"Alerted.org

Health Professional III - Forensics Jail Based Restoration

Print (https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/colorado/jobs/newprint/5049683)

Apply



Health Professional III - Forensics Jail Based Restoration

Salary

$64,728.00 - $90,648.00 Annually

Location

Denver, CO

Job Type

Full Time

Job Number

IIB-06272 8/20/2025

Department

Colorado Department of Human Services

Division

OBH - CMHIFL

Opening Date

08/20/2025

Closing Date

9/10/2025 11:59 PM Mountain

FLSA

Determined by Position

Type of Announcement

This position is open only to Colorado state residents.

Primary Physical Work Address

3824 W Princeton Circle, Denver CO 80236

FLSA Status

Exempt; position is not eligible for overtime compensation.

Department Contact Information

[email protected]

Salary Note

Although the full salary range for this position is provided, appointments are typically made at or near the range minimum.

How To Apply

Please submit an online application for this position at https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/colorado. Reach out to the Department Contact to apply using a paper application, including any supplemental questions. Failure to submit a complete and timely application may result in the rejection of your application. Applicants are responsible for ensuring that application materials are received by the appropriate Human Resources office before the closing date and time listed.

+ Description

+ Benefits

+ Questions

Department Information

This position is open to Colorado residents only

Weekly Hybrid Working Arrangements

Minimum 2 days In Office and Maximum 3 days Remote Work

8:00 am - 5:00 PM

Please note: Work arrangements are subject to change at any time.

About the Unit

Located within the Colorado Department of Human Services, the Office of Civil and Forensic Mental Health (OCFMH) is responsible for policy development, service provision and coordination, program monitoring and evaluation, and administrative oversight for the public behavioral health system. OCFMH funds support and monitor numerous mental health and substance abuse community programs and providers. OCFMH also operates the Colorado Mental Health Hospitals at Fort Logan and Pueblo and the Forensic Services Division. OCFMH executes the State’s federal responsibilities as the State Mental Health Authority and State Substance Abuse Authority to administer federal mental health and substance abuse block grant funds.

The Forensic Services Division is responsible for six departments, including Forensic Community-Based Services (FCBS), Jail-Based Evaluation and Restoration (JBR), Outpatient Restoration (OPR), the Forensic Support Team (FST), the Court Services Department, and the Operations Department.

The JBR Program exists to serve as the only program to provide jail-based competency restoration services for individuals found incompetent to proceed by the courts and ordered to undergo restoration treatment for the State of Colorado. The program additionally provides treatment to those individuals ordered by the courts to undergo an initial evaluation of competency and mental condition/sanity evaluations. The Jail-Based Restoration Program serves as the State expert on restoration and competency in a jail-based setting and collaborates with numerous other entities and governmental agencies to ensure best practices in admissions across the State, best practices in competency restoration treatment, and continuity of care and follow-up care for individuals discharging from the program. In addition, the Jail-Based Restoration department provides oversight to contracted private hospital programs. The team coordinates admissions for inpatient competency, mental condition, and sanity evaluations as appropriate to occur at one of the settings the team oversees.

Individuals in the program will be transferred to one of the department’s designated treatment locations from other county jails in the State of Colorado, as well as from the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo (CMHHIP), the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Ft. Logan (CMHHIFL), and other private hospital locations. Individuals requiring restoration to competency services assessed to need psychiatric hospitalization will be transferred to CMHHIP, CMHHIFL, or hospital-purchased beds.

Our teams work within various settings, including community agencies, jails, courts, and hospitals. The locations can include locked units and secure facilities, and our clients may at times be unpredictable due to their mental health needs. Our team is required to make critical decisions in dynamic and fast-paced environments to ensure a high level of accountability for patient care. Our staff are required to maintain updated skills, knowledge, abilities, and competencies necessary to the position through continuing education, clinical supervision, literature review, and discipline and team development. This position may require traveling throughout Colorado to meet the needs of the department.

Our teams work within various settings, including community agencies, jails, courts, and hospitals. The locations can include locked units and secure facilities, and our clients may at times be unpredictable due to their mental health needs. Our team is required to make critical decisions in dynamic and fast-paced environments to ensure a high level of accountability for patient care. Our staff are required to maintain updated skills, knowledge, abilities, and competencies necessary to the position through continuing education, clinical supervision, literature review, and discipline and team development. This position may require travel throughout Colorado to meet the needs of the department.

Description of Job

About the Position:

The position assists the director in the oversight and monitoring of the 60-bed competency-based evaluation and restoration program located at the Arapahoe County Detention Facility and the 18-bed competency-based evaluation and restoration program located at the Denver County Jail. In addition, this position will assist the director in the oversight and monitoring of the hospital-purchased beds at Peak View Behavioral Health. This position will respond to and screen referrals for all jail-based restoration programs and hospital-purchased restoration beds. The primary role of this position is to assess patient acuity level and the associated treatment needs as it relates to competency restoration and clinical treatment needs to determine which program they can admit or transfer to/from throughout the patient’s treatment. This position assists with gathering data to report to OCFMH and CDHS management about the program's performance and compliance with policies and procedures. This position assists with writing departmental policy and procedure and develops process improvement to increase efficiency. This position assists with audits of all programs to assess contractor performance in providing restoration services and contractor compliance with applicable policies and procedures. This position will engage in site visits across all jail-based programs and hospital-purchased beds to ensure restoration best practices are being utilized, serve as a clinical consultant, and assess patient treatment needs. This position will assist in the coordination of programmatic functions with various entities (e.g., communicating changes in patient treatment needs to inform patient movement to different treatment programs/level of care), track data that corresponds to records and movement, and engage in daily communications with various agencies and departments. This position is critical to the organization and functioning of the Jail-Based Restoration department.

Duties in this position include:

Screen Referrals for Admission to Jail Based and Hospital-Purchased Beds:

+ Gathers referrals from various sources, include the referral table, Admissions Program Director at CMHHIP, CMHHIFL, Court Services, various county jails, and various databases.

+ Uses established criteria to determine admissions, transfers, and discharges to and from the jail-based restoration programs and hospital-purchased beds in a timely and efficient manner.

+ Analyzes information, including records and psychological assessments, and use clinical judgment to make decisions regarding placement needs.

+ Responds quickly to the changing needs of a patient’s placement or the program and frequently will be required to make decisions based on clinical judgment and expertise.

+ Assess referrals for transfer to and from the State hospital and determine if those referrals are appropriate, as well as the level of urgency of the transfer. These duties will serve the 96-bed jail-based restoration programs, as well as hospital-purchased beds when needed.

Program Implementation and Monitoring Contractor Performance:

+ Serves as the contract monitor for program performance using program and individual client data, site visits, and audits to assess contractor performance.

+ Promotes operational and administrative compliance with appropriate CDHS policies and procedures.

+ Serves as the liaison between the contractors, CDHS court services department, CMHHIP, CMHHIFL, CDHS outpatient restoration department, and the Director of Jail-Based Restoration.

+ Participates in on-call responsibilities during weekends and evenings for situations that require an immediate response.

+ Assists with data collection, tracking, analyzing, and interpreting.

+ Assists with reporting to OCFMH and CDHS management about the program's performance and compliance with policies and procedures.

Communication and Training/Education/Research:

+ Collaborates with the various stakeholders, including state psychiatric facilities, county jails, agents of the courts, contractors, court services employees, CMHHIP admissions program, CMHHIP legal-medical records, and CMHIP DPS transport to ensure essential information is communicated as needed for admissions, discharges, and continuity of care.

+ Assists the Program Assistant with aspects of communication that may overlap and/or correlate with one another.

+ Assists with data tracking, collection, and reporting to CDHS and OCFMH.

+ Contributes to and participate in presentations regarding jail-based restoration services and will remain informed of relevant competency evaluation and restoration trends and research.

+ Imparts information regarding the research/strategies to the various contractors and serve as a consultant and liaison to the various treatment providers.

Other Duties as Assigned:

+ Other duties as assigned

Minimum Qualifications, Substitutions, Conditions of Employment & Appeal Rights

Minimum Qualifications:

Experience Only:

Six (6) years of relevant experience in an occupation related to the work assigned to this position

OR

Education and Experience:

A combination of related education ( Psychology, mental health, criminal justice), and/or relevant experience in an occupation related to the work assigned equal to six (6) years.

Preferred Qualifications:

+ Previous state employee

+ Experience: Hospital, residential, group home, outpatient settings

+ Master's degree in Social Work, Mental Health Counseling or related field

+ License to practice as a Licensed Social Worker or Licensed Professional Counselor in the State of Colorado

+ Experience working with individuals with mental health issues, preference with the forensic population in an inpatient or outpatient setting and/or with individuals involved in competency restoration

+ Previous experience with competency to stand trial and work with the severely and persistently mentally ill in acute settings.

Conditions of employment:

+ 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)

+ Current/Valid and unrestricted US Driver’s License

+ Occasional rotating

+ Travel: Frequent in-state travel between offices CMHIP, CMHIFL, and various detention facilities, and

hospitals

+ Due to the juvenile population served at the MHH facilities, incumbents of this position must be at least 21 years of age.

+ May need to travel to other state locations, transport patients to community appointments

+ Travel –This position may require travel to the various state-run MHTL Homes and to in-person meetings and/or team building activities.

+ Former State employees who were disciplinarily terminated or resigned in lieu of termination must:

+ Disclose that information on the application.

+ Provide an explanation why the prior termination or resignation should not disqualify the applicant from the current position.

+ Provide the employee number from the applicant’s prior State employment. Absent extraordinary circumstances, prior disciplinary termination or resignation in lieu of termination and failure to provide this information will disqualify the applicant from future State employment with CDHS.

APPEAL RIGHTS:

If you receive notice that you have been eliminated from consideration for the position, you may protest the action by filing an appeal with the State Personnel Board/State Personnel Director within 10 days from the date you receive notice of the elimination.

Also, if you wish to challenge the selection and comparative analysis process, you may file an appeal with the State Personnel Board/State Personnel Director within 10 days from the receipt of notice or knowledge of the action you are challenging.

Refer to Chapters 4 and 8 of the State Personnel Board Rules and Personnel Director's Administrative Procedures, 4 CCR 801, for more information about the appeals process. The State Personnel Board Rules and Personnel Director's Administrative Procedures are available at www.colorado.gov/spb.

A standard appeal form is available at:www.colorado.gov/spb. 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 80203. Fax: 303-866-5038. Phone: 303-866-3300. The ten-day deadline and these appeal procedures also apply to all charges of discrimination.

Supplemental Information

How to Apply (https://cdhs.colorado.gov/information-for-job-applicants#how-to-apply)

The Assessment Process

For additional recruiting questions, please contact [email protected]

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 (https://www.colorado.gov/cdhs) (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 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 (https://coloradostateofhealth.com/)

+ 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 https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/dhr/student-loan-forgiveness-programs .

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 ADAA Coordinator, Nancy Schmelzer, at [email protected] or call 1-800-929-0791.

~THE STATE OF COLORADO IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER~ (https://cdhs.colorado.gov/information-for-job-applicants#eoe)

Toll Free Applicant Technical Support

The State of Colorado offers permanent employees a variety of benefits including medical, dental, life and disability insurance, as well as a comprehensive leave program. Please click the following link for detailed information: www.colorado.gov/pacific/dhr/benefits

Please note that each agency's contact information is different; therefore, we encourage all applicants to view the full, official job announcement which includes contact information and class title. Select the job you wish to view, then click on the "Print" icon.

01

If you are a current or former State of Colorado employee, please list your employee number (starts with 997...). Failure to provide this requested information may render your application incomplete, and you may no longer be considered for the position.

02

Former State employees who were disciplinarily terminated or resigned in lieu of termination must disclose the information on the application. In the space below, please provide an explanation as to why the prior termination or resignation should NOT disqualify your application from the current position.

03

Your legal name is used in the hiring process for background checks. Did you use your full legal name in your application? If not, please update your information before submitting your application.

+ Yes

+ No

04

(Multiple Choice) The bottom of this job announcement provides links to additional information on how to apply, the assessment process, toll free applicant technical support, and about how the State of Colorado is an equal opportunity employer. Please acknowledge below that you have read the information provided in these links.

+ This information is available to me and I have read this information.

+ I am unable to access the links with this information on the job posting. (If you select this option, please contact the recruiter, whose information is listed on this announcement, so that they can send this information directly to you.)

05

Do you have Master's level education in mental health/social work or a related field (e.g., clinical psychology, forensic psychology, etc.)? If so, please describe.

06

Do you hold a current license as a Clinical Social Worker with the Board of Social Work Examiners or a current license as a Professional Counselor with the Colorado Board of Licensed Professional Counselor Examiners? If so, what is your license number?

07

Please describe any experience you have with competency to stand trial and with the severe and persistently mentally ill population in acute settings.

Required Question

Employer

State of Colorado

Address

See the full announcement by clicking

the "Printer" icon located above the job title

Location varies by announcement, Colorado, --

Website

https://careers.colorado.gov/

Apply

Please verify your email addressVerify Email