Forensic Jobs in Colorado (NOW HIRING)

Salary : $87,612.00 Annually
Location : Denver, CO
Job Type: Full Time
Job Number: IIB 02737 8/6/2026
Department: Colorado Department of Human Services
Division: OBH (Office of Behavioral Health)
Opening Date: 08/06/2026
Closing Date: 8/20/2026 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 Cir, Denver CO 80236
FLSA Status: Exempt; position is not eligible for overtime compensation.
Department Contact Information: Jeru Marshall: jerusalen.marshall@state.co.us
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.
Department Information
This position is open to current Colorado residents only.
Located within the Colorado Department of Human Services, Civil and Forensic Mental Health (CFMH) is responsible for policy development, service provision and coordination, program monitoring and evaluation, and administrative oversight for the public behavioral health system. CFMH funds, supports, and monitors numerous mental health and substance abuse community programs and providers. CFMH also operates the Colorado Mental Health Hospitals at Fort Logan and Pueblo, the Mental Health Transitional Living Homes, and the Forensic Services Division. CFMH executes the State's federal responsibilities as the State Mental Health Authority and the State Substance Abuse Authority to administer federal block grant funds for mental health and substance abuse.
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.
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, fast-paced environments to ensure a high level of accountability in patient care. Our staff is 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.
The JBR Program is the only program providing jail-based competency restoration services for individuals found incompetent to proceed by the courts and ordered to undergo restoration treatment in the State of Colorado. In addition, the JBR department provides oversight to contracted private hospital programs. The program additionally provides treatment to individuals ordered by the courts to undergo initial competency and mental condition/sanity evaluations. The JBR 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. The JBR program oversees all contracts associated with these programs, coordinates admissions, conducts program audits, establishes best practices, and engages in site visits.
Description of Job
Weekly Hybrid Working Arrangements
Minimum 3 days in the office and Maximum 2 days of remote work
This position will comply with the Forensic Services Department's current
working arrangements.
Please note: Work arrangements are subject to change at any time.
This position directly reports to the Clinical Director and has second-line supervision to the JBR Director. This position is responsible for the direct oversight and monitoring of the 110-bed program located at Peak View Behavioral Health, the 78-bed restoration program located at the Arapahoe County Detention Facility, and the 18-bed restoration program located in Denver County. Specifically, this position is responsible for conducting regular program site visits to ensure adequate care and treatment, provide coaching and guidance, and identify, create, and facilitate program training. In doing so, this position is responsible for establishing processes designed to meet established expectations, guidelines, and treatment standards. The position is responsible for knowing and incorporating person-specific and programmatic-level interventions based on evidence-based guidelines. With support from the department's leadership, this position will engage in program auditing, identify deficiencies, provide recommendations, and determine action plan needs to ensure fidelity to the contractual agreement and best practices within service provision. This position provides direct clinical treatment oversight and must offer consultation as needed or requested. As a primary point of contact for select programs, this position shall also assess, identify, and report patient transfer needs due to increased stabilization or psychiatric decompensation to provide an adequate level of care for all patients within our programs. In addition, this position joins the department's on-call rotation to provide after-hours support to our programs. Along with other team members, this position will assist staff with the coordination of programmatic functions across various entities (e.g., communicating changes in patient treatment needs to inform patient movement to different treatment programs/level of care), track data, and engage in daily communications with various agencies and departments. Lastly, this position assists in the creation of departmental policy and procedures and assists the team with gathering data to report to OCFMH and CDHS management about the program's performance and compliance with policies and procedures. Other duties include:
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 at the jail-based and hospital-purchased bed locations. Along with the Clinical Director, this position will take a primary role in audits of jail-based and private hospital partnerships and in clinical oversight and support for these partnerships.
• Promotes operational and administrative compliance with appropriate CDHS policies and procedures.
• Serves as a liaison between the contractors, CDHS court services department, CMHHIP, CMHHIFL, jail-based and private hospital partnerships, CDHS outpatient restoration department, and the Director of Jail-Based Restoration.
• Participate in on-call responsibilities on weekends and evenings for situations requiring an immediate response.
• Assist with data collection, tracking, analysis, and interpretation.
• Assists with reporting to CFMH and CDHS management about the program's performance and compliance with policies and procedures.

Program Consultation and Patient Movement:

• Use established criteria to make decisions about transfers to and from the jail-based restoration and hospital-purchased beds in a timely and efficient manner.
• Meets with current patients as needed, analyze patient records, and use clinical judgment to make decisions regarding placement needs.
• Needs to respond 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 hospitals and determine whether those referrals are appropriate and the level of urgency for the transfer. In doing so, this position shall provide coaching and consultation to the treatment staff to ensure interventions are optimized and tailored to individuals' needs.
• Responsible for on-call rotation in order to provide after-hours consultation, crisis management, and reporting.

Communication, Training, Education, and Data:

• Identify, create, and facilitate training needs for programs to include clinical training, disposition training, legal training, and other competency-related training.
• Establishing clear guidelines for those conducting the work on our behalf, ensuring fidelity to relevant evidence based modalities, and creating training to foster the growth.
• Assist with data tracking, collection, and reporting to CDHS and CFMH.
• Contributes to and participates in presentations regarding jail-based restoration services and private-hospital restoration and will remain informed of relevant competency evaluation and restoration trends and research.
• Provides information regarding the aforementioned research/strategies to the various contractors and serves as a consultant and liaison to the various treatment providers.
• Support both jail-based and private hospital programs with education and resources regarding current patients' transitions back into the community from inpatient competency restoration.

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

• Assists the Health Professional III and Health Professional IV in gathering referrals from various sources to include the referral table, Admissions Program Director at CMHHIP, CMHHIFL, Court Services, various county jails, and various databases, as needed.
• Uses established criteria to determine admissions 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 uses 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 whether they are appropriate and the urgency of the transfer. These duties will serve the jail-based restoration programs, as well as hospital-purchased beds.

Other Duties As Assigned:

• This position may be required to perform additional duties not specifically outlined in the duty statements in order to meet the operational needs of the agency and the CFMH department.

Minimum Qualifications, Substitutions, Conditions of Employment & Appeal Rights
Education/Licensure/Certification/Experience:
Current, valid Colorado licensure as a:

• Licensed Social Worker (LSW) OR
• Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) OR
• Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) OR

And two (2) years of licensed experience based on the work assigned to the position.
Applicants for supervisory positions must hold licensure that meets the legal requirements for performing supervisory responsibilities.
Special Qualifications: Must have one of the licenses below to be considered for the position.

• Licensed Social Worker (LSW) OR
• Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) OR
• Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with the severe and persistent mentally ill (SPMI) population
• Preferred experience in competency restoration or evaluation
• Preferred experience working in a jail or psychiatric hospital setting
• Preferred experience conducting clinical programming audits
• Preferred experience and strong knowledge of CDPHE regulations and Joint Commission Standards for psychiatric facilities
• Due to the juvenile population served at the MHI facilities, incumbents of this position must be at least 21 years of age.
• Previous State Experience
• Master's Degree in Social Work, Counseling, Psychology
• Other:On-call Status - Explain: This position shall contribute to an on-call rotation, crisis management, and may be required to engage with stakeholders after hours.
• Vaccinations as required by the State of Colorado
• Former State employees who were disciplinarily terminated or resigned in lieu of termination must:
  
  • Disclose that information on the application.
  • Explain why the prior termination or resignation should not disqualify you from the current position.
  • Provide your employee number from your 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.

CDHS Selection Process Explanation
Employment history is calculated on a full-time basis (40/hrs per week). Part-time employment is calculated on a prorated basis to determine qualifications. Be sure your application specifically addresses your qualifications, experience, work products, and accomplishments as they relate to the position and minimum requirements.

• Preferred Qualifications & Competencies:
  
  • Relevant years of state service experience.

Minimum Qualification Screening Process
A Human Resources Analyst will review the work experience/job duties sections of the online job application to determine whether your experience meets the minimum qualifications for the position. You must complete the official State of Colorado online application. Cover letters and resumes WILL NOT be reviewed during the minimum qualifications screening process. You must specifically document your work exper