Program Officer

Program Officer

The Administration for Children's Services (ACS) protects and promotes the safety and well-being of children and families through child welfare and juvenile justice services and community supports. ACS manages community-based supports and foster care services and provides subsidized childcare vouchers. ACS child protection staff respond to allegations of child maltreatment. In juvenile justice, ACS oversees detention, placement, and programs for youth in the community. The Family Services Division (FSD) and its network of contracted providers deliver one of the largest and most diverse continuums of community-based child welfare prevention services in the nation to improve the safety, well-being, and permanency for thousands of families and children each year. FSD focuses on systems improvement, innovation, and strategic initiatives that require collaboration with major community partners to address urgent or emerging provider and family needs, city or state mandates, and high-priority strategic goals of ACS leadership. The Office of Program Management and Sustainability (OPMS) manage many cross-functional projects that focus on program design and system sustainability. OPMS' initiatives include collaborating with service providers, legal, finance, procurement, compliance, systems, and operations, and developing strategies within the parameters of policy/regulations (city, state, and federal). The Program Design and Implementation (PDI) team within the Office of Program Management and Sustainability develops and implements strategies to ensure that the full continuum of prevention programs is implemented in alignment with model fidelity and in compliance with NYC child welfare requirements. The PDI team provides ongoing contract management and technical assistance support to providers and model purveyors. The PDI team holds monthly model cohort meetings to bring together providers and purveyors to discuss case practice challenges, program data, continuous quality improvement, and implementation of models and frameworks to fidelity. The team also hosts trainings and convenings for providers and ACS staff to learn about using data effectively to improve practice, discuss frameworks for effective implementation, and how to incorporate families' perspectives into service delivery. Additionally, the team holds monthly administrative meetings with each model purveyor to discuss case practice expectations between child welfare and model requirements.

The role and responsibilities of Program Officers include, but are not limited to:

• Oversee the contract management functions for a portfolio of programs that include fiscal and programmatic activities. Program Officers are responsible for ongoing review and approval of program and model-purveyor budgets and invoices, providing program oversight and ongoing measurement of contract requirements.
• Make recommendations concerning the provision of additional funding or adjustments of existing programs/contracts
• Support program development and management via quantitative and qualitative data collection. Leverage system-wide and program-specific data, monitor and assess outcomes of service delivery, conduct site visits, facilitate ongoing feedback and collaboration from families being served, and have ongoing collaboration with all stakeholders in alignment with sustainability derived from best practices and/or implementation science.
• Build strong understanding of prevention contract expectations, ACS standards for prevention service delivery, and service model fidelity to promote integration and coordination of high-quality services delivered to families and overall system performance in collaboration with external trainers and ACS' Division of Policy, Planning, and Measurement (DPPM).
• Prepares summary reports on fiscal and programmatic concerns and directly monitor the contractor's performance and alignment to contract requirements
• Provide support to providers and contractors in developing more efficient/effective approaches to program administration.
• Provide technical assistance to contractors and providers to support reporting processes.
• Bring a racial equity and social justice lens to the work and help drive and support program initiatives that promote equity, accessibility, and economic mobility, ensuring families are at the center of all decision making.
• Prepare documents, make presentations, and facilitate goal-oriented meetings with key stakeholders to generate buy-in, improve the quality of families' experiences and circumstances, and effectively manage projects and workstreams.
• Facilitate and manage learning cohorts among model developers and contracted provider staff implementing the same model in order to strengthen practice, address challenges, and share lessons learned.
• Conduct site and field visits, engages community members to inform program planning, and builds relationships with providers, developers, front line staff, and internal/external stakeholders.
• Serve as lead to synthesize practice themes from all cohort and admin meetings, and fidelity reports to draft findings to share with division leadership and internal ACS teams.
• May supervise staff or interns on tasks and projects, as needed.
• May make recommendations concerning the provision of additional funding or adjustments of existing programs/contracts.
• Represent FSD in internal and external working groups.

Note: Multiple Program Officers are needed for various programs as described below.

Applicants will be considered based on their tailored resumes/cover letters to indicate interest and experience and/or expertise in one or more of the following:

• Early Childhood Initiatives: This is a priority initiative; ACS and DOHMH are partnering to support the development of a system of providers to offer support to families with children under 5 and who have child welfare involvement. The program officer will lead collaboration between ACS and DOHMH to monitor the eligibility for NFP (see NFPx) with the goal of closing the gap in home visiting services for new parents who need intensive home visiting support. Additionally, this initiative will increase the availability of non-clinical supports to pregnant and parenting individuals, children under five and their families served through family peer support.
• Special Medical Prevention Programs serve families in which a parent and/or child have medical needs and strive to reduce safety factors and risk elements within the family, which, if left unaddressed, would warrant foster care placement. The model is designed to connect families to long-term supports and services that can be sustained once participation in the prevention program has ended. Additionally, Special Medical assists terminally ill parents in identifying future permanency resources and preparing for the transfer of custody of their children.
• Family Treatment and Rehabilitation Programs (FT/R) are prevention programs that serves families where mental health and/or substance misuse are a primary concern and placing children at risk of foster care placement. The FT/R model utilizes a team approach to assess, diagnose, and treat each family member's needs by providing clinical interventions in the home and/or the provider's office.

Section 424-A of the New York Social Services Law requires an authorized agency to inquire whether a candidate for employment with child-caring responsibilities has been the subject of a child abuse and maltreatment report.

To apply:

Please go to or for current NYC employees and search for Job ID # 771317.

NO PHONE CALLS, FAXES OR PERSONAL INQUIRIES PERMITTED.

NOTE: ONLY CANDIDATES UNDER CONSIDERATION WILL BE CONTACTED.