5A43
HUMAN SERVICES PROGRAM DIRECTOR

The Children and Youth Division (CYD); oversees the CYD operations from input of potential cases (Hotline/Screening), to investigating the circumstances and backgrounds of potential cases (Investigations), to actual management of clients' cases once the Division accepts them.

Review and evaluate through subordinate administrators and supervisors the activities of a large staff of social service and professional personnel engaged in the provision of a variety of continuous, protective and/or centralized social services for children and youth as mandated at the federal level by the Adoptions and Safe Families Act of 1997 as well as by state and local mandates and regulations; failure to provide these mandated services will place clients at risk and jeopardize DHS funding and incur other penalties.

Hotline/Screening

• Manage through subordinates the DHS hotline that receives all calls to the Department regarding potential cases that the Department may eventually assume; direct social workers capable of quickly responding to caller concerns, gathering appropriate information, making appropriate decisions and routing appropriately.
• Manage through subordinates the CYD customer service function that is responsible for effectively responding to all client and outside questions and concerns and assessing CYD's customer responsiveness.
• Manage through subordinates the professional social workers that provide information requested by the courts concerning the Department's specific cases.

Investigations

• Manage through subordinates all investigation activities of potential cases processed through the Hotline/Screening section; directs investigations that typically involves extensive fieldwork, interviews, visitations and transition of cases to the eventual case worker assigned to client.
• Responsible, through subordinates, for recommending a course of action for each potential case investigated, that may be taken by DHS, referred to another agency or determined to be not appropriate for DHS action; may become directly involved in decisions involving the most complex cases.

Case Management (multiple incumbents)

• Manages all CYD cases through subordinates and contracted agencies; ensures through caseworker subordinates that all services contracted for each case are successfully delivered.
• Maintains through caseworker subordinates periodic contact with all clients and those individuals directly responsible for the care of the clients; ensures through subordinates that all delivered services meet DHS policies and practice standards

The Juvenile Justice Services Division of DHS provides childcare, custody, counseling and social work services to youth, as well as support service and facility management, within Philadelphia's Juvenile Justice Services. This includes services while youth are in the court system, in the Youth Study Center and in community-based detention. The JJS specialty within this class includes these responsibilities:

• Responsible for the day-to-day operations of the City's youth detention facility: plans, directs, and evaluates, through subordinate administrators, the operational activities of a large youth detention facility; establishes staff performance objectives and controls; analyses operational and managerial problems; initiates organizational and/or procedural changes to resolve these problems; directs the formulation of staffing and overtime schedules for shift coverage based on security and care needs at the facility; instructs subordinate managers in pertinent policies, practices and procedures; identifies, initiates, evaluates and approves in-service and contracted training programs for staff; ensures that facility operations conform to sound detention principles and statutory and administrative rules.
• Directs a large residential service staff engaged in security and counseling functions; coordinates staff activities to ensure that security and resident care needs are being met; discusses resident problems with staff and directs the implementation of appropriate procedures and actions through subordinate detention managers; makes decisions on the required use of interventional measures and techniques in resident disturbances; directs staff in responding to riotous or hazardous conditions; participates in the investigation of allegations of resident abuse; determines and approves disciplinary actions.
• Directs, through subordinate administrators, a staff of social workers and counselors engaged in providing emergency placement, custody and counseling services to clients in group, foster or in-home detention programs; may administer contracts for provision of these services.
• Directs through subordinates, the program monitoring, disposition planning and shared case management functions for JJS; ensure that reimbursement applications are completed in a timely manner; plan, organize and direct program operations; review reports on program progress and evaluate conformance to established standards.
• Coordinate and oversee American Correctional Association accreditation efforts and State licensure for the Youth Study Center by ensuring that practices, procedures and guidelines are consistent with established guidelines.
• Oversees JJS performance-based standards program by interpreting standards and ensuring accurate data input.
• Chairs weekly Youth Review Committee.
• Oversees or develops various forums and conferences related to JJS mission.

The Prevention Division of DHS seeks to intervene in the lives of potential DHS clients and offer guidance and activities designed to lessen the likelihood of their becoming DHS cases. The programs are provider focused, not client focused, in that the Prevention Division supports various programs initiated and directly administered by outside provider organizations. Incumbents within this specialty oversee multiple major programs within Prevention including delinquency prevention, Community Family Centers, Truancy Prevention, Parenting Collaborative, School-linked Behavioral Health Initiative, Home Visitation and After School and Youth Development.

The Prevention specialty within this class includes these responsibilities:

• Directs the development of a coordinated and integrated service system for children and families at risk of abuse, neglect and delinquency that provides a variety of community-based prevention and intervention services; establishes policies, goals and objectives to increase the number, quality and range of services available to children and their families, including preventive and highly intensive services that will improve long term outcomes; improves access and quality of services for children with behavioral disorders through development of guidelines, technical assistance to providers and service monitoring; insures that existing or proposed programs and policies are consistent with State regulations and contractual funding requirements, court directed mandates and national standards of children's prevention
• Directs staff engaged in the monitoring of agencies that provide services, both in terms of budget and program requirements; supervises staff performing contract monitoring, on-site reviews and provision of technical assistance; evaluates proposals from providers concerning new or increased services; recommends approval of proposals for implementation of new services including budget information and payment level to potential providers.
• Coordinates and confers on the planning and implementation of appropriate types and levels of service with other agencies including the school district, courts and city, state and community; directs collaborative efforts and projects to insure that there is an adequate interagency process for children who require prevention services; provides ongoing support and consultation for the Division of Social Services concerning program needs, service accessibility and adequacy.
• Directs the development and implementation of grant-funded programs and initiatives; meets with and provides assistance to families, family organizations, attorney advocates and potential providers; presents and explains departmental policies concerning DHS Prevention services.

Performs related work as required.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE OF AND SKILL IN:
• Philosophy and objectives underlying the provision of social services for children and youth
• Social service administration especially as they apply to children and youth programs
• Administrative organization and management and its application in resolving a variety of operational and administrative problems
• Social service program planning and evaluation
• General management
• Community, civic and social organizations and resources available to support social service programs
• Principles, practices, methods, techniques, literature and current developments in the field of social service planning for children and youth
• Legal provisions and regulations applicable to the delivery of social services to children and youth.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of administrative and operational programs and implementing changes to provide for more effective and efficient operations.
AND SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE OF AND SKILL IN:

CYD

• Case management principles techniques
• Procedures to identify appropriate disposition of presented cases
• Provider management, oversight and evaluation

JJS

• Thorough knowledge and understanding of juvenile justice
• Management principles involved in oversight of a large juvenile detention or child welfare facility
• Community-based detention principles, risks and alternatives

Prevention

• Evaluation and development of community-based youth programs
• Techniques to build a logical network of community-based programs
GENERAL ABILITY TO:
• Plan, organize, direct and coordinate the activities of a large multi-discipline staff overseeing the provision of a variety of social services to children and youth.
• Evaluate program quality and effectiveness.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with clients, associates, public and private officials, civic groups, community groups, the judiciary, and the general public.
• Express ideas, both orally and in writing.
• Prepare and analyze reports as they pertain to the delivery of social service programs for children and youth.
AND SPECIFIC ABILITY TO:

CYD

• Manage directly and indirectly large organizational units in case management
• Maintain positive relationships with providers

JJS

• Develop detention or community-based programs for youth
• Oversee institutional and community-based detention providers
• Maintain positive relationships with providers

Prevention

• Oversee identification and evaluation of community-based programs for youth
• Coordinate relationships between DHS and community-based programs for youth

EDUCATION
• Completion of a master's degree program at an accredited college or university with major course work in social work, social work administration, criminal justice, public administration or a related field.
AND
GENERAL EXPERIENCE
• Three years of social services experience
AND
SPECIFIC EXPERIENCE

CYD

• Four years of experience supervising, through subordinate supervisors, a program in a large children and youth welfare agency.

JJS

• Four years of experience supervising, through subordinate supervisors, the care and custody of delinquent youth in a youth detention facility, and involved directing residential and/or ancillary service programs.

Prevention

• Four years of experience (six years without a Masters degree) supervising, through subordinate supervisors, citywide programs designed to support youth and lessen their likelihood of being abused, neglected or delinquent.

OR

Any equivalent combination of education and experience determined to be acceptable by the Personnel Department that has included a master's degree as described above and the specific experience.

NOTE:

For the Prevention Specialty Only - A master's degree as noted above is preferred, however a bachelor's degree in one of the above disciplines is acceptable if combined with two extra years of the specific experience.

• Ability to physically perform the duties and to work in the environmental conditions required of a position in this class.