About Our Job

NOTE: This position is time limited with an end date of 09/30/2024. Extension of this role is up for renewal annually.

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

The City and County of Denver offers a competitive salary commensurate with education and experience. The budgeted salary range for this position is $62,000 - $70,000. 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. 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 Protection & Prevention

Denver Human Services works to protect Denver's children, youth, adults, and elders by providing services and advocacy while promoting family stability, respecting diversity, and working to create and strengthen connections to community resources. We work to prevent abuse by providing education, resources, and support to parents, families, and community organizations. Denver Human Services is seeking committed, passionate Social Case Workers to serve our Child Welfare Services clients.

The Child Welfare Services Division of Denver Human Services is seeking compassionate and highly determined individual to serve as a Social Case Worker for the Unaccompanied Refugee Minor (URM) program.

The URM program ensures that eligible unaccompanied minor populations, including victims of trafficking and refugees, receive the full range of assistance, care, and services available to all foster children in the state by establishing legal authority to act in place of the minor’s unavailable parent(s). The URM program encourages reunification of children with their parents or other appropriate adult relatives through family tracing and coordination with local refugee resettlement agencies. However, if reunification is not possible, the program works to design a case specific permanency plan for each youth in care.

The URM Program Support Social Case Worker will:

• Carry a minimal caseload providing comprehensive case management services to Unaccompanied Refugee Minor (URM) foster children. Caseload count will be dependent on current needs of the URM team.
• Collaborate with the URM provider agency, Lutheran Family Services, to ensure culturally informed services are secured for recently resettled URM children and/or youth.
• Actively promote a sense of connection to family, community, and culture of the country of origin, while aiding in the acclimation and integration of URM youth to life in the U.S. by planning and providing support groups for URM youth.
• Assist in developing and facilitating youth-focused cultural orientations for youth who have been recently assured into Denver’s URM program.
• While using cultural sensitivity and humility, evaluate the needs of providers, including foster homes, host homes, and group centers, to facilitate cultural specific training for providers.
• Collaborate with the foster care support and recruitment team to recruit URM specific foster homes. Some recruitment efforts and events will take place on evenings and weekends.
• Participate in quarterly URM program meetings to enhance performance and offer feedback regarding the URM program’s functioning and any opportunities for change/growth.
• Abide by all Social Case Worker duties and expectations in accordance with Volume 7 and city rules and regulations.
• Prepares case records, reports, and documents and complies with state and federal standards in providing case notes, treatment plans, and evaluations.
• By position, testifies in court as needed by providing expert testimony and preparing comprehensive reports that allow the court to make finding and recommendations that affect court-ordered treatment plans.
• Communicate with key professionals and agencies such as the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) URM Program Coordinator, Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Denver Juvenile Court, court-appointed attorneys and advocates, Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS), Lutheran Family Services (LFS), and Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN).
• Performs other duties as required and reports to the URM Program Social Case Worker Supervisor.

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:

• Appreciate working with culturally and linguistically diverse groups of people from around the world
• Previous work experience with refugees and immigrants
• Be fluent in a language other than English, especially Spanish
• Be creative in problem solving and have effective communication and facilitation skills
• Strong self-starter and organizational skills
• Superior critical thinking and time management skills
• Solid interpersonal and communication skills
• The ability to represent the organization in several different settings
• A positive, professional, and proactive attitude

Required Minimum Qualifications

• Education requirement: Requirements as set forth in Colorado Department of Human Services Volume 7 and/or Volume 30 regulations. A bachelor’s degree from a higher education institution with at least fifteen (15) college level credit hours related to the job responsibilities of child welfare social caseworker. Course work examples can include and are not limited to, the development of human behavior, child development, family intervention techniques, diagnostic measures, counseling, psychology, or therapeutic techniques
• Experience Requirement: Professional, internship, or volunteer work experience in a human services related agency, as required by Colorado Department of Human Services Volume 7 and/or Volume 30 regulations
• Education/Experience Equivalency: No substitution of experience for education is permitted. Additional appropriate education may be substituted for experience requirements
• Licensure: Requires a valid Driver’s License at the time of application. Requires post-hire completion of certification requirements to be a social case worker in Child Welfare or Adult Protective Services in accordance with CDHS regulations. Licenses and certifications must be kept current as a condition of employment

Denver Human Services works to ensure that all employees are paid equitably. Please ensure your resume is complete and accurate and that it includes all of your relevant work experience and education including job titles, description of assigned duties and all dates of employment periods that you would want to be considered when determining an offer amount.

NOTE: Please attach your official or unofficial transcripts of your completed undergraduate and/or graduate degree and list of professional references to your application in the required attachment section.

Application Deadline

Please submit your application as soon as possible and no later than May 30th at midnight to ensure consideration.

About Everything Else

Job Profile

CA2686 Social Case Worker

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

Position Type

Limited (Fixed Term)

Position Salary Range

$56,176.00 - $92,690.00

Starting Pay

Although our full pay range is included above, the budgeted hiring range for this position is $62,000 - $70,000 based on education and experience.

Agency

Denver Human Services

Assessment Requirement

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.

It is your right to access oral or written language assistance, sign language interpretation, real-time captioning via CART, or disability-related accommodations. To request any of these services at no cost to you, please contact Jobs@Denvergov.org with three business days’ notice.

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