Director, Programs, Permanent Housing

Breaking Ground•New York, NY

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Breaking Ground operates nearly 4,000 units of housing across New York City, along with housing in upstate New York and Connecticut. Supportive housing - affordable housing paired with services designed to help people maintain their homes for the long-term - is widely recognized as a proven and cost-effective solution to chronic homelessness. Breaking Ground's programs and services help people experiencing street homelessness - especially those who have been on the streets the longest - to come indoors. Through our Street to Home outreach program and transitional housing resources, we help people get, and stay, on the path to a permanent home. Located in Brooklyn, The Domenech offers 72 units of permanent, supportive housing to low-income or formerly homeless seniors. Breaking Ground provides senior-specific programming, including coordinating home care and medical services, and activities to help tenants remain physically and mentally active. Reporting to the Assistant Vice President, Programs, the Director, Programs, Permanent Housing is responsible for social services delivery at The Domenech and Redwood. Social services staff at The Domenech and Redwood utilize a trauma informed and harm reduction approach to provide case management and social services support to tenants with long histories of homelessness, serious mental illness, substance use, etc. These critical support services help individuals and families to make the successful transition from homelessness and support long term housing stability. The Director works primarily during business hours Monday-Friday, with off hours availability in case of emergency or for special projects/initiatives and to ensure adequate supervision of case management staff who may be assigned to evening and/or weekend shifts. The position requires flexibility in work schedule as needed.

Requirements

Master’s degree required.
NYS Licensed Masters Social Worker (LMSW) or Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) is strongly preferred
Minimum 2 years of supervisory experience
Experience working in supportive housing or similar settings, and with homeless or formerly homeless populations strongly preferred
Thorough clinical understanding of relevant service delivery concepts and structures including Housing First, client centered motivational interviewing, Harm Reduction models, behavioral and medical health systems, and the ability to access and negotiate the full range of services for recipients
Experience with crisis intervention, including risk assessments and incident management
Ability to work successfully with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders
Demonstrated success in working in a fast-paced environment with multiple priorities
Ability to delegate and motivate staff to achieve deliverables
Ability to communicate (verbally and written) with diverse populations and stakeholders
Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite programs including Word, Excel, Outlook, and Microsoft Teams; Familiarity with Access-based databases and the ability to learn new programs are required

Nice To Haves

Bilingual (Spanish) preferred

Responsibilities

Successful oversight and performance management of a team of employees including case management, tenant services, and administrative support staff
Ensure compliance with, and adherence to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) guidelines, and all contract requirements and deliverables
Partner with the organization’s “Tenant 360” program to bring additional, specialized support for complex situations with older adult tenants; and to bring robust tenant services programming onsite to promote healthy living, reduce social isolation, and more
Coordinate access to primary care and behavioral health services via the onsite Federally Qualified Health Clinic (FQHC) and community-based services
Ensure that responsible clinical services are being implemented to address the behavioral health needs of all tenants including onsite medication monitoring, delivering opiate overdose prevention services, triaging and conducting risk assessments, completing Single Point of Access (SPOA) applications to connect tenants to additional services, and coordinating care with hospitals
Implement strategies to promote housing stability including assisting tenants to understand their rights and responsibilities, lease obligations, rent responsibilities, recertification obligations, etc.
Support onsite Property Management with landlord/tenant matters including tenants with lease violations and rent arrears and attend regular management meetings
Support Property Management with regular unit inspections by preparing the tenant, accompanying Property Management staff, and developing follow-up plans where necessary
Oversee and successfully implement effective strategies for case management following Housing First, Harm Reduction, Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI), Critical Time Intervention (CTI), Motivational Interviewing and trauma-informed care models of practice
Responsible for incident management including implementing effective strategies to help prevent incidents; following all policies, protocols, and best practices for managing an incident when it occurs; developing appropriate follow-up plans; and ensuring the timely and accurate reporting internally and externally as required
Respond and engage with external partners including community boards, elected officials, and other community members, including co-facilitating a Community Advisory Board with the Building Director
Responsible for program outcome measures and performance targets and utilize management tools and data to create systems of accountability to ensure performance measures are achieved
Responsible fiscal management of the program budget
Support professional growth and learning for program staff through regular, structured supervision, team meetings, in-service trainings, modeling, enhancing organizational awareness, and ensuring thorough communication with internal and external partners
Perform other duties as assigned