Permanency Program Administrator

DePelchin Children’s Center•Houston, TX

21h•Onsite

About The Position

The Permanency Program Administrator provides executive leadership, strategic direction, and operational oversight for permanency programs across Texans Together’s Community-Based Care service region. The role aims to ensure children and youth experience safety, stability, belonging, and lifelong connections through high-quality permanency services. The administrator leads with a hope-centered and strengths-based approach and is accountable for program performance, contractual compliance, quality assurance, workforce development, stakeholder engagement, fiscal stewardship, and continuous improvement across multiple permanency-focused service lines. The position collaborates with DFPS, courts, caregivers, providers, and community partners to strengthen systems supporting family well-being, permanency, and positive child outcomes. It exercises extensive independent judgment and initiative and is a key member of the organization’s leadership team. The position supervises and develops senior managers and program leaders; directs permanency services, quality assurance, compliance, and performance improvement; oversees budgets, contracts, staffing, and resources; and represents Texans Together in regional and state initiatives and collaborative forums. It also provides executive guidance on complex cases and critical incidents. The position is office-based in Regions 6a and/or 6b, with specific work locations to be assigned. It involves frequent interaction with children, families, stakeholders, providers, and governmental agencies, frequent travel across Harris County and the 12-county service region, and occasional evening, weekend, or after-hours responsibilities.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required.
At least seven years of progressively responsible experience in child welfare, permanency, foster care, adoption, kinship, conservatorship, or related human services programs.
At least four years of supervisory or senior leadership experience overseeing managers, supervisors, or multiple service programs.
Experience developing strategic plans, monitoring performance outcomes, managing budgets, and leading organizational improvement efforts.
Knowledge of organizational leadership, strategic planning, and change management.
Knowledge of quality assurance, performance management, and continuous improvement processes.
Knowledge of trauma-informed, strengths-based, and hope-centered practices.
Knowledge of budget development, resource management, and program administration.
Skill in executive leadership and organizational management.
Skill in strategic planning and implementation.
Skill in coaching, mentoring, and developing leaders.
Ability to establish a clear vision and inspire others toward shared goals.
Ability to evaluate organizational performance and implement improvement strategies.
Ability to make sound decisions in complex and high-pressure situations.
Ability to build collaborative relationships across systems and agencies.
Ability to manage competing priorities while maintaining focus on outcomes.
Ability to represent the organization effectively with executive leaders, governmental entities, courts, providers, and community stakeholders.
Ability to travel throughout the service region as needed.
Reliable transportation required.

Responsibilities

Provides supervision, coaching, mentorship, and performance management to senior managers and program leadership staff.
Builds leadership capacity through reflective supervision, professional development, succession planning, and talent development.
Establishes performance expectations and accountability measures that support high-quality service delivery and outcomes.
Promotes a collaborative, strengths-based culture that supports employee engagement, retention, professional growth, and workforce stability.
Ensures permanency programs promote safety, well-being, family engagement, lifelong connections, and timely permanency.
Monitors permanency trends and outcomes related to reunification, kinship, guardianship, adoption, and other permanency goals.
Promotes trauma-informed, culturally responsive, family-centered, and hope-centered practices across permanency programs.
Ensures children and youth maintain meaningful family, sibling, and community connections when safe and appropriate.
Identifies service gaps and barriers and leads strategies to strengthen permanency outcomes.
Provides executive consultation and direction on complex, high-risk, or high-profile cases.
Directs quality assurance, case review, and continuous quality improvement activities.
Ensures compliance with agency policies, contractual obligations, licensing and accreditation standards, and applicable state and federal requirements.
Establishes and monitors performance measures, analyzes program data, identifies trends, evaluates outcomes, and implements improvement strategies.
Ensures accurate and timely reporting to internal and external stakeholders and oversees corrective action plans when performance concerns are identified.
Oversees program budgets, contracts, staffing, expenditures, and resource utilization.
Collaborates with Finance and executive leadership on fiscal planning, forecasting, funding opportunities, and program sustainability.
Represents Texans Together in Community-Based Care implementation, system transformation, regional and state initiatives, and collaborative forums.
Develops and maintains partnerships with DFPS, courts, legal stakeholders, caregivers, providers, and community organizations to strengthen services, placement resources, family supports, and permanency opportunities.
Provides executive consultation and decision-making during critical incidents, placement disruptions, safety concerns, and other child welfare emergencies.
Supports organizational emergency response efforts and ensures timely communication, documentation, and follow-up regarding significant incidents.