The NJ Department of Children and Families is seeking a catalytic individual with senior level management experience in child welfare to lead work with kinship families, resource families, and adoption, Kinship Legal Guardianship (KLG), and resource home licensing practice. This position, reporting to the Assistant Commissioner and serving in a high performing senior leadership team, will be responsible for innovating with staff and across divisions to increase the use of kinship care, engagement with resource families, and ensure timely and high-quality adoption and legal guardianship practice across the state. The candidate must be passionate about child welfare work, and knowledgeable of adoption, guardianship, licensing, and resource family policy, practices, and regulation; facility with administrative processes; and have a strong track record of growing and developing staff.

NJ DCF is nationally recognized for its advancements in child welfare. Our leadership team knows that the work we do is urgent, and we take bold and strategic steps to produce needed change. Recent examples include:

· New Jersey has invested in staff training, partnerships, and prevention services to sharply and safely reduce the use of foster care – including operating the nation’s largest supportive housing program for child welfare-involved families; statewide family preservation services; a statewide, universally available children’s behavioral health system; and four statewide evidence-based home visiting models. Today New Jersey resorts to the use of foster care placement as a safety intervention the least of any state in the country.

· Through policy, practice and regulatory changes, kinship care is now the most common placement type for children in out of home placement.

SPECIAL NOTE: While this position reports into Trenton, NJ, the physical location of the position is flexible, depending on where the selected candidate resides.

SPECIAL NOTE: This position may be eligible to work remotely for up to two days in a calendar week.

RESPONSIBILITIES: This Deputy Director is responsible for oversight and management of statewide operations for Adoption Services, Office of Resource Families, and Office of Resource Family Licensing. The Deputy Director will be the leader responsible for driving and sustaining significant practice changes, including increased use of kinship care.

* Provide statewide leadership for all areas of resource family recruitment, training, support, and retention, as well as all areas of kinship family support, training, and retention

* Oversee resource family licensing regulations, including any work in partnership with sponsoring agencies, licensing constituents, consumers, and advocates

* Oversee all areas of adoption, including oversight of the subsidy program, adoption exchange and registry, and adoptive placements; and all areas of KLG.

* Ensure quality service delivery to constituents and adherence to DCF policy, federal and state laws and regulations across entire portfolio.

* Partner with Division of Analytics and Systems Improvement to identify performance areas in need of improvement and develop participatory methods of creating and implementing performance improvement strategies.

* Build supervisory, management, and leadership skills of staff.

* Participate in the development of RFPs to align service provision with the needs of DCP&P children, youth and families.

* Review existing policies and assist in revising and developing policies and regulations as needed.

* Administrative responsibilities include ongoing performance evaluation of staff, oversight of service contracts and participation in development of IT systems, etc.

* Plan and facilitate statewide and other leadership meetings; completion of required federal plans and reporting; lead special projects; drive policy updates and revisions.

* Serve as liaison collaborating with other Divisions and offices across the Department

REQUIREMENTS

EDUCATION: Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university; Master’s in Social Work preferred.

EXPERIENCE: Eight (8) years of experience in a public or private organization involved in programs focusing on child welfare and child protective services – at least four (4) years of which shall have involved training, coaching or mentoring focused specifically on improving child welfare case practice, and at least three (3) years of which must have involved management of at least 15 or more staff.

RESUME NOTE: Eligibility determinations will be based upon information presented on the resume only. Applicants who possess a degree from a college or university outside the United States must provide an evaluation of one’s transcripts from a recognized evaluation service at the time of submission by the above closing date. Failure to do so may result in your ineligibility.

LICENSE: Appointees will be required to possess a driver's license valid in New Jersey only if the operation of a vehicle, rather than employee mobility, is necessary to perform the essential duties of the position.

PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS: As a prospective employee of the State of New Jersey, you may be eligible for federal loan forgiveness programs and state repayment assistance programs. For more information, please visit the U.S. Department of Education’s website at StudentAid.gov/PSLF.

SAME APPLICANTS: If you are applying under the NJ “SAME” program, your supporting documents (Schedule A or B letter), must be submitted along with your resume by the closing date indicated above. For more information on the SAME Program visit their website at: https://nj.gov/csc/same/overview/index.shtml, e-mail: CSC-SAME@csc.nj.gov or call CSC at (609) 292-4144, option 3.

RESIDENCY LAW: Please refer to the New Jersey Department of Children and Families’ website at www.state.nj.us/dcf.

SALARY: Commensurate with education and experience.

TO APPLY: Submit a cover letter and resume as a single PDF document, saving the file by your Last Name, First Name.

Please indicate in your cover letter the Posting # and where you found this job opportunity. Click on the ‘Apply Now’ button to submit the file.

The Department of Children and Families is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and is committed to fostering a respectful and inclusive work environment which reflects the diversity of the state we serve.

Job Type: Full-time

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Ability to Relocate:

• Trenton, NJ 08608: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: In person