Licensing Specialist - Social Services Specialist IV

Division of Child Welfare: Provider Services Unit

This position is open to current Colorado residents only. This position is deemed 100% remote work.

About this position: This position is a pacesetter in the field who has a unique level of technical expertise in creating the landscape for the creation of collaboration with licensed Qualified Residential Treatment Programs (QRTPs) and carve-out populations who are exempt from the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA), such as specialized group facilities and other residential facilities, and the design of policies, procedures, and regulations impacting residential settings. Management routinely relies on the essential consultation of this position before deciding essential, wide-ranging critical program policy or direction to ensure residential practice is in compliance with required standards and to determine fidelity to federal requirements and best practices for youth placed in QRTPs, pregnant and parenting teen programs, programs designed to address youth who have been victims of trafficking, and independent living programs for youth between 18 and 21 years of age.

This position implements the Division's audit process to include sample reviews, technical assistance and training, issuing reports of inspection, issuing fines, authorizing licensure, and recommending adverse action against a facility, agency, or clinic. This includes researching and staying up-to-date on areas related to FFPSA such as independent assessment of youth admitting into QRTPs, oversight by medical and clinical professionals, development of discharge and aftercare plans, and compliance with Federal Institutes of Mental Disease Act as well as influencing policies, procedures, and requirements related to FFPSA and federal requirements for QRTPs, specialized group facilities, and residential settings serving carve out populations. This position identifies and recommends opportunities for improving standards of practice for programs to meet operational expectations. This position ensures that youth are receiving safe and adequate care and treatment by evaluating the physical plant, treatment planning, staff and care provider qualifications, training, and supervision, as well as financial stability, interviews with youth in care, and required corrective actions. This position is also responsible for handling and safeguarding confidential information regarding youth in care, as well as for specific provider staff background checks.

Summary of Job Duties

Licensing of Agencies and Facilities and Technical Assistance - Provide or research options for and coordinate technical assistance to licensed facilities and agencies in order to support the delivery of quality care to youth and to increase their compliance with State and Federal rules, with particular focus on child protection and safety. Oversee and direct providers to improve programming to ensure the safety, care, and well-being of children in placement. This position is a technical assistance expert for the Division of Child Welfare in the areas of licensing, child care/child welfare, and treatment planning related to these populations. Serve as the staff authority on child care and child welfare treatment and the protocols necessary to assure resident safety and well-being. This position is recognized as a staff authority specific to the Licensing Services Team and will be responsible in regard to background check practices as it relates to all facilities licensed by the Provider Services Unit. Management relies on this position's expertise for determining best practices for obtaining and reviewing background records for all staff members, foster parents, adults over the age of eighteen years living in foster homes, and volunteers working directly with children/youth in agencies licensed under the Provider Services Unit.

Evaluate the quality of programming, practices and policies, and compliance with providers of out-of-home care; specifically, conduct building and site inspections, ensure staff and care providers are supervised and trained according to their individual needs and the needs of the youth served in the facility or agency, assess treatment planning, observe milieu, assess quality of home study evaluations, assess behavioral interventions utilized by facilities, examine medication administration requirements, examine restraint and/or seclusion practices, examine financial documentation to ensure stability of agencies and facilities and that the needs of the youth are being met, and conduct interviews with staff, foster families, and youth to determine quality of care provided. This position researches and stays up-to-date on areas related to adoption practices, such as implementation and fidelity to the Structured Analysis Family Evaluation (SAFE) standards and implementing national standards and safety as they relate to foster care settings overseen by licensed Child Placement Agencies as well as private domestic and intercountry adoption settings. This position provides support to the other Licensing Specialists with regard to private adoption services provided within the Unit's licensed facilities and agencies.

Corrective Action - Compile and interpret data on patterns of provider deficiencies or gross incidents of non-compliance with Volume 7 in order to determine when adverse licensing actions is warranted. Provide documentation and testimony in summary suspension situations and other adverse action cases. Issue expert opinions, as authorized by the Division of Child Welfare, on child protection and safety that occur within agencies and facilities in order to prompt further actions by other entities within the Department and in the provider community. Advise management on action steps necessary to rectify ongoing concerns and violations at agency and when adverse action is indicated. Provide follow-up and increased on-site licensing until provider deficiencies are resolved and abuse/neglect or other safety concerns are alleviated.

Stakeholder Involvement - Participate in the development and implementation of integrated and consistent licensing protocols within the Division of Child Welfare as well as with other divisions and stakeholders, including Administrative Review Behavioral Health Administration, Office of Behavioral Health, and the Division of Youth Services. Consult as necessary regarding these protocols with county departments of human services, and other government agencies including the Department of Public Health and Environment, the Department of Education, Colorado Department of Public Safety, Department of Regulatory Agencies, Health Care Policy and Finance, Department of Early Childhood and the Office of Management Improvement. Develop, test, and refine review instruments in order to assure that the Department's child safety concerns are addressed. Ensure that facility self-assessment tools are developed, treatment standards are detailed in rule, and integrated (interagency) processes are maintained and enhanced. Provide licensing technical consultation and assistance to all Divisions responsible for out-of-home child placements to develop new rules, statutes, or revise rules in order to improve county and provider performance and to assure children's health, safety, and well-being. Initiate Volume 7 rule revisions and updates to reflect current practice and statute changes.

Position is relied on to be the expert opinion on how Volume 7 is interpreted and implemented, and when Volume 7 rules need to be modified to reflect changes in evidence-based practices and research publications. Identify when policy or rule revisions to Administration as a result of developing corrective action plans with facilities and agencies in which licensing visits reveal consistent and willful deficiencies.

Licenses, Continuation, and Renewals Approval - Evaluate and license programs both for initial and ongoing licensure. Evaluate programs initially to determine the most appropriate license type to serve the populations the provider seeks to support. Thoroughly analyze policies and procedures, behavior management and discipline, staff qualifications, medication administration, and plans for educational, community, and recreational activities, treatment and services to be provided, and site compliance and quality via inspections and interviews. Ensure that facilities meet mandatory requirements of external entities that also oversee facilities: CDPHE, zoning and planning, and fire departments. Conduct reviews at minimum annually, reviewing staff and youth files to ensure compliance with licensing requirements. Complete reports of inspection to identify rule violations. Ensure agency response and timely correction of violations.

Other Duties as Assigned - All other duties as assigned by leadership within the Division of Child Welfare.

Minimum Qualifications

Experience Only: Seven (7) years of relevant experience in an occupation related to the work assigned to this position OR

Education and Experience: A combination of related education and/or relevant experience in an occupation related to the work assigned equal to seven (7) years.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Human Services, Social Work, Psychology, or Sociology.
• Two (2) or more years of work experience related to human services or licensing.
• Demonstrated knowledge of child welfare policies and practices, residential best practice standards, and licensing regulations and statutes.
• Experience in an advisory or consultative role.
• Proven ability to direct research, analyze, and report on complex issues.
• Outstanding skills and abilities in verbal and written communications; ability to adapt a style to fit audiences of varying technical levels, and at various levels within an organization, in groups and individual settings. Demonstrated ability to establish collaborative partnerships and effective working relationships with a variety of internal and external customers and diverse public and private stakeholders.
• Demonstrated proficiency working collaboratively with internal teams; and national, state, and community partners.
• Knowledge of Volume 7 Rules and Regulations.
• Demonstrated knowledge working in CCCLS, TRAILS, I-LINX, and multiple databases and scanning systems.
• Applied Behavior Analysis work with children/youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and/or Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD).

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