Assistant Director

Project Renewal is a leading non-profit organization with the mission of building supportive communities where people achieve dignity and independence, renewing their lives with health, homes, and jobs. Our comprehensive and integrated 24/7 programs are designed to offer the holistic care our clients need. With a staff of 950+ and an annual budget of $140 million, Project Renewal is one of the larger social service nonprofits in New York City.

Title:        Assistance Director

Program: Canopy House Women’s shelter

Salary:    $75,000 - $80,000 per year  

Program Description

Canopy House provides 171 emergency shelter beds for homeless women diagnosed with mental illness and/or substance use disorders. Our comprehensive services include case management, individual and group counseling, recreational activities, occupational therapy, mental health services and housing placement assistance. Canopy House is a unique facility in that it is co-located with a supportive housing program that occupies the top 15 floors of the building and offers a street facing Article 28 clinic on the first floor dedicated to providing primary and behavioral health care services.

Overall Responsibilities:
Under the general direction of the Shelter Director, with latitude for independent action, the Assistant Director coordinates with the Building Manager and the Director of Social Services to ensure that the day-to-day operations are up to Project Renewal and Department of Homeless Services (DHS) standards. The Assistant Director supervises the Residential Aides including Residential Aide shift Supervisors, making sure the shelter is staffed by them on a 24/7 basis in accordance with DHS guidelines, which include the necessary ongoing First Aid training, fire safety certification, and Opiate Overdose Prevention Training; oversees the activities providing for the safety of the residents and staff in the building; performs related work.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
The essential duties of the Assistant Director include but are not limited to the following activities:

• Monitors day-to-day activities to ensure there is a clean, safe, and secure environment provided for both clients and staff. Regularly tours the interior and exterior of the building to make sure conditions are in accord with established standards. Initiates corrective action if necessary.
• Ensures that required Incident Reports are prepared by staff and submitted to both Project Renewal and DHS staff in a timely fashion, providing all relevant information and documentation as soon as possible following the incident.
• Supervises Residential Aide program staff to ensure that services are being provided to the clients, security protocols are being followed, and that notations are being made in the designated logs.
• Ensures that staff are provided training in required skills, including communicating and interacting with clients, security protocols and use of security equipment, record keeping and incident reporting.
• Monitors the implementation of the Shelter Emergency Plan, which includes conducting required Fire Drills three times a month; maintaining the records to have current certificates for Fire Safety, scheduling staff for training as needed.
• Participates in case conferences in response to client complaints, using conflict resolution techniques to amicably resolve issues.
• Assists the Director in compiling information and documentation needed to defend a claim submitted by either a client or staff member.
• As designated by the Director, attends the District Service Cabinet Committee meetings and Council meetings.
• Performs other duties as assigned by the Shelter Director.
• Available to respond to emergencies on a 24/7/365 basis, especially after normal working hours and on weekends. 

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with 2 years’ experience working with individuals who struggle with homelessness, mentally illness and substance use and/or other special needs populations is preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to manage and motivate staff to accomplish stated program goals and objectives while developing their individual and group skills.
• Capacity to develop/exhibit, in collaboration with the staff and the Performance Evaluation and Quality Assurance Department (PEQA), the ability to independently evaluate and manage program performance using data. 
• Ability to develop and foster, through demonstration, a team spirit, enabling staff to overcome the challenges of providing services needed to a special client population.
• Excellent oral, writing, listening, and negotiating skills.
• The ability to work well within a high-pressure environment and meet the short and long-term mandates of the program.
• An ability to interface with clients as well as all levels of staff. 
• Knowledge of case management software as well as proficiency in the Microsoft Office Suite.
• Bilingual or multilingual a plus.

Project Renewal is an equal opportunity employer.  Its long-standing policy has been to embrace the equality of opportunity for all employees and applicants without regard to actual or perceived race, color, national origin, alienage or citizenship status, religion or creed, gender (see separately issued Gender Discrimination policy for more detail), physical or mental disability, age (18 and over), military status, arrest record, marital status, domestic partnership status, genetic information or predisposing genetic characteristic, sexual orientation, status as a victim or witness of domestic violence, sex offenses or stalking, unemployment status or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state and local laws.