Family Peer Specialist

Family Peer Specialist

The Administration for Children's Services (ACS) protects and promotes the safety and well-being of New York City's children and families by providing child welfare, juvenile justice, and early care services. In child welfare, ACS contracts with private nonprofit organizations to support and stabilize families at risk of a crisis through preventive services and provides foster care services for children not able to safely remain at home. Each year, the agency's Division of Child Protection responds to more than 50,000 reports of suspected child abuse or neglect. In juvenile justice, ACS manages and funds services including detention and placement, intensive community-based alternatives for youth and support services for families. ACS is also a key part of NYC's early childhood and education continuum, providing childcare assistance to thousands of child welfare involved and low-income children so they can access safe, affordable, quality care.

The Sabra Jackson Office of Advocacy (OOA) is the public-facing office within the Administration for Children's Services (ACS), Division of External Affairs. OOA responds to the questions, concerns, and complaints of parents, youth, foster parents, caregivers, and extended family members impacted by the child welfare, juvenile justice, and early childhood education systems. OOA seeks a Family Peer Specialist to serve as a liaison to the families we serve by connecting them to resources and support services. The Family Peer Specialist brings lived experience with direct involvement in the child welfare systems to provide support to those interfacing with these systems today. This position plays a critical role in empowering families, amplifying constituent voice, and bridging gaps between families and ACS program areas or contracted service providers.

The Family Peer Specialist will be responsible for, but not limited to the following duties:

• Respond to inquiries received via 311, the ACS website, walk-ins, and OOA's Helpline. Respond to youth and families in crisis requesting immediate assistance on an emergency walk-in basis during office hours
• Support parents, caregivers and youth during conferences, ensuring constituent perspectives are heard and understood
• Provide peer-to-peer support, mentorship, and advocacy to help families navigate ACS processes, learn their rights and responsibilities, and build self-advocacy skills
• Act as a liaison between families and ACS divisions, fostering communication, conflict resolution, and problem-solving
• Document constituent contact in OOA recordkeeping systems (Dynamics, and other internal tools)
• Connect families to community-based resources and supports in areas such as housing, education, mental health, employment, and early childhood services
• Participate in outreach efforts, presentations, and training sessions to elevate family voice in policy and practice discussions across ACS
• Work as part of a collaborative OOA team, providing office coverage, crisis response, and peer input on program initiatives
• Engage in supervision, peer development, and professional training as required

Minimum Qualifications

1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and two years of experience in community work or community centered activities in an area related to the duties described above; or 2. High school graduation or equivalent and six years of experience in community work or community centered activities in an area related to the duties as described above; or 3. Education and/or experience which is equivalent to "1" or "2" above. However, all candidates must have at least one year of experience as described in "1" above.

Preferred Skills

-Personal lived experience as a parent, caregiver, close relative or youth impacted by the child welfare systems. Good writing skills and ability to produce reports and correspondence against deadline -Familiarity with automated record-keeping and information management systems including 311, Connections, and LTS highly desirable -Familiarity with public child welfare law and regulation, child protective services, preventive services, foster care, and the Family Court highly desirable -Function as a member of the OOA team by supporting and sharing information with co-workers, maintaining office coverage during working hours, filling in for co-workers during vacation or illness, and identifying resources to continuously improve the efficacy of OOA -Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to engage families from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. -Knowledge of NYC and community-based resources for families -Ability to manage sensitive and confidential information while maintaining professionalism -Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook) -Comfort with case record systems (Dynamics, CONNECTIONS) preferred -Bilingual skills preferred but not required

Public Service Loan Forgiveness

As a prospective employee of the City of New York, you may be eligible for federal loan forgiveness programs and state repayment assistance programs. For more information, please visit the U.S. Department of Education's website at

Residency Requirement

New York City residency is generally required within 90 days of appointment. However, City Employees in certain titles who have worked for the City for 2 continuous years may also be eligible to reside in Nassau, Suffolk, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, or Orange County. To determine if the residency requirement applies to you, please discuss with the agency representative at the time of interview.

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.