• Job Description

  Req#: R0065147

  About Our Job

  With competitive pay, great benefits, and endless opportunities, working for the City and County of Denver means seeing yourself working with purpose — for you, and those who benefit from your passion, skills and expertise. Join our diverse, inclusive and talented workforce of more than 11,000 team members who are at the heart of what makes Denver, Denver.

  What We Offer

  Note: This is a limited position with an end date of 12/31/2024 and the potential to be extended.

  The City and County of Denver offers a competitive salary commensurate with education and experience. The salary range for this position is $60,669 - $80,387. We also offer generous benefits for full-time employees which include but are not limited to:

  • A guaranteed life-long monthly pension, once vested after 5 years of service
  • 457B Retirement Plan
  • 140 hours of PTO earned within first year + 11 paid holidays, 1 personal holiday and 1 volunteer day per year
  • Competitive medical, dental and vision plans effective within 1 month of start date

  Location

  The City and County of Denver supports a hybrid workplace model. Employees work where needed, at a job site several days a week and off-site as needed. In this position you can expect to work out of the Denver Human Services Castro office (1200 N Federal Blvd, Denver, CO 80204) on in office days. Employees must work within the state of Colorado on their off-site days.

  What You’ll Do

  At Denver Human Services (DHS), we envision a healthy community where people are connected, supported, safe, and well. One in three people in Denver turn to DHS for support at all stages of life. Our employees help children, older adults, families, and individuals navigate social and economic pressures by connecting them to services and experts who support their overall well-being.

  About Resource Engagement and Prevention:

  Resource Engagement and Prevention is a division within Denver Human Services that consists of a Clinical Prevention team and several multi-disciplinary Outreach Teams. Specific teams and programs include the Fatherhood, Parenthood, and Denver Parent Advocates programs, multiple community outreach teams, Veteran’s Services, Complex Care, Prevention, and the Immigrant and Refugee team. Additional areas of specialty in Resource Engagement and Prevention include our GIVE and CARE Programing and the new Youth Resiliency and Mentorship. Over the past three years, Denver Human Services has worked to further define what it means to “Be Human”. While our work has been rooted in providing services that support basic human needs—or what we call essential services—we acknowledge that the whole person cannot thrive without addressing those structural and systemic barriers that prevent all from experiencing equity, inclusion, and respect for diversity. Our mission is “to partner with the community to protect those in harm’s way and help all people in need”. In fulfilling this mission, we understand that the intersections of race and poverty have impacted the disproportionate representation of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) involvement and experience with our agency, the criminal justice system, homelessness, poverty, and poor health outcomes. We believe in and are guided by working to improve Equity and Access; Safety and Wellness; Connectivity; Economic Resilience; and supporting our Workforce.

  Denver Human Services Resource Engagement and Prevention (REP) Division is currently seeking a dedicated, well-versed, and experienced professional to serve as a Behavioral Health Specialist on our Complex Care Team. This team will specialize in providing one-on-one services to customers, using a holistic, goal-oriented approach that is driven by the customer’s identified needs and goals. This team is designed to assess customer need based on the social determinants of health, facilitate coordination between city agencies, hospitals, DHS departments, social service systems, and community partners. The goal of the Complex Care Team is to serve customers that typically have a hard time accessing services where their needs are not currently met, are significant, and require more intensive services. This model will use a collaborative approach with Behavioral Health Specialists, and Peer Navigators. The Behavioral Health Specialist provides services to assist individuals and their families in achieving their optimum level of functioning. In this role, you will exercise intensive casework skills and considerable independent judgment, decision making, and creativity in facilitating the individual’s/family’s personal growth and enhancing the stability of their social network.

  The goal of the team is to increase self-sufficiency, stability, and quality of life, in a manner that respects customer- identified goals. The Complex Care Team meets with customers at all DHS locations and provides outreach services to meet with customers in the community and/or in their home.

  Generally, the Behavioral Health Specialist will:

  • Be part of a Crisis Response Team as requested
  • Work closely with the Complex Care Team which includes Behavior Health Specialist, and Peer Navigators
  • Complete strength-based assessments and need analysis with individual and family
  • Develop goal-oriented, time-limited, comprehensive service plans in cooperation with the individual/family, Complex care Team, and partner agencies/service providers
  • Interviews individual/family to gather pertinent demographic psychosocial information
  • Make referrals to other public and private services and community agencies and resources to meet individual and family needs, assists individual and their families in understanding and utilizing these resources
  • Travel to individual locations, other agencies, and community resources for the purpose of arranging and providing home/community-based service for individuals, and families
  • Any one position may not include all of the duties listed. However, the allocation of positions will be determined by the amount of time spent in performing the essential duties listed above

  About You

  What You’ll Bring

  We value diversity of ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, sexual identity, gender, religion, language, ability, and experience and exemplify this through the makeup of our team at all levels. You'll be right at home here if you cultivate strong relationships and push yourself, your work, the people around you and Denver to the next level.

  Our ideal candidate has some or all the following experience, skills, and characteristics:

  • Training and/or formal education and significant experience providing trauma-informed care and using a holistic approach to service delivery
  • Training and significant experience using Motivational Interviewing
  • Bilingual preferred. Able to read, write, and speak proficiently in both Spanish and English
  • Experience developing treatment plans, and goal plans with customers, using an approach where goals are driven by the customer
  • Complex Problem-solving skills, experience in de-escalation with conflict or when rapid response is needed. Prefer strong critical thinking and analytical skills that value empathy and compassion
  • Strong relationship building and networking skills. This role will rely heavily on community resources/partners and need to navigate internal (to DHS) and external services/resources to deliver appropriate services for each customer situation or presenting need
  • Excellent and diverse communication skills. The selected candidate will be comfortable working one-on-one with clients
  • Strong Motivational Interviewing technique
  • Strong organizational and documentation skills for case management
  • Comfort with excel, case management tools, and social service-related databases
  • Ability and desire to participate in continuing education for self

  Required Minimum Qualifications

  • Education requirement: Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work, Psychology, Mental Health, or a related field
  • Experience Requirement: Three (3) years of experience working with and counseling patients and individuals with special needs such as mental health issues, substance abuse, homelessness, and marginalized individuals within the criminal justice system
  • Education/Experience Equivalency: Additional appropriate education may be substituted for experience requirements
  • Licensure: Requires a valid Driver’s License at the time of application. Licenses and certifications must be kept current as a condition of employment

  Application Deadline

  Please submit your application as soon as possible and no later than April 7th at midnight to ensure consideration.

  About Everything Else

  Job Profile

  CA3419 Behavioral Health Specialist

  To view the full job profile including position specifications, physical demands, and probationary period, click here.

  Position Type

  Limited (Fixed Term)

  Position Salary Range

  $60,669.00 - $100,104.00

  Starting Pay

  Although our full pay range is included above, the budgeted hiring range for this position is $60,669 - $80,387 per year based on related experience and additional pay factors.

  Agency

  Denver Human Services

  The City and County of Denver provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, genetic information, age, or any other status protected under federal, state, and/or local law.

  Applicants for employment with the City and County of Denver must have valid work authorization that does not require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the U.S.

  For information about right to work, click here for English or here for Spanish.

• About the company

  Denver, officially the City and County of Denver, is the capital and most populous municipality of the US state of Colorado.

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