Residential Facilitator

Permanent Child and Family Specialists are encouraged to apply. Candidates must have filed for, taken, and passed Exam #6035 for this civil service title to maintain eligibility.

About the role

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, foster care services, and provides subsidized childcare vouchers. Child protection staff respond to allegations of child maltreatment. In juvenile justice, ACS oversees detention, placement, and programs for youth in the community.

The Children’s Center is a 24-hour shift-based operation providing services for New York City’s highly vulnerable population of abused and/or neglected children who have been removed from their parents or caregivers. On average, the Children’s Center serves approximately 2,500 unique children entering or re-entering the foster care system as they await transition to return home, stay with kin, or placement in longer-term foster care settings.

NSCC Residential Facilitators are responsible for the assessment, evaluation, and determination of the Level of Care (LOC) for children who are entering and/or re-entering into foster care placements. Positioned at the Nicholas Scoppetta Children’s Center (NSCC), Child and Family Specialists (CFS) provide valuable therapeutic support to children awaiting placement. CFS are integral members of one of the country’s premier children’s services agencies dedicated to strengthening NYC’s families and their 1.8 million children. CFS provides psychosocial services to children and families using casework, clinical interventions, and community resources.

Responsibilities

• Identify, assess, and recommend resources and LOC for children/youth based on the least restrictive placement setting that a child requires.
• Conduct and participate in child intake to obtain information regarding children’s social, emotional, academic strengths, medical and mental health needs, family dynamics/history, which assists in the development of care and crisis plans to address high-risk behaviors and safety considerations.
• Facilitate conferences/meetings with children, NSCC team members, service providers, community members, and other ACS staff when necessary.
• Consult with professionals from different disciplines to facilitate a multi-disciplinary team approach of care within the NSCC.
• Ensure safety, risk, and permanency concerns are identified and addressed during team meetings and external conferences with service providers.
• Serve as program liaisons to ACS Field Office, Family Court Legal Services (FCLS) Foster Care, Mental Health, and Community-Based Providers as related to placement and behavioral concerns of the child.
• Utilize a trauma-informed lens to serve as the primary resource for emotional support for a child/youth.

Qualifications

A Masters Degree in Social Work from an accredited school of social work and one of the following:

• A valid New York State Registration as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and at least one year of full-time, satisfactory, post-graduate experience that includes substantial experience in one or more of the following modalities of practice:
  • Facilitation of family team conferences or family group decision-making meetings utilizing a conferencing model which emphasizes family engagement and consensus-based decision-making;
  • Clinical group work with children, youth, parents, or individual families;
  • The conduct of professional training on topics related to child and family services.
• A valid New York State Registration as a Licensed Master of Social Work (LMSW) and at least three years of the experience required above. Up to two years of this experience may have been in the supervision of social work practice areas described above.
• At least three years of the experience required above. A valid New York State Registration as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) or Licensed Master of Social Work license (LMSW) must be obtained within one year of appointment.

Note: Employees who fail to obtain their LCSW or LMSW within one year after appointment may have their probationary periods extended for no more than six months. Failure to obtain the LCSW or LMSW by the end of the probationary period will result in dismissal.

Note: At least one year of the required experience must have been obtained in the last five years.

Pay

$84,863.00 – $97,593.00

Additional Information

• This position is also open to qualified persons with a disability who are eligible for the 55-a Program. Please indicate at the top of your resume and cover letter that you would like to be considered for the position through the 55-a Program.
• 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, visit the U.S. Department of Education’s website.
• 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.
• 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.