QA/CQI Area Administrator (WMS2) - Region 5

State of Washington • Pierce County – Tacoma, WA

10h • Hybrid

About The Position

The Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) is seeking an Area Administrator to lead the Region 5 Quality Assurance/ Continuous Quality Improvement (QA/CQI) team. This role involves overseeing five field offices across Pierce and Kitsap Counties in Western Washington. The administrator must have broad knowledge of child welfare programs and practices, management principles, and adult learning principles. This leadership/supervisory role is crucial for ensuring the integrity of child welfare practices and advancing child welfare careers. The position reports directly to the Regional Administrator and is responsible for implementing the region’s vision, goals, and improvement strategies to enhance child welfare performance and outcomes. This includes supporting field offices by working with administrators, supervisors, and staff, and deploying the QA/CQI team to provide support. The Area Administrator is a member of the Region 5 leadership team, providing primary and secondary supervision for assigned staff, interns, and volunteers. The role supports various child welfare offices and programs within Region 5, including engagement with three federally recognized Tribes. The incumbent also represents the region on the statewide QA/CQI team, contributing to statewide initiatives and planning. This position provides leadership and supervisory oversight to other QA/CQI staff, offering training, coaching, support, and guidance on data, reports, and performance areas. The role involves producing monthly permanency outcomes and performance analyses, supervising QA/CQI team members, and participating in various work groups and meetings with diverse stakeholders. The position requires coordinating and implementing data cleanup efforts in FAMLINK and preparing and conducting policy and practice training.

Requirements

• Seven (7) years of professional experience in management or supervision experience in Social Services, Mental Health, or Education.
• OR A Bachelor’s degree in social work, health or social science, public administration, or a related field and five (5) years of professional experience in management or supervision experience in social services, mental health, or education.
• OR A Master’s degree in social work, health or social science, public administration, or a related field and three (3) years of professional experience in management or supervision experience in social services, mental health, or education.
• AND The ability to take action to learn and grow.
• The ability to take action to meet the needs of others.
• Working understanding of safety and risk assessment, family preservation, principles of family-centered and child-focused practice, and strategies for family engagement along with expertise in building relationships with clients, staff, and community leaders and modeling, including at least two (2) years of experience providing direct services to children and families served through the public child welfare system.
• Two years of the required paid social service experience must include assessing risk and safety to children and providing direct family-centered practice services (strengthening and preserving family units); and one year of training experience.
• Requires advanced management skills, technical, clinical, and legal knowledge as decisions are scrutinized by the public, judicial procedures, fair hearing process and legislative inquiry.
• Complete understanding of state and federal laws and policies related to social and health programs; principles and practices of program assessment, planning, public administration and personnel management, and social problems specific to clientele served, vendor/provider relationships, negotiations, principles of community organizations and program consultation and monitoring.
• Must fully understand the principles of program management/consultation and have a comprehensive understanding of the regional support programs identified above in section VI.
• Must have interpersonal skills required to work cooperatively with other agencies, public speaking skills, understanding of the dynamics of organizational change, the ability to use FTEs creatively and balance workloads of staff with the section, and problem-solving skills needed to address obstacles to effective program implementation and meeting agency goals and objectives.
• This position must have the skills and credibility necessary to take the lead in project development, coordination, and completion in situations where the position has no line authority over other administrators or supervisors.
• Incumbent must thoroughly understand the agency’s case and management information system and be adept in its use to review case information and strong abilities with other electronic applications, i.e., Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint etc.
• Mastery of community organization and leadership skills including public speaking, mediation, negotiation and planning, and excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Nice To Haves

• Broad knowledge of child welfare programs and practices such as Child Protection, Family Assessment Response, Child and Family Welfare Services, Adoptions, Voluntary Services, and Adolescent Services.
• Knowledge of management principles, adult learning principles, and the skills to assess and address staff and community needs.

Responsibilities

• Develop, implement, lead, and administer regional quality assurance initiatives and plans as identified by the statewide QA/CQI initiative and regional management team.
• Regularly monitor and report the effectiveness of performance improvement plans and contribute to continuous quality improvement efforts.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of improvement plans and recommend and implement identified changes or modifications.
• Coordinate with DCYF headquarters and regional leadership to develop action plans for improvement activities.
• Track regional and local office progress of/and implementation of plans.
• Provide consultation and feedback to the regional administrator, deputy regional administrator, and regional management team on data analysis findings, practice trends, practice issues identified, and suggested improvement strategies/plans.
• Review and analyze practice recommendations stemming from Peer Reviews, Central Case Reviews, and Peer Reviews, and in conjunction with the office management team and staff, work on developing strategies for addressing practice issues.
• Develop and implement ongoing communication strategies with each office to share and spread effective strategies and practice strengths of high-performing offices; discuss areas needing improvement and the monthly status of efforts to meet performance targets.
• Provide consultation and technical assistance to Area Administrators and supervisors on data management and the use of data to improve practice.
• Provide training and technical assistance to regional offices, supervisors, social workers, individuals, and groups as requested and/or directed, including teaching, coaching, mentoring, and guiding quality assurance/improvement work within FAMLINK.
• Produce or ensure the production of monthly permanency outcomes and performance analysis.
• Supervise and direct the work of full-time staff of the regional QA/CQI team.
• Participate in work groups and attend ad hoc meetings with field staff managers, state, local community, and government agencies, and tribes.
• Coordinate and implement data cleanup efforts in FAMLINK around performance measures.
• Prepare and conduct policy and practice training for staff in the region, as needed.

Benefits

• Benefits eligibility for this position may be different than what’s listed in the benefits tab of this recruitment announcement. For more information on employee benefits eligibility, visit : Public Employee Benefits Board (PEBB) .

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager