Associate Commissioner

City of New York•New York City, NY

4d•Onsite

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 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 Youth & Family Justice (DYFJ) is responsible for oversight and management of secure and non-secure detention services for juveniles awaiting disposition in family and supreme courts, as well as a network of community-based delinquency prevention, alternative to detention, and alternative to placement programs for youth involved in, or at risk for involvement in, the juvenile justice system. Further, DYFJ oversees a wide network of providers throughout the five boroughs that operate placement sites for youth who are adjudicated delinquent and are placed by the New York City Family Court as part of the Close to Home initiative. DYFJ is seeking an experienced and dynamic leader to serve as the Associate Commissioner of Life skills, Education, and Programs (LEAP). Reporting to the Deputy Commissioner of DYFJ, the Associate Commissioner of LEAP will provide strategic direction and executive oversight for the delivery of education, youth programming, workforce development, case management, and family engagement for youth in detention. The Associate Commissioner will oversee the LEAP (Life Skills, Education, and Programs) unit to ensure that youth receive coordinated, high-quality, trauma-responsive, culturally responsive, and developmentally appropriate services throughout their time in custody. This is a facility-focused leadership position, and the Associate Commissioner will be expected to spend most of their working time at the detention facilities, maintaining a consistent presence and engaging directly with youth, frontline staff, facility leadership, and program partners. The position will oversee the development, implementation, monitoring, and continuous improvement of programs that promote young people’s educational progress, physical and emotional well-being, positive development, family connections, and successful transition back to their communities.

Requirements

A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and four years of satisfactory experience of a nature to qualify for the duties and responsibilities of the position, at least 18 months of which must have been in an administrative, managerial, consultative or executive capacity or supervising personnel performing activities related to the duties of the position; or A combination of education and/or experience equivalent to "1" above. However, all candidates must have the 18 months of administrative, managerial, executive, consultative or supervisory experience described in "1" above.

Responsibilities

Provide executive leadership, strategic direction, and administrative oversight for the LEAP Unit’s education, programming, and workforce-development portfolios.
Maintain a consistent, visible presence across both detention facilities, spending most working time on-site to engage directly with youth, frontline staff, facility leadership, and program partners and to understand day-to-day programming needs, challenges, and opportunities.
Supervise and mentor Executive Directors of Workforce, Education and Programming, as well as the unit overall.
Establish priorities, performance expectations, work plans, and accountability measures.
Issue clear performance expectations to vendors and staff and ensure that performance improvement plans or corrective action plans are issued when needed, and measure compliance.
Advise DYFJ executive leadership on educational services, youth programming, workforce development, and positive youth-development strategies.
Oversee the design, implementation, and evaluation of educational, recreational, cultural, life-skills, vocational, and workforce-development programming for youth in Secure Detention and coordinate with the Associate Commissioner of Close to Home, and Nonsecure Detention sites.
Ensure programming is youth-centered, trauma-responsive, equitable, and aligned with young people’s interests, strengths, developmental needs, and educational and career goals.
Develop strategies to reduce idle time, increase youth participation and provide consistent, meaningful programming across detention facilities.
Strengthen the continuity of educational and workforce-development services as youth transition from detention to placement, school, employment, or community-based programming.
Develop and strengthen partnerships with facility leadership, frontline staff, central-office teams, NYC Public Schools, CUNY, contracted providers, and other external partners to support effective service delivery.
Oversee LEAP budgets, contracts, interagency agreements, and resources, including monitoring provider performance, deliverables, spending, and compliance with scopes of work.
Use program data, youth feedback, research, and performance outcomes to identify service gaps, evaluate effectiveness, and guide continuous program improvement and resource allocation.
Identify staff-development needs and ensure managers and staff receive appropriate guidance, training, coaching, and professional-development opportunities.
Represent DYFJ in interagency meetings, planning groups, public forums, and oversight discussions, and perform other related duties and special assignments as directed by DYFJ executive leadership.