*THIS POSITION IS OPEN ONLY TO CANDIDATES CURRENTLY SERVING IN THE PERMANENT TITLE OF CHILD WELFARE 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 NYCs 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 Housing Support and Services (HSS) unit is charged with administering various housing supports and options to NYC Children’s Services’ clients. HSS is an access point for eligible families to apply for priority assignment for NYCHA Public Housing, receive time-limited, supplemental financial assistance for market rate housing and/or receive financial assistance to offset housing expenses for families reunifying from foster care, young adults being discharged to their own responsibility and families receiving authorized preventive services whose children are at-risk of placement.

New York City Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) seeks to hire two (2) Housing Specialists to work under the direction of the Division of Family Permanency Services (FPS) leadership.
The role of the Housing Specialist is to provide trainings and technical assistance to ACS provider agencies, intra-agency staff, families, young adults in foster care and other stakeholders involved in maintaining the child within his/her family or facilitating young adults in establishing independent households upon release from foster care placement.

Primary tasks will include but are not limited to:

- Utilize computer systems, including databases specific to the HSS unit and Connections to enter, review, and/or post updates and to determine programmatic and or financial eligibility, within specific timeframes.
- Knowledgeable with the Microsoft Office programs including PowerPoint and Excel.
- Respond to inquiries related to housing application statuses and take necessary steps to attain resolution.
- Verify programmatic and financial eligibility and conduct client assessment interviews.
- Provide and assist eligible applicants with the accurate completion of housing applications, including NYCHA applications, and ACS Housing Subsidy applications.
- Recommend other viable housing options and provide referrals, as needed.
- Conduct teaching, training workshops for clients, employees, and others.
- Interface with relevant parties (i.e. contracted provider agency staff, FCLS, advocates) to recommend and/or work to resolve housing issues for eligible client families.
- Participate in meetings and/or trainings to support ACS’ housing service offerings.
- Perform other related duties.

1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college including or supplemented by 24 semester credits in one or a combination of the following fields: social work, psychology, sociology, human services, criminal justice, education (including early childhood), nursing, or cultural anthropology, with at least 12 of these credits in one discipline.

Requirements for Assignment Level II
a. Upon satisfactory completion of six months of training and experience at Assignment Level I, an employee shall be assigned to Assignment Level II.
b. Upon completion of one year of satisfactory experience at Assignment Level II of Child Welfare Specialist and satisfactory completion of the probationary period an employee shall receive no less than the minimum salary after 18 months in title.
c. To be appointed directly to Assignment Level II, a candidate must have, in addition to meeting the minimum qualification requirements set forth above, one year of satisfactory child welfare casework experience.

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.