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 NYCs early childhood and education continuum, providing child care assistance to thousands of child welfare involved and low-income children so they can access safe, affordable, quality care.

New York City Children’s Services is responsible for the protection of New York City’s children and the support of the City’s families. The Office of Child & Family Health (OCFH), in the Division of the First Deputy, is charged with ensuring that all foster children served by Children’s Services have timely access to quality, comprehensive physical and mental health services, and that these services are provided in a continuous and coordinated manner. The Developmental Disabilities Unit (DDU) works on behalf of the intellectually disabled (ID) and developmentally disabled (DD) parent and children or (suspected of an I/DD diagnosis), during the protective, preventive and foster care phases of their ACS involvement to see to it that the necessary steps are taken to efficiently identify, refer and link the client to supports that will adequately meet the service goals and promote a smooth transition out of care. The DD Unit also provides technical assistance, case specific consultation and training to ACS staff as well as its community external stakeholders.

Reporting to the Parent Resource Manager and/or the Executive Director of the Developmental Disabilities Unit, the DD Specialist will:

• Provide DD- related technical assistance (TA), general and specific for foster care, preventive agencies and other community external stakeholders as well as all the OCFH units to assist them in providing TA to other entities involved.
• Provide trainings for internal and community external stakeholders/agencies/organizations regarding developmental disabilities unit’s function OPWDD eligibility requirements, supports and resources involved in providing appropriate permanency and service planning for this special need’s population.
• Responsible for reviewing lists of identified parent/ children screened for or suspected of developmental disabilities, reviewing clinical documents submitted by child/case planners and assembling materials from social service personnel so that completed referrals may be forwarded to OPWDD for eligibility review.
• Assist in the maintenance of the unit’s data base of list of parents /children awaiting an OPWDD state services. Tracks consumers communicate regularly with the local Developmental Disabilities Regional Office on status of referrals, acceptances, rejections and fair hearings.
• Give guidance on the appropriate requirements to social service staff in order to adequately complete psychosocial assessments to aid the OPWDD eligibility process.
• Serve as a DD unit representative to community-based agencies on ID/DD related issues and services including representing ACS in community-based meetings and conferences.
• Document decisions, recommendations and/or issues in Connections and/or the programs internal database.
• Manage a list of identified consumers in the community with or suspected of developmental disabilities, communicate with community-based contract agency staff and provide technical assistance in identifying the appropriate resources for services for individuals with developmental/intellectual disabilities.
• Maintain resource directory library of community services for parents and families of the developmentally disabled.
• Assist with the review and processing of invoicing and back-up documentation for community-based contracted agencies.

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.

The preferred candidate should possess the following: experience in strength based, solution-focused and family centered practice; excellent group, facilitation and communication skills along with strong clinical and interpersonal skills; experience working with community-based organizations; a working knowledge of guidelines, policies and regulations relating to child welfare, safety, permanency, and well-being; excellent written and verbal communication skills; excellent written and verbal communication skills; excellent analytical, organizational and interpersonal skills; proficiency in the use of Microsoft Access, Excel, Word and data entry; familiarity with Children’s Services’ guidelines, policies, procedures and state regulations.

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.

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 StudentAid.gov/PSLF

APPLICATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY USING ONE OF THE OPTIONS BELOW:

For current city employees, go to Employee Self Service (ESS), Recruiting Activities, Careers and search for Job ID#577535
For all other applicants go to www.nyc.gov/careers and search for Job ID#577535 Click on the "Apply" button.

If you do not have access to a computer, most public libraries have computers available for use.

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.