Assistant Commissioner

City of New York•New York City, NY

7h•$165,000

About The Position

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 childcare 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. The Division of Family Permanency Services (FPS) ensures that high quality services are provided to children in foster care by supporting provider agency staff with technical assistance and other services for children in foster care. FPS staff offer guidance to provider agencies on child welfare policies and procedures to improve service delivery and achieve safety, permanency, and well-being for children in foster care. The Division includes the Office of Strategic Program Support, the Office of Older Youth Development Services, the Office of Youth Success Services, and the Office of Provider Agency Collaboration and Engagement. The Office of Youth Success Services (OYSS) works cross-divisionally with ACS' juvenile justice, prevention and child protection teams to achieve positive safety, well-being and permanency outcomes for children and families in the child welfare system through the provision of education, workforce readiness, job placement and housing supports. This position is in the Office of Employment and Workforce Development Initiatives. The ACS Office of Employment and Workforce Development Initiatives (OEWDI) was established to expand access to workforce programs and resources to improve work readiness and employment outcomes for youth in the foster care. OEWDI provides ACS and foster care agency staff information on employment and workforce development programs aimed at youth in, and aging foster care. These include career readiness initiatives: mentoring, summer and other internship programs, career-exploration and planning activities, and employment opportunities. The Assistant Commissioner will oversee two units: Career Choice (a newly launched program that supports youth who are interested in pursuing an accredited vocational, trade or training program) and OEWDI, which is responsible for over $50 million in contracted services.

Requirements

A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university and four years of progressively responsible experience, in a large governmental agency, business firm, civic or community organization operating in the area of social services, including one year at the administrative or managerial level; or
Education and/or experience equivalent to "1" above. Graduate education or a license may substitute for up to a maximum of three years of experience in the area of social services, but not for the one year of experience at the administrative or managerial level as described in "1" above, as follows:
A master’s degree from an accredited college or university in accounting, business, child welfare, counseling, economics, education, finance, human resources, labor relations, management, management science, nursing, operations research, organizational behavior, personnel or public administration, political science, psychology, sociology, social work, statistics, and/or urban studies may substitute for two years of experience; and/or
Graduate education beyond the baccalaureate degree may be substituted at the rate of 30 semester credits from an accredited college or university in the area(s) listed in “2(A)” above for each year of experience up to a maximum of three years; or
A valid New York State Registration as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) or Licensed Master of Social Work (LMSW) may substitute for three years of experience.
However, all candidates must have a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and one year of experience at the administrative or management level as described in "1" above.
THIS POSITION IS ONLY OPEN TO CANDIDATES WHO ARE PERMAMENT (NOT PROVISIONAL) IN THE ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL SERVICES TITLE

Nice To Haves

The preferred candidate is an experienced, senior level professional with deep child welfare practice (at least 10 years) and policy expertise, and the personal and professional gravitas to effectively lead and manage this critical function.
Additionally, the candidate is experienced in workforce development, particularly with understanding the unique needs of youth, familiar with labor market and industry trends, and current vocational assessment tools.
The preferred candidate has a graduate degree in social work, public administration, public policy, rehabilitation counseling or other related field.
The candidate can work effectively at a leadership level within ACS and with the foster care agencies, advocacy organizations, with State and City government agencies and other stakeholders.
The candidate has strong process improvement, analytical, project management, communication and interpersonal skills.
The candidate must be flexible, diplomatic, and a team player, with the ability to inspire, lead and manage a team and to produce in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

Oversight of existing employment and workforce development initiatives and partnerships, which may include overseeing program budgets and approving invoices, monitoring of scope of work, leading regular meetings with contracted providers, and preparing contract renewals
Develop and implement strategies to enhance foster care provider capacity to improve workforce readiness and employment outcomes for youth in the foster care
Coordinate with workforce programs and foster care provider agencies to identify and address barriers to employment for youth in care
Develop staff training and professional development initiatives related to employment and workforce development in collaboration with the ACS Workforce Institute
Collaborate with ACS’ Education, college and housing offices on employment and workforce development initiatives
Ensure program operations and services are running efficiently and meeting established outcomes
Participate in cross-divisional efforts to increase employment and educational services to youth in foster care
Work with new and existing partner organizations to design and continually expand on support services for youth in foster care to meet their education and employment needs
Work ACS Division of Policy, Planning and Management on strategies to capture and analyze data pertaining to work readiness and employment services and outcomes
Perform other duties as needed and defined by the FPS Deputy Commissioner or Associate Commissioner