Erie County is an Equal Opportunity Employer and committed to workplace diversity.

Residence Requirements:

CANDIDATES MUST HAVE BEEN LEGAL RESIDENTS OF ERIE COUNTY FOR AT LEAST ONE MONTH IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE DATE OF THE WRITTEN TEST AND MUST BE LEGAL RESIDENTS OF ERIE COUNTY AT THE TIME OF APPOINTMENT. There is one vacancy at the Erie County Department of Social Services -Youth Services Division.

Examples of Duties:

A Senior Director of Youth Bureau-Social Services is responsible for collaboration with juvenile justice agencies, community organizations and other government agencies providing services to youth who are at risk; alleged or adjudicated juvenile delinquents (JDs); youth alleged or adjudicated to be persons in need of supervision (PINS); and youth alleged to be or convicted as juvenile offenders (JOs), and Adolescent Offenders (AOs) in order to divert these youth from detention or residential care and for the planning, organizing, implementation and administration of a county-wide comprehensive plan for County Youth Programs.;

Provides leadership and oversight of Juvenile Justice System Reform and improvement through a racial equity lens;

Collaborates with juvenile justice agencies, community organizations and other government agencies;

Executes administration of youth bureau funded programs and policies under the direction of the Deputy Commissioner of Youth Services;

Evaluates proposals, budget requests, program performance, and program performance measures with the Erie County Youth Board to make funding recommendations through the Deputy Commissioner for Youth Services and Commissioner of the Department of Social Services;

Implements performance measure evaluation model to ensure programmatic outcomes and data;

Reviews and monitors for safe reductions of special populations (e.g. violations of probation, warrants and cases awaiting placement);

Provides and ensures racial/ethnic fairness in policy and case-level decision-making;

Directs collection of all required New York State Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS) reports from all Youth Bureau funded agencies, Municipal Youth Bureau’s, and towns/villages in Erie County;

Oversight of Erie County Resource Allocation Plan (RAP) and entry of programs into New York State System;

Supervises Youth Bureau staff in program development, monitoring, and evaluation activities;

Supervises all Juvenile Justice Counselors in treatment planning and other duties as assigned;

Attends and participates in meetings with community youth organizations, public -private youth service agencies, and local Youth Bureau’s and Boards;

Assists in the planning and preparation of the tentative budget requests, the allocation of expenditures and disbursements and Directs the collection and timely reporting of service statistics needed for State reimbursement of claims to the Administrative/Fiscal Unit.;

Monitors operations to assure compliance with all applicable State and Federal laws, regulations and standards;

Maintains and updates Youth Bureau Annual Report, Website, Community Resource Guides, Quarterly Newsletter, and Policies and Procedures Guide, etc.;

Serves as Runaway/Homeless Youth Coordinator for Erie County, including signing extensions for youth providers.

Qualifications:

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:  Candidates must meet one of the following requirements on or before the date of the written test:

A.) Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered four year college or university with a Master’s degree in criminal justice, social work, human services, social sciences or closely related field, supplemented by two (2) years of experience in the administration of a Youth services program, or:

B.) Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered four year college or university with a Bachelor’s Degree in criminal justice, social work, human services, social sciences or closely related field, supplemented by four (4) years of experience in the administration of a Youth services program, or:

C.) An equivalent combination of training and experience as defined by the limits of (A) and (B).

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

Section 424-a of the Social Services Law requires the local social services district to inquire whether the applicant is the subject of an indicated child abuse or maltreatment report on file with the State Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment.

All potential employees for this position will be required to sign the necessary clearance form prior to being advised that they will be hired. Refusal to sign will be cause for an automatic non-selection.

Subject to background investigation and fingerprinting for appointment. (Applicant may be required to submit the necessary fees for the fingerprint processing.)

As required by law or statute, subject to medical examination including tuberculin (TB) test, at time of appointment and throughout period of employment when assigned to Youth Services.

Notes:

1. Verifiable part-time and/or volunteer experience will be pro-rated toward meeting the experience requirements.

2. Your degree and/or college credit must have been awarded by a regionally accredited college or university or one recognized by the New York State Education Department as following acceptable educational practices. A grade of "D" or better is necessary for a course to be credited as successfully completed. If your degree and/or college credit was awarded by an educational institution outside of the United States and its territories, you must provide independent verification of equivalency. You can write to this Department for a list of acceptable companies providing this service; you must pay the required evaluation fee.

Notice to Candidates: Transcripts will now be accepted by the Department of Personnel ONLY at time of application.
All subsequent transcripts must be submitted at time of interview.

The New York State Department of Civil Service has not prepared a test guide for this examination. However, candidates may find information in the publication 'General Guide to Written Tests' helpful in preparing for this test. This publication is available on line at:https://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/testguides.cfm.

Subjects of Examination:

Scopes / Subjects of examination: A test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and /or abilities in the following areas.

Advising and interacting with others

These questions test for the ability to interact with other people in order to gather and present information and to provide assistance and advice in a courteous and professional manner.

Preparing written material

These questions test for the ability to present information clearly and accurately, and to organize paragraphs logically and comprehensibly. For some questions, you will be given information in two or three sentences followed by four restatements of the information. You must then choose the best version. For other questions, you will be given paragraphs with their sentences out of order. You must then choose, from four suggestions, the best order for the sentences.

Administering and Coordinating Youth Programs

These questions test for knowledge of youth-related programs and the principles, practices, and techniques used to administer and coordinate youth programs. Questions may cover such topics as planning, monitoring, evaluating, and managing youth education and recreation programs.

Supervision

These questions test for knowledge of the principles and practices employed in planning, organizing, and controlling the activities of a work unit toward predetermined objectives. The concepts covered, usually in a situational question format, include such topics as assigning and reviewing work; evaluating performance; maintaining work standards; motivating and developing subordinates; implementing procedural change; increasing efficiency; and dealing with problems of absenteeism, morale, and discipline.

NOTICE TO CANDIDATES: Unless otherwise noted, candidates are permitted to use quiet, hand held, solar or battery powered calculators. Devices with typewriter keyboards, "Spell Checkers", “Personal Digital Assistants", "Address Books", "Language Translators", "Dictionaries", or any similar devices are prohibited. You may not bring books or other reference materials.

**IMPORTANT APPLICATION FEE - READ CAREFULLY**

A $20.00 filing fee is required for this exam. The required fee must accompany your application. Send or bring check or money order made payable to Erie County Personnel Department and write the examination number(s) on your check or money order. Do not send or bring cash, as the County cannot be responsible for cash payment. As no refund will be made, you are urged to compare your qualifications carefully with the requirements for admission and file only for those examinations for which you are clearly qualified.