Youth Services Specialist II - Grand Mesa YSC - Grand Junction.

Department Information

The primary duties of this position are located within 30 miles of the state border; therefore, this position is exempt from the residency requirements.

Please note: This recruitment may be used to fill multiple vacancies (Including both part and full time positions).

Most State of Colorado employees are eligible for a great benefit package! Please see the Supplemental Information section below for details!

Physical Job location

Grand Mesa Youth Service Center

360 28 Road

Grand Junction, CO 81501

About The Division Of Youth Services

The mission of the Division of Youth Services (DYS) is to protect, restore and improve public safety utilizing a continuum of care that provides effective supervision, promotes accountability to victims and communities, and helps youth lead constructive lives through positive youth development. The strategic goal of DYS is to operate healthy trauma-responsive organizational environments as demonstrated through prosocial, safe, and non-violent interactions.

DYS provides a continuum of services that encompass juvenile detention, assessment, commitment and parole. DYS is the agency statutorily mandated to provide for the care and supervision of youth committed by the District Court to the custody of the Colorado Department of Human Services. The Division operates 15 secure facilities that serve youth between the ages of 10 and 21, who are pre-adjudicated, sentenced, or committed. For pre-adjudicated youth, the Division is also responsible for the management and oversight of the Colorado Youth Detention Continuum; a State-funded, locally administered program that provides services to youth at risk of further progressing into the juvenile justice system. In addition to residential programming, the Division administers juvenile parole services throughout the State. We have many opportunities within DYS to positively impact youth and families.

We invite you to explore the DYS website and learn about the services provided to youth, families, and local communities in the State of Colorado

at:

We are committed to increasing the diversity of our staff and providing culturally responsive programs and services. Therefore, we encourage responses from people of diverse backgrounds and abilities.

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CDHSCareers

Description Of Job

We Want To Hire You If

• You have a passion for youth and a desire to improve your community
• You love learning new skills and teaching them to others
• You know how to lead others in maintaining a physically, socially, psychologically, and morally safe culture
• You thrive on developing healthy relationships, professionalism, and teamwork

About Division Of Youth Services

This work unit exists to provide for the direct care, safety, and security of pre-adjudicated or adjudicated youth in the Division of Youth Services custody using a trauma-responsive approach. The unit exists to provide 24- hour, seven-day-a-week care and supervision of youth in a secure residential setting covering work assignments ranging from Admissions and Control, school and day programming, and detention, assessment, and commitment (long-term treatment) living units. The Division of Youth Services (DYS) is committed to hiring individuals who are professionals, team players, and passionate about their desire to help youth. DYS values candidates who have demonstrated perseverance as a special attribute that can help the youth in our care.

Duties

This position is a direct care/essential role that provides direct and engaging supervision of Youth in DYS State Operated Secure Facilities. This position also functions as a Lead Worker and is partially accountable for the work product of Youth Services Specialist I (YSS I). Specific duties and expectations are:

Safety/Security. Work involves providing direct care, safety, security, and supervision of adjudicated and/or pre-adjudicated youth in a secure setting. Monitor, participate, support, and enforce behavioral management plans for individual youth as directed (e.g. Behavioral Contracts, Individual Growth and Change Plans). Duties include supervision of youth or group of youth, supervision of daily activities, youth orientation, intervention in crisis situations, non-escalation, de-escalation, use of physical response/restraint in emergency situations, debriefing of all incidents, and conducting searches. The Work Leader's duties include staff accountability for quality and quantity of work, shift supervision, training, coaching and mentoring of YSS I employees, establishing work standards, performing quality assurance functions, and providing input for performance evaluations.

Youth Center Programming. Actively and with positive engagement, implement and follow the Youth Center’s behavioral management program, teach, coach, and redirect youth within the program. Support DYS initiatives and strategies as they relate to youth programming and crisis intervention. Facilitating milieu and skill groups for youth.

Documentation/Recording and Reporting. Document observations of youth behavior and response to program(s) and document all unit activities and required information in appropriate logs and records systems. Document all youth group activities in appropriate database systems.

Organizational Accountability. Through all communications and behaviors demonstrate, support, and contribute to a healthy, positive, and respectful cultural climate throughout the Youth Center by adhering to our organizational values of Nonviolence, Open Communication, Social Responsibility, Growth and Change, Social Learning, Democracy, and Emotional Intelligence. Requirement to adhere to the CDHS Code of Conduct, DYS Compliance Review Standards, and CDHS and DYS policies. Success will come through the development of healthy, positive relationships supported by creating a trauma responsive environment.

Training . Complete DYS Pre-Service training academy, Youth Center training, and orientation process as a new employee. Some travel may be required. Complete all assigned online training, and maintain and support the Division’s prevailing behavior management and intervention strategies. Training will help you learn problem-solving, the development of relationships with youth grounded in solid boundaries, how to teach skills to youth to decrease further risk and need, and a better understanding of trauma, behavioral health, and high- risk behavior.

Other Duties As Assigned

Minimum Qualifications, Substitutions, Conditions of Employment & Appeal Rights

• Please read the entire job announcement and follow all of the instructions prior to completing the application. You must provide documentation to be given credit for it. There will be no exceptions on timelines to provide documentation. All documentation must be uploaded- this is the first evaluation in the selection process***

Note: Applications will be reviewed to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications for the position. If it is determined that you meet the minimum qualifications, your application will also be used as part of the examination process. You should ensure that your application specifically addresses the requirements as listed in the minimum and preferred qualifications, as well as the job duties and the highly desired competencies. Take the time to adequately address your specialized experience, work products, and accomplishments as they relate to the position.

Minimum Qualification

Work Experience

One (1) year of full-time professional corrections-related* experience working in a correctional or trauma-informed facility.

• Corrections-related experience is defined as the custody and control of a detained or adjudicated population and/or experience as a POST Certified Officer, or Military Law Enforcement.

Note: Anything less than 40 hours per week is considered part-time experience. Credit is given for part-time work but is calculated by prorating the qualifying experience.

AND

Educational Requirements

High school diploma or General Education Diploma, (GED).

Substitution: College with course work in social or behavioral sciences, criminal justice, human services, physical education/recreational studies or closely related field will substitute for the required experience on a year-for-year basis.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working with adjudicated and/or detained youth within a secure facility
• Self-motivated
• Positive role model
• Attention to Detail
• Problem Solving
• Teamwork
• Effective Communication
• Adaptability
• Trainer certification in staff development
• Supervisory, management, and/or leadership experience
• Critical Thinking and Decision Making skills
• Google Suite: Docs, Sheets, Slides
• College degree in social or behavioral sciences, criminal justice, human services, physical education/recreational studies or closely related field
• Relevant years of state service experience.

Conditions of Employment

• Full Background. CDHS employees (all Direct contact with vulnerable persons): CBI name check and fingerprint check, ICON Colorado court database, Medicare fraud database, Reference Checks, Professional License verification (licensure requirements), Drug Screen, PREA (Division of Youth Services), Trails check (direct contact with children), CAPS (direct contact with adults – Mental Health Institutes, Regional Centers, Veterans Community Living Centers).
• Be a minimum of 21 years of age, with no felony convictions or history of domestic violence.
• Must possess a valid, unrestricted U.S. Driver's License
• Shift Work - subject to assigned Shift
• Travel- Transportation of youth in state vehicles travel to assigned training and/or alternate work sites.
• Continued employment is contingent upon successful completion of the DYS Pre-service Training Academy, Field Training Program (FTO), and mandatory annual training in all subject areas.
• Former State employees who were disciplinarily terminated or resigned in lieu of termination must (1) disclose that information on the application (2) provide an explanation why the prior termination or resignation should not disqualify the applicant from the current position, (3) provide the employee number from the applicant’s prior State employment. Absent extraordinary circumstances, prior disciplinary termination or resignation in lieu of termination and failure to provide this information will disqualify the applicant from future State employment with CDHS.

Appeal Rights

If you receive notice that you have been eliminated from consideration for this position, you may file an appeal with the State Personnel Board or request a review by the State Personnel Director.

An appeal or review must be submitted on the official appeal form, signed by you or your representative. This form must be delivered to the State Personnel Board by email (***email_hidden***), postmarked in US Mail or hand delivered (1525 Sherman Street, 4th Floor, Denver CO 80203), or faxed View phone number on workus.org) within ten (10) calendar days from your receipt of notice or acknowledgement of the department’s action.

For more information about the appeals process, the official appeal form, and how to deliver it to the State Personnel Board; go to spb.colorado.gov ; contact the State Personnel Board for assistance at View phone number on workus.org; or refer to 4 Colorado Code of Regulations (CCR) 801-1, State Personnel Board Rules and Personnel Director's Administrative Procedures, Chapter 8, Resolution of Appeals and Disputes, at spb.colorado.gov under Rules.

Supplemental Information

How To Apply

Need help with your application? Click here.

The Assessment Process

For additional recruiting questions, please contact brennon.watts @state.co.us

If your goal is to build a career that makes a difference, consider joining the dedicated people of the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS). Our professionals strive to design and deliver high quality human and health services that improve the safety, independence, and well-being of the people of Colorado. In addition to a great location and rewarding and meaningful work, we offer:

• Strong, secure, yet flexible retirement benefits including a PERA Defined Benefit Plan or PERA Defined Contribution Plan plus 401(k) and 457 plans
• Medical and dental health plans
• Employer supplemented Health Savings Account
• Paid life insurance
• Short- and long-term disability coverage
• 11 paid holidays per year plus vacation and sick leave
• BenefitHub state employee discount program
• Employee Wellness program MotivateMe
• Excellent work-life programs, such as flexible schedules, training and more
• Remote work arrangements for eligible positions
• Some positions may qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. For more

information, go to .

Our Values

We believe in a people-first approach: To serve the people of Colorado, we develop a culture and work environment that creates an energized, inspired, and healthy team capable of giving their best to Coloradans .

Balance creates quality of life: We want our team to be resilient through a supportive workplace that values flexibility, health and wellness, and employee engagement.

We hold ourselves accountable: We take responsibility through our actions, programs, and results for the state of health and human services in Colorado.

Transparency matters: We are open and honest with employees, our partners, the Coloradans we serve, and the public.

We are ethical: We abide by what is best for those we serve by doing what is right, not what is easy.

Collaboration helps us rise together: We work together with all partners, employees, and clients to achieve the best outcomes for Coloradans.

We are committed to increasing the diversity of our staff and providing culturally responsive programs and services. Therefore, we encourage responses from people of diverse backgrounds and abilities.

ADA Accommodations: CDHS is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, our agency will assist individuals who have a disability with any reasonable accommodation requests related to employment, including completing the application process, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, participating in the employee selection process, and/or to perform essential job functions where the requested accommodation does not impose an undue hardship. If you have a disability and require reasonable accommodation to ensure you have a positive experience applying or interviewing for this position, please direct your inquiries to our ADAA Coordinator, Nancy Schmelzer, at View email address on workus.org or call View phone number on workus.org.

~THE STATE OF COLORADO IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER~

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