Youth Services Specialist - Pueblo Youth Services Facility

Physical Location

1406 W. 17th St. Pueblo CO 81003

The mission of the Division of Youth Services (DYS) 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.

• You have a passion for youth and a desire to improve your community
• You love learning new skills and teaching them to others
• You desire a job that teaches you what safe supervision is all about – physical, social, psychological, and moral
• You thrive on developing healthy relationships, professionalism, and teamwork

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.

• Safety/Security: Provide 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 (e.g., behavioral contracts, individual growth and change plans). Duties include supervision of youth or groups, 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.
• Youth Center Programming: Actively and positively engage to implement and follow the Youth Center’s behavioral management program, teach, coach, and redirect youth within the program. Support DYS initiatives and strategies related to youth programming and crisis intervention.
• Documentation/Recording and Reporting: Document observations of youth behavior and responses to program(s), and record all unit activities and required information in appropriate logs and record systems. Document all youth group activities in appropriate database systems.
• Organizational Accountability: Through all communications and behaviors demonstrate, support, and contribute to a healthy, positive, and respectful cultural climate throughout the Youth Center by adhering to the DYS values of non‑violence, open communication, social responsibility, growth and change, social learning, democracy, and emotional intelligence. 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.

Training: Complete the 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…