Health Care Principal Professional – Crisis Counselor

University of Colorado

5d•Remote

About The Position

The Hospital Follow-Up Program (HFUP) is a statewide program within the Department of Psychiatry that provides caring contact, telephonic and virtual follow-up, and care coordination support to individuals after behavioral health crises. This position will play a key role in expanding follow-up services for adults with substance use disorders and substance-related behavioral health crises after emergency department and hospital encounters across Colorado, including rural and frontier communities. This position is a Crisis Specialist who must rapidly evaluate complex behavioral health and substance use-related situations, develop and support appropriate interventions, and facilitate safe and effective care transitions following discharge. This role will act as a subject matter expert for the program and will provide comprehensive crisis intervention, de-escalation support, risk assessment, and care coordination through a culturally responsive and compassionate lens. The position will also support the development, organization, and ongoing refinement of a more structured statewide behavioral health care navigation resource, including referral pathways and resource information that can be used by HFUP staff and hospital and emergency department providers. This position is grant-funded for a 2-year timeframe.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in social work, counseling, psychology or relevant field from an accredited institution
3 years of experience working in a health care setting, which includes 1 year of crisis intervention experience.
A combination of education and related technical/military/paraprofessional experience may be substituted for a bachelor’s degree on a year for year basis.
Applicants must meet minimum qualifications at the time of hire.
Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States without requiring sponsorship. We are unable to provide work visa sponsorship or employment authorization for this position now or in the future.

Nice To Haves

Experience working with adults with substance use disorders, co-occurring mental health conditions, and recovery principles.
Experience supporting individuals after emergency department visits, hospital discharge, or other acute behavioral health crises.
Experience with behavioral health care coordination, case management, or service navigation.
Experience developing, maintaining, or using behavioral health referral resources or community resource databases.
Experience working with rural, frontier, or underserved populations.
CAC, CAS, LAC, or related behavioral health/substance use credentials.
Experience in a call center environment.

Responsibilities

Provide timely, recovery-oriented follow-up to adults after substance-related emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and other behavioral health crises.
Conduct telephonic and virtual outreach to support engagement during the high-risk period following discharge.
Act as a subject matter expert for complex adult behavioral health and substance follow-up cases.
Rapidly assess complex behavioral health situations and develop appropriate intervention, de-escalation, and referral responses.
Provide suicide, substance use, and other behavioral health risk assessments telephonically and virtually, consistent with program protocols.
Support safety planning, stabilization, and connection to appropriate levels of outpatient behavioral health, primary care, substance use treatment, recovery services, and other community-based supports.
Provide care coordination for adults with complex psychosocial, behavioral health, and substance use needs.
Help identify barriers to care and support practical, person-centered strategies to improve connection to treatment and recovery-oriented services.
Help develop and disseminate client and provider facing materials that support motivation, safety planning, and connection to care after discharge.
Other duties as assigned.