Assistant Director

PURPOSE OF POSITION

For 50 years, Covenant House New York (CHNY) has been a leader in providing a full continuum of shelter, transitional and permanent housing and wrap-around support services for vulnerable homeless, runaway and exploited youth. As the largest provider of runaway and homeless youth services in New York City, CHNY serves more than 1,500 youth and young adults ages 16-24 annually with an operating budget of more than $31 million dollars and 300 staff. Our doors are open to all young people who need help, regardless of their race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression. We provide shelter, housing, education, employment, health, mental health and other services using trauma-informed principles. We also advocate for systemic change through public policy while promoting awareness of critical issues related to youth homelessness. Covenant House New York’s goal is to help each young person find safety and refuge from the dangers of living on the streets and to empower youth now and into the future. We do this through compassion, unconditional love and absolute respect.

CHNY headquarters and our main shelter program is located in Manhattan in a brand new, state-of-the-art, purpose-built 12 story facility that opened in 2021. CHNY also has five site locations in the Bronx as well as scattered site programming.

Reporting to, and working closely with, the Senior Director of Youth Shelter, the Assistant Director will have supervisory responsibilities, as well as additional administrative responsibilities, within CHNY’s 120 bed single youth Shelter located in Manhattan. This position will oversee the Shelter during the afternoon shift each weekend day, or – when not directly supervising staff or handling youth issues -- will take a lead role in implementing new initiatives, shepherding the professional development of staff, and ensuring policies and procedures are being followed. The Assistant Director must be highly organized, a proactive problem solver, and a demonstrated leader, and will play a key role in building an energized culture and leading a team that successfully achieves meaningful results for the young people we serve. This position requires a workweek of five (5) consecutive days including Saturday and Sunday.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

(Responsibilities to include but not limited to the following)

• Acts as the Shift Leader for the afternoon shift on Saturdays and Sundays.

• Provides and ensures coverage to other Coordinators as needed.

• Assists the Senior Director of Youth Shelter and takes the lead on hiring interviews, onboarding, training, and any other needs of the Youth Shelter.

• Leads and ensures that staff within the Youth Shelter have participated in all mandated and other necessary training.

• Works with the Senior Director of Youth Shelter to develop and facilitate Case Management training

• Monitors and approves staff scheduling to ensure it meets mandated ratios and that coverage is provided for all shifts.

• Ensures that the Scheduling Coordinator runs programmatic reports needed to ensure compliance with agency and funding regulations.

• Assigns and ensures completion of tasks as assigned to the Scheduling Coordinator.

• Works closely with the Senior Director of Youth Shelter on ensuring that DYCD, OCFS and other regulatory requirements, including child protection mandates, are maintained in the Youth Shelter.

• Takes a lead role in ensuring the physical plant of the shelter meets CHNY and regulatory requirements. Ensures sufficient supplies on each Youth Shelter floor and that storage areas are maintained in a clean and orderly manner.

• Works closely with the Senior Director of Youth Shelter to ensure that de-escalation and crisis management skill development is occurring with all staff.

• Works closely with the Senior Director of Youth Shelter on implementation of Evidence Based Models and ETO data collection.

• Takes the lead on Motivational Interviewing initiatives such as staff tapings and training.

• Assists in managing and monitoring the progress and performance of all program contracts and grants.

• Co-facilitates group supervision with the Senior Director of Youth Shelter, shift transition with the Program Coordinators as needed and incident review meetings as needed.

• Completes and conducts monthly reports as assigned by the Senior Director of Youth Shelter.

• Monitors medication storage and maintenance on all shelter floors.

• Assists the Senior Director of Youth Shelter and other CHNY senior management in program development and implementation plans for the Youth Shelter.

• Takes lead in team meetings as needed.

• Provides crisis interventions oversight; Responds and assists the team during crisis situations.

• Develops and maintains positive and strategic relationships with internal and external colleagues, partners and stakeholders.

• Effectively utilizes data and information systems to evaluate programs, inform decision-making and develop performance improvement strategies.

• Demonstrates leadership qualities through modeling the Mission, Vision and five Principles.

• Proactively problem-solves and brings concerns and proposed solutions to the attention of management and senior leadership.

• Always upholds CHNY’s mission, vision and principles, standards of conduct, policies and procedures.

• Perform other duties as assigned and needed.

SUPERVISORY DUTIES

• Supervises the Shelter Compliance Coordinator

  • Reviews and ensures that appropriate follow-up on incident reports is completed and submitted.

  • Ensures dry audits of the youth folders are completed with the Program Coordinators.

  • Ensures dry audits of the physical plant are completed with the Program Coordinators.

• This position supervises all Shelter Coordinators and Program Schedule Coordinator with an exception of AHT, and Child Coordinators and HYA Coordinator.

• Provides coaching and support to assist Shelter Coordinators to grow professionally within their roles and management skills.

Qualifications

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, & ABILITIES

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Social Work, Psychology or a related field required.

• Master’s degree or in the process of obtaining a Master’s degree preferred.

• Experience working with diverse groups required.

• Experience working with young people is required, particularly young people who are experiencing homelessness preferred.

• Experience utilizing evidence-based and other social service models preferred.

• Experience utilizing data dashboards and other metrics to improve staff performance and client outcomes preferred.

Knowledge/Skills

• Knowledge of human service delivery systems, residential care and resources for youth populations required.

• Strong multi-tasking skills with demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects at once required.

• Excellent collaborative and organizational abilities required.

• Demonstrated knowledge of and experience working directly with young people through approaches that emphasize resiliency, strength based youth development, and trauma informed care required.

• A strong focus on child protection and ensuring the safety of residents is required.

• Overall flexibility in work schedule required, including weekends, evenings and holidays as needed.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills required.

• Strong leadership/management skills and an upbeat, energetic demeanor required.

• A strong interest in CHNY’s mission, vision and principles required.

Compensation

Covenant House New York offers a rich package of benefits including but not limited to full medical, vision, dental, life, and short and long-term disability insurance and other fringe benefits. Eligibility for medical benefits begins on the date of hire. PTO includes 3 weeks of vacation in the first year, 10 holidays, 13 sick days, 5 personal days, and birthday days off. Benefits include a 403b with employer contribution after 12 months. There are also multiple additional optional benefits (including additional life, disability, accident, and cancer insurance) available at significantly reduced rates.

"CH is a vaccinated employer. As such, prospective new hires will be required to provide proof of vaccination or be willing to receive the COVID-19 vaccination by date of hire to be considered."

Covenant House New York is an Equal Opportunity Employer