DCYF Assistant Secretary, Juvenile Rehabilitation

Description

The Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) was created to be a comprehensive agency exclusively dedicated to the social, emotional, and physical well-being of children, youth, and families regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or other socioeconomic factors.

We are seeking an experienced, highly-motivated, ethical, compassionate, and visionary individual to lead the Department’s Juvenile Rehabilitation program (JR) as the Assistant Secretary. JR provides young people with the tools they need to make substantial changes in their lives and help them have a better future. Our next Assistant Secretary will have a core vision of improving employment, rehabilitation, and healthy outcomes in a framework of social justice and equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Why Washington?
Home to some of the best coffee, entertainment, education, and outdoor activities, there is something for everyone here in Washington! Centrally located in the capitol of Olympia, we are right between top-rated cities like Seattle and Portland, Oregon. Olympia has a small-town feel with big city convenience. We are within walking distance from boutique shopping, locally-owned restaurants, live theater, and entertainment. Outdoors more your thing? Come hike through our old-growth rainforests, bike through downtown Seattle, fish in one of our many famous lakes and rivers, or enjoy the cascading waterfalls.

About the Assistant Secretary Position:
This leader will have the ability to work with community partners and provide leadership in addressing racial and ethnic disparities in the context of the increasing national dialogue about the impact of institutional racism on youth of color. This exempt position serves at the pleasure of the appointing authority and has authority, within state and federal rules and laws, to make decisions in the following areas: budget, policy, personnel, grants, contracts, inter-agency agreements, juvenile-justice improvement efforts, emergency management responses, employee investigation and discipline, and risk management.

JR is responsible for residential, parole, and treatment programs for young people up to the age of 25 who are adjudicated in juvenile court or convicted in adult court of crimes committed before age 18. Washington has made great progress in reducing juvenile crime and juvenile incarceration, expanding the use of evidence-based practices, and expanding the ability of the juvenile justice system to serve young adults up to age 25.



The Leader in this role will:

• Provide visionary leadership to juvenile rehabilitation services, resulting in:
  • Reductions in recidivism through a focus on treatment, employment, education, reentry services, positive youth development principles, and client and family engagement.
  • Improvements in racial and ethnic parity and workforce diversity.
  • Greater treatment, rehabilitation, reentry and reintegration outcomes, including increased student preparation and planning for employment and higher wage jobs, behavioral health, and housing stability.
  • Significantly shifting to innovative use of least restrictive alternatives as much as possible rather than secure confinement.
• Connect the mission and vision of DCYF and JR to every encounter with staff, policymakers, and legislators, budget and policy decisions, personnel, other systems, community members.
• Continually strive to build connections and strategic partnerships with government entities, businesses, community organizations, and diverse community leaders in order to advance a shared mission of rehabilitation and greater shared ownership of positive youth and young adult outcomes.
• Advocate strongly for racial and ethnic fairness in all services and across juvenile justice and adolescent programs.
• Provide oversight and leadership to the operations of 24/7 facilities, with an unwavering commitment to the safety and welfare of young people and staff.
• Responsible for approximately 900 employees and $100M budget, including $36M in grants to counties to operate portions of the counties’ juvenile justice system.
• Design, supervise, direct, and engage team members in short-and long-term planning in complex adaptive situations. Encourage teams and team members to utilize data to inform practice, policy, and budget decisions. Utilize project management strategies to guide implementation efforts.
• Advocate with DCYF leadership for continuous improvements and capacity for JR youth to actualize life goals. Seeks opportunities to scale effective programs; identifies and applies for external funding opportunities; makes recommendations to DCYF leadership on programmatic and legislative needs; implements innovative ideas for funding and program design and continuous improvement to meet the needs of youth and young adults, their families, and caregivers; and makes presentations to internal and external audiences, as requested.
• Utilize organizational and leadership skills to build, support, and sustain highly effective teams and celebrate successes.
• Serve as primary point of contact for Juvenile Rehabilitation expertise and representation to key partners/stakeholders including legislators, legislative staff, Governor’s policy and budget office regarding operational and budget planning and performance, tribal governments, Washington State Partnership Council for Juvenile Justice, judiciary, local governments, state agency partners, national leadership organizations, as well as other external youth and families’ organizations/groups.
• Serve as a member of the Council of Juvenile Justice Administrators and the American Correctional Association and meet with other national juvenile justice leaders to discuss and address issues and policy related to treatment, rehabilitation, and services to youth.
• Build and maintain effective working relationships with the agency’s labor partners, including SEIU 1199 and WFSE. This includes strategizing on JR collective bargaining and other labor/management efforts.
• Develop and mentor the leaders of DCYF JR Division. This position holds these team leaders accountable to both strategic and tactical objectives, demonstrating agency values, quality improvement commitments, and meeting performance objectives.

A successful Assistant Secretary has a clear sense of direction and balance regarding the care of youth and young adults, managing public safety, and:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in criminal justice, social work, human services, education, behavioral sciences, organizational development, public administration, or an allied field.
• Five years of progressively responsible and multi-dimensional experience in supervising people and managing complex programs. A Master’s degree in one of the aforementioned fields will substitute for one of the years of required experience.

• Degree must be from an accredited college or university whose accreditation is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).

In addition to those required qualifications, our ideal applicant will also have some or all of the following experience, skills, and abilities:

• Lead teams through organizational change, program planning, and continuous quality improvement.
• Hire and supervise, build a cohesive work team, delegate duties and support staff in achieving program goals. Ability to develop staff and help individuals reach their highest potential.
• Administer and manage statewide programs in alignment with agency mission.
• Communicate with internal and external juvenile justice partners to achieve the DCYF mission.
• Understanding of the government-to-government relationship between the state and federally recognized Tribes of Washington State, as affirmed by the Centennial Accord.
• Ability to use data, technology and research effectively and strategically to assess service needs, evaluate service/program effectiveness and client outcomes, and identify service delivery approaches and business strategies that will add value and improve performance.
• Skills to strategically plan and develop measurable goals and targets, and to monitor organizational performance and progress.
• Ability to work in a political environment collaboratively with a broad spectrum of stakeholders, including local and state elected officials, other state agencies, local governments, tribal leaders, community-based organizations, and advocacy groups.
• Ability to manage large, complex budgets with multiple funding streams.
• Ability to plan and manage multiple and complex projects and initiatives in collaboration with communities, other agencies, and tribal organizations.
• Models equitable practices by approaching work with an equity, diversity, and inclusion lens.
• Understanding of human service systems and criminal justice systems at the state and local community level in Washington State.

How do I apply?
Complete your applicant profile and attach the following documents:

• Letter of interest describing how you meet the specific qualifications for this position
• Current resume detailing experience and education

Special Requirements/Conditions of Employment:

• The Assistant Secretary needs to have an understanding of personnel/merit systems, the DCYF organizational structure, and the political environment in which it functions.
• This position is exempt from Washington’s civil service rules. Exempt employment is considered “at will,” and there are no contractual employment rights. Exempt employees serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority.
• The responsibility of this position is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Assistant Secretary must respond to questions and programmatic and operational issues after hours and on weekends, especially during the legislative session.
• Successfully complete, within mandated time frames, employee orientation, and all other mandatory annual, in-service, and other required training.
• Provide physical residential address and home telephone number to the agency.
• Become familiar and comply with all policies and procedures and Collective Bargaining Agreements as applicable.
• Pass a national fingerprint background check and complete a questionnaire mandated by the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) inquiring about any sexual misconduct. Information from the background check will not necessarily preclude employment but will be considered in determining the applicant's suitability and competence to perform in the job.
• Travel is required throughout the state and nationally. Must be willing to make overnight trips as needed for required meetings/training. Travel to facilities under hazardous road and weather conditions.

Supplemental Information:
DCYF is an equal opportunity employer and supports equity, diversity, inclusion, and respect.

Need accommodation throughout the application/interview process? Unable to apply on-line? Contact Lyndsey Beaupre at dcyf.jobs@dcyf.wa.gov or (360) 628-0114 or the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf at 800-833-6388.

Experiencing technical difficulties creating, accessing or completing your application? Call NEOGOV toll-free at (855)524-5627 or email support@neogov.com.

The initial screening will be based on the content and completeness of your application and the materials submitted. All information may be verified and documentation may be required. Applications with comments such as "see attachments" or "N/A" in the supplemental question responses will be considered incomplete.

To take advantage of Veteran's preference please attach your DD-214, member 4 long-form, or your NGB-22. Please black out your social security number prior to attaching.

General suggestions for creating a good application packet:

• Read the job posting very carefully. Find out as much as you can about the position.
• Make sure you are very diligent in following all the application instructions. Include all requested documentation.
• Make sure your application and supplemental question responses address how you meet each of the required and desired qualifications.
• Carefully read each of the supplemental questions and respond completely to each one. Pay careful attention to each component of the question, providing examples, and thoroughly describing when and where you achieved the proficiency level, and detail the types of work you performed, the work products, etc., to demonstrate 'how'.
• Specifically include all of your work experiences doing the same or similar work, especially if you reference work in these jobs in describing when/where you gained proficiency level skills.
• Make sure your application reflects your best writing.

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