CW Director

Position Summary:

The Child Welfare Director provides strategic, operational, and clinical leadership for Arizona's Children Association's child welfare programs and services. This position is responsible for ensuring high-quality, trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and family-centered services that promote the safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families.

The Director oversees program operations, staff development, regulatory compliance, contract performance, quality assurance, and community partnerships. The position works closely with executive leadership, program staff, public child welfare agencies, courts, behavioral health providers, schools, tribal communities, and other community partners to improve outcomes for children and families.

The successful candidate will bring strong leadership experience in child welfare, a commitment to family preservation and permanency, excellent knowledge of Arizona's child welfare system, and the ability to translate organizational strategy into effective day-to-day program operations.

Annual Salary: $91,000.00-$95,000.00

Key Responsibilities:

Program Leadership and Operations

• Provide overall leadership and direction for the organization's child welfare programs.
• Develop and implement program strategies, policies, procedures, and performance objectives consistent with the organization's mission and strategic plan.
• Ensure services are delivered in a trauma-informed, strengths-based, culturally responsive, and child- and family-centered manner.
• Monitor program capacity, staffing, caseloads, service delivery, and resource utilization.
• Establish clear performance expectations and accountability measures for program leadership and staff.
• Identify operational challenges and develop timely corrective and improvement strategies.
• Promote continuous improvement and innovative approaches to improving outcomes for children and families.

Child Safety, Permanency, and Well-Being

• Ensure that child safety, permanency, and well-being remain central to all program decisions.
• Promote practices that support family preservation, reunification, kinship care, adoption, guardianship, and other appropriate permanency outcomes.
• Ensure staff understand and apply applicable child welfare standards, evidence-informed practices, and organizational policies.
• Support effective collaboration with families, caregivers, children, youth, and natural support systems.
• Promote meaningful engagement of children and families in case planning and decision-making.
• Monitor program outcomes and develop strategies to address disparities or barriers affecting children and families.

Arizona Child Welfare System and Compliance

• Maintain working knowledge of Arizona child welfare laws, regulations, policies, contracts, and applicable licensing requirements.
• Ensure organizational programs comply with applicable federal, state, county, tribal, contractual, and accreditation requirements.
• Maintain effective relationships with the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS), courts, licensing entities, and other governmental and community partners.
• Ensure required documentation, reports, case records, and performance measures are completed accurately and timely.
• Respond appropriately to audits, monitoring reviews, investigations, corrective action requirements, and other compliance matters.
• Keep executive leadership informed of significant regulatory, contractual, operational, or risk-management issues.

Staff Leadership and Development

• Recruit, hire, develop, coach, and retain high-performing child welfare leadership and program teams.
• Provide regular supervision and leadership support to program managers and supervisors.
• Establish a culture of accountability, professional development, psychological safety, and teamwork.
• Ensure staff receive required training, ongoing professional development, and appropriate clinical/programmatic support.
• Monitor staffing levels and develop strategies to address turnover, vacancies, workload concerns, and employee engagement.
• Model ethical, respectful, and inclusive leadership.

Quality Assurance and Performance Management
• Develop and monitor key performance indicators related to safety, permanency, well-being, client engagement, service quality, compliance, and staff performance.
• Use data and program evaluation to identify trends, risks, and opportunities for improvement.
• Establish quality assurance processes and ensure timely implementation of corrective action plans.
• Review program outcomes with leadership and develop measurable improvement strategies.
• Promote evidence-informed and outcome-focused practices throughout child welfare services.

Fiscal and Contract Management

• Participate in development and management of departmental budgets.
• Monitor program expenditures, staffing costs, revenue, and contract performance.
• Ensure services are delivered in accordance with contractual requirements and available resources.
• Collaborate with finance and executive leadership regarding budgeting, forecasting, grant requirements, and financial performance.
• Identify opportunities for program growth, sustainability, and additional funding.

Risk Management and Critical Incidents

• Ensure appropriate organizational response to critical incidents, allegations, complaints, and significant client or employee concerns.
• Partner with executive leadership and appropriate internal departments on risk management and incident response.
• Ensure timely reporting and follow-up consistent with applicable requirements.
• Promote a culture focused on safety, ethical practice, transparency, and continuous learning.

Minimum Education & Experience:
• Bachelor's degree in social work, psychology, counseling, human services, public administration, or a related field.
• Master's degree in social work, counseling, psychology, public administration, or a related field preferred.
• Minimum of 5-7 years of progressive experience in child welfare, behavioral health, social services, or a related human services field.
• Minimum of 3 years of supervisory or management experience, preferably managing child welfare programs or multidisciplinary teams.
• Demonstrated knowledge of child welfare principles, family systems, trauma-informed care, and permanency planning.
• Knowledge of Arizona's child welfare system and relevant state and federal requirements.
• Demonstrated experience with program development, quality assurance, performance management, and regulatory/contract compliance.
• Strong written, verbal, interpersonal, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze data and translate findings into operational improvements.
• Ability to work effectively with diverse populations and multidisciplinary stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications
• Master's degree in Social Work (MSW) or related field.
• Arizona social work or behavioral health professional licensure, when applicable to the position.
• Experience working directly with the Arizona Department of Child Safety or contracted child welfare providers.
• Experience managing state or county child welfare contracts.
• Experience with accreditation, program audits, corrective action plans, and continuous quality improvement.
• Experience working with tribal communities and/or Native American children and families.
• Experience overseeing foster care, kinship care, adoption, reunification, family preservation, or prevention programs.
• Knowledge of evidence-informed child welfare models and practices.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs)
• Child welfare principles, practices, and service delivery models, including child safety, permanency, and well-being.
• Family-centered, strengths-based, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive approaches to serving children, youth, and families.
• Arizona's child welfare system, including the roles and responsibilities of the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS), contracted providers, courts, caregivers, and community partners.
• Federal and Arizona laws, regulations, policies, standards, and contractual requirements governing child welfare services.
• Foster care, kinship care, family preservation, reunification, adoption, guardianship, independent living, and other permanency services.
• Child abuse and neglect prevention, identification, reporting, assessment, and intervention practices.
• Case management principles, documentation standards, service planning, and permanency planning.
• Strategic leadership and organizational planning.
• Managing complex child welfare programs and multidisciplinary teams.
• Translating organizational goals into measurable program objectives and operational plans.
• Building and maintaining effective relationships with DCS, courts, tribal partners, funders, community organizations, and other stakeholders.
• Supervising, coaching, mentoring, and developing managers and professional staff.
• Recruiting and retaining qualified child welfare professionals.
• Analyzing program performance, identifying trends, and implementing corrective or improvement strategies.
• Strategic leadership and organizational planning.
• Managing complex child welfare programs and multidisciplinary teams.
• Translating organizational goals into measurable program objectives and operational plans.
• Building and maintaining effective relationships with DCS, courts, tribal partners, funders, community organizations, and other stakeholders.
• Supervising, coaching, mentoring, and developing managers and professional staff.
• Recruiting and retaining qualified child welfare professionals.
• Analyzing program performance, identifying trends, and implementing corrective or improvement strategies.

Minimum Qualification & Requirements

• Possess a valid Arizona driver's license and be insurable under the agency's automobile policy.
• May be required to travel for program and agency required meetings.
• Must be able to provide DPS fingerprint clearance.
• Must be able to meet training and agency compliance requirements for the position.
• An individual may qualify for this position if the individual is able to "perform safely" the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodations .Perform safely means to perform without causing a direct threat to the health or safety of the individual or others that cannot be eliminated by reasonable accommodations, as defined by 42 U.S.C. #1211 (b) and the Commission's regulations found at 29 C.F.R #1630.2 (r).