Assistant Director of Services

State of Maryland • Somerset, MD

3d

About The Position

When you join the Maryland Department of Human Services (DHS), you join a team of more than 5,000 employees across the state dedicated to positively changing the lives of more than 1 million Marylanders each year. We do this by providing economic support, preventive services, and caring for children and adults. We aim to deliver services so that we more quickly meet the needs of the people we serve. At DHS, we grapple with hard questions to find new ways to foster a culture of bold innovation. We do this to ensure that in Maryland, we leave no one behind. This Statewide recruitment is being conducted to establish a list of eligible candidates to be used to fill current and future vacancies occurring in our Local Departments of Social Services throughout the State. All approved candidates will be placed on this list of eligible candidates in one Best-Qualified randomized scoring band for at least one year. Placement on this list is not a guarantee that you will be offered an interview for any given vacancy. This is a Management Service position, and serves at the pleasure of the Appointing Authority. This manager serves as the Assistant Director for Adult, Child, and Family Services and provides direct supervision to four subordinate supervisors, the agency attorney, CAC Coordinator, and a clerical person. The manager is responsible for the child welfare budget, applies and monitors grants, and oversees all adult and child welfare programs. This position establishes and implements policies and procedures, establishes, and evaluates program goals, provides direction, planning, evaluation, and coordination to the Child Welfare and Adult Services programs including administering the Division’s operations. This position also oversees work with our Child Advocacy Center facility. This position has total control over the needs and the structuring of the Services division, decides the staffing needs and identifies and locates training to enhance practice. This employee also serves as essential personnel for the agency and is a point of contact in the absence of the Director when needed. This position is required to work with other Assistant Directors in the implementation of the LDSS emergency preparedness responsibilities for sheltering and activation when needed in case of an emergency.

Requirements

• Masters degree in Social Work (MSW) from an accredited college or university.
• Two years experience supervising diverse teams.
• Two years experience in public child and adult welfare.
• LCSW-C or LMSW Independent Licensure is required.

Nice To Haves

• Two years experience in collaborating with community partners and cultivating relationships with diverse stakeholders.
• Two years experience supervising multidisciplinary staff serving vulnerable populations, including the ability to provide leadership while ensuring adherence to state and federal mandates.
• Two years experience developing comprehensive operating procedures relevant to the varied responsibilities of Adult and Welfare staff, ensuring full compliance with State of Maryland COMAR regulations.

Responsibilities

• Determines organizational structure & staffing needs of all Services programs.
• Plans, coordinates, supervises, and evaluates the work of subordinate Supervisors, agency attorney, and CAC/CQI Coordinator, and clerical support.
• Responsible for identifying staffing needs in Services and hires staff based on the Division’s needs.
• Plans for training of staff and participates in Services case meetings, meets with clients as needed, participates in court preparation meetings, and court hearings.
• Monitors ACQI data compliance and performance outcomes and prepares corrective action as needed.
• Establishes overall policies and procedures for the Services programs and oversees the implementation of new policies and approves revisions as needed with new protocols.
• Establishes and evaluates program goas, establishes long- and short-term goals and sets standards and controls to meet program objectives for programs operations and resources.
• Responsibility for program budgets and monitors spending and requests additional funding for service delivery to maintain safety, well-being, and permanency for child welfare and adult service programs.
• Request additional grant funding to fill gaps and service needs and monitors that budget.
• Represents the department in a liaison capacity with managers and officials of other local, state, and non-profit agencies concerning program activities.
• May promote the programs through contacts with interested groups and the public.
• Serves as the proxy/DSS representative for the Director in their absence representing the Department at state and local meetings, responding to oral and written communications to the Director’s office, and assigning as the legal decision-maker when needed for children and adults for who the Department hold guardianship.
• Represents the Director at Local Management Board meetings and serves on various subcommittees of the Local Management Board as needed.

Benefits

• health insurance, dental, and vision plans offered at a low cost.
• Personal Leave - new State employees are awarded six (6) personnel days annually (prorated based on start date).
• Annual Leave - ten (10) days of accumulated annual leave per year.
• Sick Leave - fifteen (15) days of accumulated sick leave per year.
• Parental Leave - up to sixty (60) days of paid parental leave upon the birth or adoption of a child.
• Holidays - State employees also celebrate at least thirteen (13) holidays per year.
• Pension - State employees earn credit towards a retirement pension.
• Positions may be eligible for telework.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Number of Employees: 101-250 employees