Assistant Director, Programs, Outreach

Socket.dev; New York (NY); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Breaking Ground seeks an Assistant Director, Programs, Outreach to support 24/7 outreach and housing placement in Queens. Collaborate with city partners to move street homeless individuals into housing while guiding teams and ensuring service delivery.

The role requires LMSW licensure (within six months), 2+ years supervisory experience, crisis intervention skills, and capacity to engage diverse populations.

Qualifications

• Must hold NYS LMSW; must obtain within first six months of employment.
• Minimum 2 years of supervisory experience.
• Thorough clinical understanding of Housing First, Harm Reduction, motivational interviewing, behavioral and medical health systems.
• Experience with crisis intervention, risk assessments, and incident management.
• Ability to work with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Demonstrated success in a fast-paced environment with multiple priorities.
• Ability to delegate and motivate staff to achieve deliverables.
• Strong verbal and written communication with diverse populations and stakeholders.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite; familiarity with Access-based databases; ability to learn new programs.
• Valid NY or NJ driver’s license preferred.
• Bilingual Spanish/English preferred

Responsibilities

• Supervise Team Leaders and conduct regular supervision meetings.
• Implement outreach and engagement strategies to identify areas where individuals stay on the street and provide services.
• Support high-quality service delivery by coordinating with on-site psychiatric/street medicine team and managing crisis interventions.
• Promote Housing First and Harm Reduction approaches in outreach and case management.
• Coordinate delivery of care with multiple service providers, especially transitional housing teams.
• Guide frontline staff in handling difficult situations and de-escalation.
• Ensure timely documentation and incident management reporting to oversight entities.
• Foster a culture prioritizing housing placement readiness and client stability.
• Engage external partners to support service planning and program operations.

Skills

LMSW license

Supervisory experience

Crisis intervention

Stakeholder communication

Microsoft Office Suite

Driving license

Bilingual Spanish/English

Housing First

Education

MSW (Master of Social Work)

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

Access-based databases

Microsoft Teams

Job description

Breaking Ground’s Street to Home program makes regular contact with more than 2,000 street homeless individuals and connects more than 500 individuals to housing, medical and mental health services, substance abuse counseling, and other essential supports each year. The caring, individually tailored attention clients receive at each stage of their journey from street to home ensures that more than 95% of people who Breaking Ground places remain stably housed.

Reporting to the Director, Programs the Assistant Director, Programs, Outreach is responsible for supporting 24/7 outreach and housing placement work in all of Queens. With the goal of moving people off the street and into transitional and permanent housing, the Assistant Director supports the Director with collaborations with other outreach providers, city agencies, and a broad array of community stakeholders to help reduce street homelessness. The Assistant Director supports outreach activities and program operations including 311 responses, canvassing strategies, and managing encampments and hotspots. The Assistant Director supervises Team Leaders and supports Harm Reduction and Housing First strategies and other best practice clinical interventions.

The Assistant Director works primarily during business hours Monday-Friday, with off hours availability in case of emergency or for special projects/initiatives. The position requires oversight of 24/7 operations and flexibility in work schedule as needed.

Program staff will be required to find and assist street homeless individuals under the most extreme weather situations and leadership presence during winter alerts will be required. Must be willing and able to engage with street homeless individuals and can handle multiple tasks in a fast paced, dynamic team environment and demonstrate a willingness to shift easily between various responsibilities with diverse populations.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Supervise Team Leaders
• Provide regular, structured supervision meetings for direct reports
• Implement outreach and engagement strategies toidentify areas where individuals are staying on the street and provide services to support these individuals
• Ensure high quality service delivery by supporting best practice interventions with street homeless populations, collaborating with on-site psychiatric/street medicine team, and providing crisis intervention, including 958 removals and risk assessments
• Promote effective strategies for effective outreach, case management, and placement of clients following Housing First, Harm Reduction, Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI), Motivational Interviewing and trauma-informed care models of practice
• Coordinate delivery of care with multiple service providers, particularly transitional housing teams
• Provide support and guidance to front line staff in managingdifficult situations and successfully de-escalating conflict
• Provide guidance for incident management, crisis interventions, risk assessments, and ensure all documentation issubmitted to appropriate oversight entities in a timely manner
• Promote a staff and resident culture that emphasizes housing placement as a measurement of success; ensure that clients are ready for housing placement
• With direction from the Director, respond and engage with external partners, including service partners, government representatives, community stakeholders, hospital personnel, and other agencies to ensure responsive and effective service planning and program operations
• Perform other duties as assigned

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• NYS Licensed Masters Social Worker (LMSW) required. Must obtain LMSW within first six months of employment
• Minimum 2 years of supervisory experience
• Thorough clinical understanding of relevant service delivery concepts and structures including Housing First, client centered motivational interviewing, Harm Reduction models, behavioral and medical health systems, and the ability to access and negotiate the full range of services for recipients
• Experience with crisis intervention, including, risk assessments and incident management
• Ability to work successfully with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders
• Demonstrated success in working in a fast-paced environment with multiple priorities
• Ability to delegate and motivate staff to achieve deliverables
• Ability to communicate (verbally and written) with diverse populations and stakeholders
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite programs including Word, Excel, Outlook, and Microsoft Teams; familiarity with Access-based databases and the ability to learn new programs are required
• Valid NY or NJ driver’s license with a good driving record, as defined by Breaking Ground is preferred
• Bilingual Spanish/English preferred