Montgomery County is located adjacent to Washington, DC and with over one million residents, is the most populous County in the State of Maryland. The County is also the most diverse County in the State and ranks among the top ten most diverse Counties in the nation. Montgomery County contains many major U.S. government offices, scientific research and learning centers, and business campuses.

The Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for delivery of the County’s public health and human services that the needs of our community’s most vulnerable children, adults and seniors. The Department provides services through more than 120 programs at more than 20 locations. With over 2,000 employees, the Department of Health and Human Services is the largest County Department.

As a Department we believe health and wellness of the county can only be achieved by ensuring that every resident has fair opportunities to reach their fullest potential. This means access to quality housing, transportation, education, employment, health care, human services, safe neighborhoods and healthy food. HHS’ provides critical services for residents who face a variety of obstacles in achieving their full potential. HHS plays an essential role in building a healthy and strong community.

If you are interested in working for the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, we invite qualified candidates to apply for our Homeless Services Administrator/Manager III, Services to End and Prevent Homelessness position.

About Services to End and Prevent Homelessness

The programs of Services to End and Prevent Homelessness (SEPH) have a common vision: access by all people to safe, affordable housing, and opportunities to improve quality of life. The mission of SEPH is to make homelessness a rare, brief, and non-recurring event by operating from a Housing First philosophy.

SEPH provides a full continuum of services including housing stabilization, homeless diversion, and permanent housing; and employs evidence-based and promising practices. SEPH programs collaborate with public and private partners through the Interagency Commission on Homelessness.

Special needs populations include veterans; both individuals and families; persons with behavioral health challenges; individuals with developmental disabilities; transitioning youth; and seniors with disabilities experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

Homeless Services Administrator Roles and Responsibilities

This position involves complex tasks which require the Administrator to wear multiple hats and be knowledgeable about building design and construction, procurement laws and regulations, shelter programming, Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), data set requirements and managing program budgets. It also involves collaborating with Department of General Services on Shelter construction requirements. The work of Centralized Intake and Homeless Diversion is the most complex and typical work of the Homeless Services Administrator.

The primary duties for this position are:

• Ensure homeless services programs utilize best practices, including Housing First, Trauma Informed Care, Harm Reduction and Motivational Interviewing.
• Overseeing the contracts for street outreach, diversion, emergency shelters and overflow shelter for adults without minor children.
• Provide guidance to service providers in a supportive manner related to operating programs and providing services to clients, ensuring they are fulfilling their contract requirements.
• Manage the flow of referrals from various entities to include the Crisis Center, Housing Stabilization Services, hospitals and treatment centers looking to place homeless clients and determine if individual is appropriate for shelter.
• Supervise homeless services personnel.
• Prepare programs for expansion during hypothermia season.
• With the SEPH Outreach Manager, assist in planning the annual Point-in-Time Count and other counts throughout the year.

As a manager of unionized employees, this position has a responsibility for fostering a positive labor relations environment based on mutual trust, respect, and cooperation.

OHR reviews the minimum qualifications of all applicants, irrespective of whether the candidate has previously been found to have met the minimum requirements for the job or been temporarily promoted to the same position. This evaluation is based solely on the information contained in the application/resume submitted for this specific position/IRC.

Montgomery County Government is an equal opportunity employer, committed to workforce diversity. Accordingly, as it relates to employment opportunities, the County will provide reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, in accordance with the law. Applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should contact the Office of Human Resources via email to OHR@montgomerycountymd.gov. Individual determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made in accordance with all applicable laws.

Montgomery County Government also provides hiring preference to certain categories of veterans and veterans/persons with a disability. For more information and to claim employment preference, please refer to the Careers webpage on Hiring Preference.

All applicants will respond to a series of questions related to their education, relevant experience, knowledge, skills and abilities required to minimally perform the job. The applicant's responses in conjunction with their resume and all other information provided in the employment application process will be evaluated to determine the minimum qualifications and preferred criteria status. Based on the results, the highest qualified applicants will be placed on an Eligible List and may be considered for an interview. Employees meeting minimum qualifications who are the same grade will be placed on Eligible List as a "Lateral Transfer" candidate and may be considered for interview.

If selected for consideration for this position, you may be required to provide evidence that you possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities indicated on your resume.

Montgomery County Ethics Law: Except as provided by law or regulation, the County's "Public Employees" (which does not include employees of the Sheriff's office) are subject to the County's ethics law including the requirements to obtain advanced approval of any outside employment and the prohibitions on certain outside employment. The outside employment requirements of the ethics law can be found at 19A-12 of the County Code. Additional information about outside employment can be obtained from the Ethics Commission website.

Experience: Five (5) years of progressively responsible professional experience in providing services to households at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

Education: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a bachelor’s degree.

Equivalency: An equivalent combination of education and experience may be substituted.

No Preferred Criteria. All applicants will be reviewed by OHR for minimum qualifications. Those applicants who meet minimum qualifications will be rated Qualified, placed on the Eligible List, and may be considered for an interview.

Preference for interviews will be given to applicants with experience in the following:

• Experience working in and managing homeless services programs, such as street outreach and emergency shelter.
• Experience in leading, supervising, managing, and providing operational oversight to organizations, teams, tasks, and assignments.
• Experience using HMIS and Electronic Health Record Software, Microsoft Office products, Adobe Reader/Writer, SharePoint.
• Experience building supportive relationship with community partners, government partners, community members and other homeless services stakeholders.
• Experience in communication, both orally (such as in meetings with small and large groups), and in writing (such as reports and correspondence) with other government agencies, vendors, and executive level parties)