Youth Services Specialist I - Phoenix - All Male Youth Services Center

State of Colorado•Denver, CO

1d•Onsite

About The Position

This position is a direct care/essential role that provides direct and engaging supervision of Youth in DYS State Operated Secure Facilities. Specific duties and expectations are: Safety/Security, Youth Center Programming, Documentation/Recording and Reporting, Training, and Organizational Accountability. Positions may be required to work overtime on a rotating basis, based on business needs. The Division of Youth Services (DYS) mission 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.

Requirements

High school diploma or General Education Diploma, (GED).
Employees are typically on their feet during the entire shift.
Youth living quarters are located on multiple levels and employees must frequently climb stairs in the performance of job duties.
Employees must also be willing and able to physically intervene with assaultive youth.
Full Background.
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 Colorado Driver's License
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.
The Diana Screen®, a sexual risk screening tool, is administered to all applicants to the Division of Youth Services (DYS) seeking positions of trust with children and teens to help ensure that ethical boundaries between children and adults are maintained.

Nice To Haves

College education in a behavioral health and or juvenile justice-related field.
Experience working with adjudicated and/or detained youth within a secure residential facility and/or a behavioral health setting
Experience facilitating psychoeducational groups
Education/experience working with adolescents who have trauma
Experience working with youth in positive leadership roles, such as mentoring and coaching.
Experience utilizing verbal de-escalation and motivational techniques.
Relevant years of state service experience.
Skilled in conflict management.
Strong work ethic, integrity, and dependability.
Sound judgment and decision-making skills.
Self-control, composure, and the ability to manage stressful situations.
Ability to verbally communicate clearly and willingness to do so respectfully.
Ability to identify and act on changes, inappropriate activity, hazards or potential security breaches and verbally communicate pertinent information.
Ability to study information and recount events in a written, factual, concise, and legible method.

Responsibilities

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.
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.
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.
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.
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

Benefits

Strong, secure, yet flexible retirement benefits including a PERA Defined Benefit Plan or PERA Defined Contribution Plan www.copera.org 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.