Intake Assessment Specialist

THE SELECTED CANDIDATE WILL BE OFFERED A SALARY BETWEEN $62,868.00 - $72,298.00.

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

The Division of Youth and Family Justice (DYFJ) provides a wide range of services and programs for youth at every stage of the juvenile justice process. Our goals are to (a) build stronger and safer communities and advance public safety by preventing juveniles from entering the New York City’s juvenile justice system, (b) provide therapeutic treatment and services to youth in our custodial care, and (c) help juveniles access the tools they need to leave the justice system for good.

We strive to help families and young people by providing supportive services that are responsive to the needs of individual youth and families.

Close to Home is a residential placement and aftercare program for New York City youth who are adjudicated delinquent by the NYC Family Court and ordered into placement. Close to Home allows young people who are found to be responsible in Family Court for committing a delinquent act to receive placement services in a program(in/or) close to the communities where they live.

Placement is a combination of time in a residential program and time in the community (on aftercare) with specialized services and monitoring. Close to Home has two types of residential placements, Non‑Secure Placements (NSP) and Limited Secure Placements (LSP). Youths will be placed in NSP or LSP based on their court order. Some young people receive orders that are unspecified giving the Close to Home program the ability to place youth in either level of care based on various factors, including their behavior in detention.

ACS contracts with community‑based providers to operate 25 non‑secure and 6 limited secure placement programs. In conjunction with the contracted providers, ACS provides intake, case management, conferencing, school support and monitoring services. In addition, DYFJ oversees a network of five contracted providers that operate a total of 7 non‑secure detention facilities across New York City.

The Intake and Assessment Specialist will work within the DYFJ’s continuum to assess and identify the needs and strengths of youth for post‑adjudicated placement.

The selected candidate will be responsible for the following duties but not limited to:

• Perform day‑to‑day operations including the intake, assessment, matching, and placement of youth who are adjudicated as juvenile delinquents in New York City Family Court and placed with ACS under the Close‑to‑Home initiative.
• Once a judge issues a dispositional order, ensure a timely comprehensive intake and assessment including review and synthesis of pertinent court, legal, health, education, and social history documents, assessment of youth and family needs and strengths, coordinate collateral interviews in detention or in the community with youth, families, providers, and ACS personnel prior to the youth’s transfer from detention to residential placement, and appropriate match of youth to providers that can best cultivate their strengths and interests and address needs and risks over a period of no more than 15 calendar days, or as otherwise required by law.
• Manage and maintain ongoing relationships and collaboration (e.g., meetings) with DYFJ’s Placement and Permanency Unit, detention DYFJ and contracted staffs, attorneys, and court staff to ensure that information is relayed in a timely and contemporaneous manner and that all relevant screenings and assessments are completed.
• Engage with DYFJ’s Detention, Operations, Placement and Permanency, Planning, Policy and Performance, other ACS cross‑divisional units, and ACS‑contracted provider agencies to ensure appropriate coordination, oversight, monitoring,…