Transition Specialist, Level 2
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About Us and Why We’re Hiring
The Dale House Project seeks to hire a Transition Specialist Level II to support our ministry among youth building independent living skills. This position will spend 25-35% of their time in a secured facility offering Life Skill curriculum to groups and 1 on 1 transition services to assist clients entering back into the community. The Dale House is a Christ-centered community of and for broken people doing life together. This position works closely in relational ministry with youth as they take steps towards living independently.
Youth get involved at the Dale House to learn how to live on their own independently. Many come from the Colorado Division of Youth Services, and they’re finishing a commitment to the State after having criminal charges. Youth are also involved with the Colorado Department of Human Services - usually older adolescents who are ‘aging out’ of a foster care arrangement who need to live independently. These Supportive Independent Living Placement (SILP) participants will move into our independent living apartments, so the relationship you help foster between the youth and the Dale House community is vital to their own success. As is often the case with adolescents, many youth may be able to name worthwhile goals but they need help turning those desires into productive habits, routines, and practices. That’s where our community comes in. Through relationships - and a great deal of support, guidance, and accountability - youth turn these dreams into daily decisions to go to work, attend school, make appointments, and continue making progress towards their adult commitments.
As the Transition Specialist, you make sure that youth navigate major transitions from where they live to their next living arrangement as an adult. Rather than using rules or discipline to keep kids in line, you understand that your most important tool to help kids stay on track is your relationship with them. You spend time getting to know each youth as an individual, you demonstrate genuine interest in them, while challenging the decisions they are making. You will help a youth find activities like tutoring, working with school counselors and resource specialists, and assisting them in finding positive social activities.
Requirements
Bachelor’s Degree in related field, preferably in human services
Six month's to one-year of case management experience with youth: in juvenile justice or in human service
Strong navigation of community resources
Complete Medicaid documentation and billable notes with accuracy.
Google Workspace proficiency
Ability to take initiative and work independently.
Ability to learn how to take notes and document progress made in treatment.
Motivational Interviewing (MI) - Dale House can provide or send to training.
Crisis intervention training - Dale House can provide training
Who You’d Be Working With:
You’d report to our Transition Coordinator, Michaela Wederquist. Michaela is currently working towards her Masters in Counseling and she has oversight in maintaining caseloads and that our team is working together towards a client’s goals. She also meets with staff to provide clinical supervision. You will also work closely with Troy Paben, our Quality Assurance, to ensure we are following best practices for documentation in accordance to Behavioral Health Administration (BHA), Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) and Medicaid compliance. And lastly you will be overseen by our Clinical Director, Vicky Thomas. Vicky has her LPC-S (licensed professional counselor supervisor) and works to maintain ethical standards in our mental health practice.
You also work on a team of people who are in an intentional community of caring, mutual support, and Christian ministry. We commit to being honest and real with one another, to spend time together (and have fun together!), and, when we have issues, we clear the air with one another when we’ve let one another down. (We call that keeping “short accounts” with each other, so we don’t build long lists of grievances with each other.)
This role also includes trainings, house coverage and future on call/support line responsibilities. You’ll have regular participation in staff meetings, shift change meetings, devotionals and all-staff days.
What you’ll be doing:
Most of your time will be spent meeting with youth and helping them meet the goals indicated on their treatement plan. You’ll be diligent in connecting with them - sending reminders and making up missed appointments when the youth forgets you were meeting, which may happen often. You’ll need to develop a variety of tools and strategies to connect with adolescent and young adults. You’ll talk about the life changes that are coming up and get them to open up about their hopes and about their plans. You’ll share tools, resources, and strategies with them.
You’ll visit youth in DYS secure facilities and observe how youth are interacting with their environments both inside outside of secure facilities. You'll also have the opportunity to be creative by addressing the needs of multiple youth by leading groups that will address the needs of youth. This could include leading a climbing group where you learn about dynamics in a relationship, a cooking class or budgeting.
You’ll also be an expert on each youth for the rest of the staff. You will share the key lessons and approaches for our team as a whole to work with this youth. You’ll make sure that other Dale House staff have a good picture of who this youth is and what motivates them. You’ll be the “DHP expert” on resources like: employers who work well with our youth, on how to navigate services, and lists of resources for tutoring and educational advancement. You’ll continue to grow and manage that list for the Dale House community to use as a whole.
Your job is fully dependent on documenting each of your encounters that substatiates your service and allows The Dale House to bill.
There will be time spent meeting with youth who are still in jail, going through curriculum to prepare for the wide variety of choices they’ll face when they parole. Sometimes you’ll take youth out on passes and return them to their facility by the end of the day.
What Success Looks Like:
Collaborating with staff and other partners using a Team of Teams approach as the expert on youth that are on your caseload and their needs.
Promoting decsion making for youth based on their treatment plan goals.
Ensuring those on your caseload are fully engaged in their treatment plan and goals, requesting a team meeting when major changes occur that require adjustments of those goals.
Providing rides, reminders, or other assistance when engaging youth into Dale House Programming.
Compensation:
This is a full-time position. Salary Range: $42,000 to $46,000, with a full benefit package.
Dale House covers the cost for health coverage (monthly premiums) at no expense to you. Other benefits come from Young Life, including: dental, vision, basic life insurance, and a match on 401(k) contributions up to 4%.
How to apply:
**Please submit your resume and cover letter as PDF attachments to transitionspecialist@dalehouse.org. For the email subject heading line type: Transition Specialist, Your First Name, Your Last Name.