City of New York

Company DescriptionJob Description

APPLICANTS MUST BE PERMANENT IN THE ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL SERVICES CIVIL SERVICE TITLE OR BE PERMANENT IN A COMPARABLE TITLE ELIGIBLE FOR 6.1.9 TITLE CHANGE OR BE REACHABLE WITH THE SCORE OF 100 ON THE OPEN COMPETITIVE ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL SERVICES EXAM (# 1121)

The NYC Department of Homeless Services (DHS) is one of the largest organizations of its kind committed to preventing and addressing homelessness in New York City. Collaborating with other public agencies and not-for-profit partners, the Department of Homeless Services works to prevent homelessness before it occurs, reduce street homelessness, and assist New Yorkers to transition from shelter into appropriate permanent housing.

Under the executive direction of the Department of Homeless Services chief of Placement, the Associate Commissioner for Housing Emergency Referral Operations (HERO), with the widest latitude for the exercise of independent judgement, initiative, decision making and action, is responsible for the overall implementation of placement policy for DHS. Placement policy is at the core of DHS operation, a mission critical need and an essential, if not the most essential, component in the management of services.

The Associate Commissioner serves in a position where there is a high degree and level of input in formulating agency policy and this position requires a high degree and level of public contact. This position requires maintaining compliance with various legal requirements by ensuring clients the right to shelter by managing vacancy rates so that the 45,000 plus clients in the system have a placement each night. The Associate Commissioner is responsible for monitoring and responding to Agency complaints and emergencies on 24-hour / 365 days a year basis, when necessary.

The Department of Homeless Services (DHS) is recruiting one (1) Administrative Director of Social Services M-V to function as an Associate Commissioner for Housing Emergency Referral Operation (HERO) who will:

• Oversee the effective utilization of the Agency’s capacity using capacity management plans, projections, and aggressive vacancy control.
• Design and develop the correct portfolio maximum to optimally serve divergent populations, each with significant legal, spatial service based, and proximity requirements. Make decisions after considering complex factors such as intake trends, hotel usage, and legal policy to determine optimal designs.
• Direct staff performing inspections for commercial hotels to ensure compliance with laws and regulations. Manage a team responsible for nighty site visits which verify under/over used capacity.
• Participate in establishing policy and providing leadership and direction in coordinating the activities of the directors responsible for creating and maintaining the administrative functions essential to the needs of capacity management in the agency.
• Provide expertise by advising Senior Staff and Executive Staff on matters pertaining to capacity management; and in the creation of policy and operational solutions to address the impact of planned service and operational changes and other actions. Collaborate with colleagues in capacity planning and programs to create placement policies and to innovatively increase and flexible capacity to meet demand. Direct staff to ensure clients within all populations in the shelter systems are provided with placement each night, as per legal mandate.
• Coordinate all shelter vacancies, placements, and organize transportation of all transfers within the system.
• Establish rates and size requirements for all shelter services within DHS in compliance with OTDA regulations and local laws. Shelters for Adults vs. Family Services vs. Adult Families operate by different rules and parameters which necessitate tracking three sets of rules depending on the population served at a given facility.
• Ensures compliance with legal mandate from McCain litigation by utilizing staff to ensure PATH is cleared by 2AM goal. Oversee all aspects of shelter placement and vacancy control operations on 24 hours a day / 365 days a year basis. Also, formulate and implement business processes to ensure swift identification of appropriate placements and effective provider agency referral. Implement quality assurance processes to track, measure and report on the efficiency and performance of the placement process.
• Oversee Serious Incident reporting from shelters. Shelter and street outreach providers are required to report any serious incidents that occur on-site and/or with clients. This is a 24/7 role, and requires extensive interface with shelters, the DSS Office of Accountability, and the State. Manage special projects, as necessary.

Work Location: 33 Beaver Street and 260 11th Ave (Will be working out of both locations).

Hours/Schedule: Monday – Friday 9am-5pm (Managerial Schedule).

ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR OF SOC - 10056

Qualifications

1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university and four years of progressively responsible experience, in a large governmental agency, business firm, civic or community organization operating in the area of social services, including one year at the administrative or managerial level; or

2. Education and/or experience equivalent to "1" above. Graduate education or a license may substitute for up to a maximum of three years of experience in the area of social services, but not for the one year of experience at the administrative or managerial level as described in "1" above, as follows:

(A) A master’s degree from an accredited college or university in accounting, business, child welfare, counseling, economics, education, finance, human resources, labor relations, management, management science, nursing, operations research, organizational behavior, personnel or public administration, political science, psychology, sociology, social work, statistics, and/or urban studies may substitute for two years of experience; and/or

(B) Graduate education beyond the baccalaureate degree may be substituted at the rate of 30 semester credits from an accredited college or university in the area(s) listed in “2(A)” above for each year of experience up to a maximum of three years; or

(C) A valid New York State Registration as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) or Licensed Master of Social Work (LMSW) may substitute for three years of experience.

However, all candidates must have a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and one year of experience at the administrative or management level as described in "1" above.

Additional Information

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.