Correctional Youth Security Officer II - Pueblo Division of Youth Services

About the role

This position is open to current Colorado residents only. The work unit exists to provide for the direct care, safety, and security of pre-adjudicated or adjudicated youth in the Division of Youth Services custody using a trauma-responsive approach. The unit exists to provide 24- hour, seven-day-a-week care and supervision of youth in a secure residential setting covering work assignments ranging from Admissions and Control, school and day programming, and detention, assessment, and commitment (long-term treatment) living units.

The Division of Youth Services (DYS) is committed to hiring individuals who are professionals, team players, and passionate about their desire to help youth. DYS values candidates who have demonstrated perseverance as a special attribute that can help the youth in our care.

Responsibilities

• Safety/Security: Work involves providing 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 as directed (e.g. Behavioral Contracts, Individual Growth and Change Plans).
• Duties include supervision of youth or group of youth, 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.
• The Work Leader's duties include staff accountability for quality and quantity of work, shift supervision, training, coaching and mentoring of YSS I employees, establishing work standards, performing quality assurance functions, and providing input for performance evaluations.
• Youth Center Programming: Actively and with positive engagement, implement and follow the Youth Center’s behavioral management program, teach, coach, and redirect youth within the program. Support DYS initiatives and strategies as they relate to youth programming and crisis intervention. Facilitating milieu and skill groups for youth.
• Documentation/Recording and Reporting: Document observations of youth behavior and response to program(s) and document all unit activities and required information in appropriate logs and records 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 our organizational values of Nonviolence, Open Communication, Social Responsibility, Growth and Change, Social Learning, Democracy, and Emotional Intelligence.

Requirements

• High school diploma or General Education Diploma (GED)
• One (1) years of professional experience in an occupational field related to the work assigned to the position
• Additional appropriate education will substitute for the required experience on a year-for-year basis

Qualifications

• Education/Licensure/Certification/Experience: High school diploma or GED, One (1) years of professional experience in an occupational field related to the work assigned to the position. Additional appropriate education will substitute for the required experience on a year-for-year basis.
• Preferred Qualifications: Experience working with adjudicated and/or detained youth within a secure facility, Self-motivated, Positive role model, Attention to Detail, Problem Solving, Teamwork, Effective Communication, Adaptability, Trainer certification in staff development, Supervisory, management, and/or leadership experience, Critical Thinking and Decision Making skills, Google Suite: Docs, Sheets, Slides, College degree in social or behavioral sciences, criminal justice, human services, physical education/recreational studies or closely related field, Relevant years of state service experience.

Conditions of Employment

• Full Background: 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).
• Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) Check: Must possess a valid, non-restricted Colorado Driver’s License
• Shift Work: Subject to assigned Shift
• Travel: Transportation of youth in state vehicles travel to assigned training and/or alternate work sites
• Continued employment is contingent upon successful completion of the DYS Pre-service Training Academy, Field Training Program (FTO), and mandatory annual training in all subject areas.
• The Diana Screen®, a sexual risk screening tool, is administered to all applicants to the Division of Youth Services (DYS) seeking positions of trust with children and teens to help ensure that ethical boundaries between children and adults are maintained.