CNNX). The SCU Executive Director supports all concurrent/permanency planning efforts and coordination/monitoring of services provided to children/youth and their families to achieve planning goals.

Staff Oversight/Supervision:
- Effective casework practice among SCU case planners and strategies reinforcing staff accountability for high quality work to achieve well-being, permanency and safety among SCU clients.
- Collaborate with cross-divisional (FCLS, DCP, OPA) and external partners (OMH, OPWDD) supporting sound safety decisions, timely permanency and achievement of treatment/ service plan goals compliance with reporting requirements (FASPs, PHRs, MHCU, etc.).
- Effective clinical strategies maximizing client/family engagement and motivation to work towards treatment/service plan goals.

Program Development:
- Recruit and deploy staff in ways that effectively support the unit needs and clients’ achievement of permanency.
- Maintain effective collaboration among SCU, OPA, provider agencies (within and outside foster care continuum) and other stakeholders to streamline the replacement process in ways that ensure appropriate levels of care for clients, minimize placement moves and promote permanency.

Strengthen/Maintain Outside Linkages:
- Improve client services and permanency outcomes through robust collaborations with internal (FLCS, OPA) and external (OMH, OPWDD, B2H, waiver services, etc.) stakeholders as well as range of facilities where SCU clients reside.
- Conduct admissions to SCU using robust intake/transition meeting protocol to collaborate effectively with provider agencies to coordinate smooth transfers and step-downs from SCU to provider agencies.

Data and Reporting:
- Collect/analyze data to identify patterns/trends highlighting unit challenges/