Child Welfare Specialized Response County Intermediary

Department Information
This position is open to current Colorado residents only.
Please note: This recruitment may be used to fill multiple vacancies.
Most State of Colorado employees are eligible for a great benefit package Please see the Supplemental Information section below for details
Description Of Job
Please Note:
2 days in office (1575 Sherman St, Denver) or equivalent in person required. Ability to travel to counties across the state with only a few days advance notice and stay for multiple overnights to meet emergent needs may be required. Overnight travel will average 1-2 nights quarterly. Please see conditions of employment for more information. This may be subject to change.

About This Unit
The Division of Child Welfare (DCW, Division) provides a range of leadership, management, and supervisory functions related to the delivery of public child welfare services to children, youth, and families. The Division provides administrative supervision for all child welfare programs in Colorado's 64 counties and delivers technical support, monitoring, program improvement, regulatory oversight, and other quality assurance functions.

The Specialized Response Team (SRT) provides enhanced monitoring of county performance and provides organizational support for county child welfare practice when data trends indicate areas of high risk. The SRT, in contrast to other County Intermediaries, focuses on intensive support to address urgent and emerging issues related to county child welfare practice and may provide short-term, specialized in-person assistance to counties in addition to ongoing, county-specific oversight and monitoring. This work includes collaboration across DCW, the office of children, youth, and families, and other offices within CDHS. The team provides support through ongoing interaction including virtual contact and regular travel to county departments across the state. This unit interacts with the county liaisons and other county-facing staff across the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) and their partners to further statewide collaboration, understanding of available supports, and barriers to accessing resources. The unit coordinates the work of county intermediaries and supports the work of subject matter experts for consistent communication regarding updates to child welfare statutes, policy, and practice performance.

About This Position
The purpose of this position is to streamline and enhance county intermediary work in support of Colorado's 64 counties' with responsibilities in ensuring that child welfare services are delivered appropriately and under the requirements of Colorado's laws and regulations. This position assesses organizational needs including training gaps, coaching areas, and change management opportunities, and engages with county departments both virtual and in-person. This position provides guidance to DCW leaders in matters related to county performance. This position helps DCW build consistency and increase responsiveness in our oversight of statewide child welfare practice, balancing a regional lens with agile, local support.

Summary Of Job Duties
The Specialized Response Team is a values-driven team that supports continuous quality improvement, change management, and monitoring for Colorado's 64 counties. Our team engages directly with county staff to provide coaching and technical assistance for the provision of child welfare services in alignment with rule, statute, and best practices. Our team values continuous learning and a person centered approach, visiting counties in their communities to ensure meaningful engagement and walk alongside them when more intensive support is required.

Technical Assistance And Oversight
This position provides coaching and organizational support regarding child welfare services matters through a regional model to all 64 counties and their assigned county intermediaries. This position provides coaching, change management, consultation, and technical assistance, with county departments of human services to improve their performance, compliance, and practice with respect to child welfare. This position will be the primarily assigned county intermediary for a number of counties and serve as the primary point of contact for questions and issues that arise. This position will also serve as the lead county intermediary for a region within Colorado to track regional performance trends and provide enhanced support as determined appropriate. This position makes recommendations to the County Intermediary Administrator and Division leadership team for county action plans and provides case management (documentation, monitoring, and coordination of subject matter experts to address barriers and challenges, identify solutions, and revise plans to improve performance) when county departments require intervention.. When enhanced support is needed, this position will be responsible for case management of the plan including documentation, monitoring coordination of subject matter experts, facilitation of continuous quality improvement with counties to address barriers and challenges, identify solutions, and revise plans to improve performance.

Additional Duties Include

• Shadowing assigned county intermediaries in monthly meetings or other contacts with counties to ensure consistency.
• Leading the integration and operationalization of a county monitoring process that includes integration of quantitative metrics and qualitative data regarding county organizational structure, customer service, and public relations.
• Analyzing data within the statewide child welfare case management system (Trails) and the Results Oriented Management system (ROM) to identify areas of strength to sustain, opportunities for performance improvement, and any need for action or performance plans.
• Incorporating a people-centered lens in the approach to partnering with counties, including having the ability to critically analyze how county values and culture may interact with policies, practices, and learning experiences that require cultural considerations.
• Participating in out-of-home placement consultations with assigned counties to keep children and youth from being stuck in hospitals, detention, or other settings not meeting their needs.
• Attending CSTAT and/or other metrics meetings and supporting counties through the use of continuous quality improvement techniques to identify contributing factors and root causes to sustained performance and areas needing improvement regarding CSTAT measures.
• Tracking data for the joint placement staffing process to identify barriers to securing appropriate levels of care and timely permanency.

Stakeholder Collaboration:

• This position provides a generalist approach and perspective of broader child welfare systemic policy issues, inclusive recruitment and retention of qualified staff, ongoing compliance issues, and cross-agency cooperative initiatives. This position also collaborates and supports shared initiatives from other agencies within and outside of CDHS, that have the potential to impact child welfare services and county practice.

Work Lead:

• Management relies on this position to assign work to team members, prioritize work activities to assure completion in the face of routine or shifting deadlines, analyze areas in which processes may create additional work, and with corresponding decisions to amend or change these processes to create efficiencies. This position is responsible to establish annual, quarterly, and monthly work plans to accomplish assigned deliverables for the counties and county intermediaries within their assigned region.
• Other duties as assigned

Minimum Qualifications, Substitutions, Conditions Of Employment & Appeal Rights
Important Note:
Please review your application to ensure completion. For the most equitable applicant experience, CDHS' hiring teams consider only the contents of your application to determine meeting minimum qualifications and for the comparative analysis process. Experience is calculated on a full-time equivalency basis, therefore, it is important to accurately notate the hours you averaged per experience section entry. Volunteer work or related type of experience may be used to meet the qualifications, but must be clearly documented. It is paramount that in the experience portion of the application, the applicant describes the extent to which they possess the education, experience, competencies and background as they relate to the duties outlined in the job announcement.

Minimum Qualifications
*Option 1 - Experience:*

• Seven (7) years of relevant experience in an occupation related to the work assigned to this position. Relevant experience must include experience in: Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice, Behavioral Health

• Please note: This experience must be clearly documented on your application and the supplemental questions must be answered.

OR
Option 2 - Experience & Education

• A combination of related education and/or relevant experience in an occupation related to the work assigned equal to seven (7) years. Relevant experience must include experience in: Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice, Behavioral Health

*Preferred Qualifications:*

• General experience in child welfare
• Experience working with large sets of data, creating reports from data, and providing leadership recommendations based on data.
• Experience working collaboratively with both internal and external stakeholders
• Experience with change management, being a natural change champion
• Experience with program implementation
• Child welfare case management experience
• Experience and ability for data analysis
• Leadership experience
• Direct supervisory experience
• Understanding of child welfare rule and statute

Conditions Of Employment

• Position required to travel, sometimes overnight, to perform job duties. This position will travel to regularly to counties across Colorado to provide technical assistance and support performance management.
• Becoming, within one year of hire, a Certified Child Welfare Supervisor, and acting as a child welfare casework supervisor on an interim basis based on county need.
• Must be willing to accept and pass a full background check
• Former State employees who were disciplinarily terminated or resigned in lieu of termination must disclose the information on the application and provide an explanation why the prior termination or resignation should not disqualify the applicant from the current position. Absent extraordinary circumstances, prior disciplinary termination or resignation in lieu of termination will disqualify the applicant from future State employment with CDHS.

Appeal Rights
If you receive notice that you have been eliminated from consideration for this position, you may file an appeal with the State Personnel Board or request a review by the State Personnel Director.

An appeal or review must be submitted on the official appeal form, signed by you or your representative. This form must be delivered to the State Personnel Board by email ), postmarked in US Mail or hand delivered (1525 Sherman Street, 4th Floor, Denver CO 80203), or faxed within ten (10) calendar days from your receipt of notice or acknowledgement of the department's action.

For more information about the appeals process, the official appeal form, and how to deliver it to the State Personnel Board; go to ; contact the State Personnel Board for assistance at ; or refer to 4 Colorado Code of Regulations (CCR) 801-1, State Personnel Board Rules and Personnel Director's Administrative Procedures, Chapter 8, Resolution of Appeals and Disputes, at under Rules.

A standard appeal form is available at: . If you appeal, your appeal must be submitted in writing on the official appeal form, signed by you or your representative, and received at the following address within 10 days of your receipt of notice or knowledge of the action: Colorado State Personnel Board/State Personnel Director, Attn: Appeals Processing, 1525 Sherman Street, 4th Floor, Denver, CO Fax: Phone: The ten-day deadline and these appeal procedures also apply to all charges of discrimination.

Supplemental Information
*How to Apply
The Assessment Process
For additional recruiting questions, please contact
About Us*
If your goal is to build a career that makes a difference, consider joining the dedicated people of the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS). Our professionals strive to design and deliver high quality human and health services that improve the safety, independence, and well-being of the people of Colorado. In addition to a great location and rewarding and meaningful work, we offer:

• Strong, secure, yet flexible retirement benefits including a PERA Defined Benefit Plan or PERA Defined Contribution Plan 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. For more

information, go to .

Our Values
We believe in a people-first approach:
To serve the people of Colorado, we develop a culture and work environment that creates an energized, inspired, and healthy team capable of giving their best to Coloradans
*.
Balance creates quality of life:*
We want our team to be resilient through a supportive workplace that values flexibility, health and wellness, and employee engagement.

*We hold ourselves accountable:*
We take responsibility through our actions, programs, and results for the state of health and human services in Colorado.

*Transparency matters:*
We are open and honest with employees, our partners, the Coloradans we serve, and the public.

*We are ethical:*
We abide by what is best for those we serve by doing what is right, not what is easy.

*Collaboration helps us rise together:*
We work together with all partners, employees, and clients to achieve the best outcomes for Coloradans.

*We are committed to increasing the diversity of our staff and providing culturally responsive programs and services. Therefore, we encourage responses from people of diverse backgrounds and abilities.
ADAA Accommodations:*
CDHS is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, our agency will assist individuals who have a disability with any reasonable accommodation requests related to employment, including completing the application process, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, participating in the employee selection process, and/or to perform essential job functions where the requested accommodation does not impose an undue hardship. If you have a disability and require reasonable accommodation to ensure you have a positive experience applying or interviewing for this position, please direct your inquiries to our ADAAA Coordinator, Nancy Schmelzer, at or call

*~THE STATE OF COLORADO IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER~*