Assistant Program Director - Audubon Hall - Lantern Community Services Inc

Classification: Exempt

Reports to: Vice President

Location: Audubon Hall, Washington Heights, Manhattan

Salary Range: $75,000-$85,000

Position Type: This is a full-time, exempt position with a regular daytime schedule that includes on-call responsibilities. Lantern staff may be asked to change work schedules and hours depending on the operational needs of the site and the agency. Finally, the Assistant Program Director shares on-call responsibilities with the Senior Program Director in managing crises that may arise outside of normal business hours.

Objective:

Audubon Hall is located in the Washington Heights area with a total of 70 supportive housing units serving individuals who may be facing mental health challenges, substance abuse issues, or chronic illnesses, and who are transitioning out of homelessness. These units are HASA -funded by contract.

This Assistant Program Director (APD) position requires a thorough understanding of relevant service delivery concepts and structures, including strong knowledge and experience with serving clients within mental health systems, and the ability to access and negotiate the full range of services for recipients. It also requires strong supervisory and administrative skills and the ability to interface effectively and efficiently with colleagues to ensure quality services and program operations. Furthermore, it requires good decision-making skills and the ability to identify and facilitate necessary programmatic change. It requires attention to detail, strong writing and verbal communication skills, and strong computer literacy. We are interested in candidates who are passionate about this population and Supportive Housing principles, with exceptional engagement skills within a trauma-informed context, and someone who is highly creative in programming and leveraging community resources, while inspiring their team. Specific experience with HASA - funded contracts preferred.

The Assistant Program Director is responsible for direct supervision of the Case Managers. In partnership with the Program Director, the APD helps to develop the clinical aptitude of a high-functioning team in an environment that is an engaging and rewarding place for staff to work and that promotes a culture of continuous learning, professional development, and quality improvement. The Assistant Program Director ensures clients receive services that support housing stability and quality of life, and that meet regulatory and agency standards by leveraging individual and group supervision, reporting instruments and dashboards, and regular chart review. The APD also shares leadership with the Program Director in facilitating a culture where the values of diversity, equity, belonging, inclusion, and justice are explicit and well-integrated into program culture in a way that emphasizes respect for all members of the community.

Essential Functions:

• Provide clinical supervision and coaching to case management staff
• Promote strategies that support learning and professional development
• Review and approve documentation completed by the case management team and ensure high standards of care and quality service delivery
• Conduct internal chart reviews in collaboration
• Review dashboards and monthly reports with staff to track outcomes
• Support the Program Director in developing site-specific policies, tracking and reporting instruments, and strategies that support outcomes accountability and quality service delivery
• Collaborate with Program Director in facilitating Clinical and Staff Meetings
• Provide clinical supervision in the development of treatment plans and in assessing for safety planning with the clinical team
• Identify community resources, facilitate referrals, and serve as a liaison with various care coordination agencies, health and mental health providers, substance use programs, and employment providers to secure services
• Develop supervision plans and accountability systems that manage reporting requirements and service standards
• Ensure staff use a harm reduction approach to support residents around issues of substance use
• Identify training and skill-building needs of the clinical team that will ultimately help promote high quality of life standards
• Support staff in actively engaging residents through regular apartment visits, community outings, and escorts to appointments as needed.
• Collaborate with Arete Property Management and Housing & Stability partners to help clients maintain their housing, support their successful transition to healthy independent living, and understand the terms of their lease.
• Collaborate with Cross Buildings to access full menu of supportive services designed to improve clients’ wellness and quality of life.
• Collaborate with Compliance and QA/QI departments to standardize funder reporting, track outcomes, and engage in incident review and internal auditing processes.
• Develop and implement groups and programming that are client-centered and foster a supportive and inclusive community.
• Hire and train new staff, as well as manage the progressive disciplinary process in collaboration with the Program Director and Human Resources.
• Co-facilitate staff meetings, clinical meetings, building management meetings, and community meetings with clients
• Evaluate clients for suicidal/homicidal risk, support staff in developing safety plans for residents, respond to and de-escalate crises as needed
• Prepare, review, and manage follow-up of incident reports, as well as appropriate incident reporting to funders
• Provide overall day-to-day program management in collaboration with, and in the absence of, the Program Director
• Complete required reports as assigned.

Education and Experience:

• MSW or MHC required (license required within one year of employment).
• A minimum of two years of supervisory experience in a supportive housing setting is required.
• Knowledge of mental health, substance use, young adults and/or chronically homeless populations.
• Experience working with OMH, DOHMH, and/or HASA contract managers and knowledge of funders’ regulations, scopes of services, and standards.
• Must possess strong trauma-informed clinical engagement and interpersonal skills; be able to work effectively as part of a team and able to make sound assessments of tenants’ strengths and needs.
• Committed to working within a harm reduction model with individuals actively struggling with ongoing substance use
• Must have initiative, exercise good judgment and be able to manage competing priorities.
• Must be able to work independently with high standards of integrity, as well as demonstrate competence in working collaboratively with others.
• Experience utilizing databases to document and report work with clients and staff.
• Strong writing, communication, and organizational skills
• Commitment to integrating values of diversity, equity, belonging, inclusion, and justice as part of the program culture.

Preferred Experience:

• LMSW/LMHC preferred
• Managing relationship with property management partners in Supportive Housing setting
• Experienced in facilitating clinical groups
• Fiscal management and oversight of program budgets
• Experience working with evidence-based models such as Motivational Interviewing
• Bilingual

Work Environment: This job operates in a supportive housing site and works with a population who experiences mental illness, addiction, disability, HIV, and other chronic illnesses.

Physical Demands: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, walk, sit, stoop, climb stairs, and kneel. They must also use their hands to type, handle, or feel. The employee is frequently required to talk or hear and occasionally lift and move up to 5 pounds. Vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.