About Our Job

With competitive pay, great benefits, and endless opportunities, working for the City and County of Denver means seeing yourself working with purpose — for you, and those who benefit from your passion, skills and expertise. Join our diverse, inclusive and talented workforce of more than 11,000 team members who are at the heart of what makes Denver, Denver.

What We Offer

The City and County of Denver offers a competitive salary commensurate with education and experience. The salary range for this position is $64,000.00 - $90,000.00. We also offer generous benefits for full-time employees which include but are not limited to:

• A guaranteed life-long monthly pension, once vested after 5 years of service

• 457B Retirement Plan

• 140 hours of PTO earned within first year + 12 paid holidays, 1 personal holiday, 1 Wellness Day and 1 volunteer day per year

• Competitive medical, dental and vision plans effective within 1 month of start date

Location

This position is a field-based position, with work mostly conducted at various locations throughout the City and County of Denver (i.e. client homes/shelters, encampments, etc.). Employees can expect to spend approximately 80% of their time in the field. When not in the field, you can expect to work in the office and/or remotely as needed. Additionally, days and hours required for this position may vary occasionally, including some evenings/nights. The office for this position is located at 201 W. Colfax Avenue, Denver, CO 80202.

What You’ll Do

Denver's Department of Public Health and Environment (DDPHE) is dedicated to advancing Denver's environmental and public health goals. DDPHE works collaboratively with city, state and community partners to conduct education, community engagement, and enforcement to promote healthy people, healthy pets, and a sustainable environment. DDPHE oversees a number of services related to public health and the environment and is comprised of seven divisions: Division of Shared Services and Business Operations; Community & Behavioral Health; Public Health Investigations; Denver Animal Protection; the Office of Medical Examiner; Emergency Management and Medical Operations; and Environmental Quality. For more information on DDPHE’s programs and services, visit the DDPHE website at: Denver Department of Public Health and Environment.

We foster an inclusive culture by respecting the values, customs, and authenticity of everyone and by implementing equitable public health strategies so Denver communities can thrive.

Roads to Recovery (R2R) is one of Mayor Johnston’s 2024 initiatives to move 200 individuals struggling with addiction or mental health out of the criminal justice system and into a coordinated intervention, treatment, and rehabilitation pipeline.

The Community & Behavioral Health division has an opening for a Complex Care Case Manager (Roads to Recovery).

As a Complex Care Case Manager, you will work closely with additional Case Managers, Supervisors, and community-based partners across the City of Denver to establish a coordinated response within the intersection of criminal justice and co-occurring disorders. This position will be responsible for outreach, in-reach, client check-ins, data collection, client tracking, client placements and referrals, and indefinite client care management and support. Additionally, this role will be responsible for maintaining healthy relationships with team members, clients, and community-based partners.

The Complex Care Case Manager will hold a caseload of criminal justice impacted individuals experiencing transiency, behavioral health issues, and/or substance use disorder, who face an extreme number of challenges and barriers and will require several face-to-face interactions per week. While the caseload for this position will be lower, the participants that you will work with will experience an increased number of complex needs. 

Specifically, as the Complex Care Case Manager, you will:

• Manage a caseload of high-service utilizer clients with needs that could include transiency, behavioral and mental health disorders, substance use disorders, medical health, job readiness and education, and criminal justice involvement.  Caseloads will consist of a lower number of individuals with significantly higher needs. 

• Work as a team amongst Denver City agencies to include The Office of Social Equity and Innovation, The Department of Safety, Department of Housing Stability, Department of Transportation & Infrastructure, Department of Development & Economic Opportunity, and other programs managed by the Department of Public Health and Environment.

• Maintain positive and co-working relationships with community partners and health providers.

• Actively participate in community outreach, jail-based in-reach, diversion, and reentry efforts for identified clients.  

• Support clients with a wrap-around care management model to ensure consistent communication, engagement, and employable “safety nets” in the event of client disengagement.

• Meticulously track client data, client engagement, and client outcomes.

• Transportation of clients to placements, resources, or services.

• Act as a liaison between R2R program management, client referral, and community partners.

• Communicate with contract managers on provider outcomes.

• Participate in team meetings, individual and group consultation, and community-based learning opportunities.

• Provide coverage for team members when needed, which could include meeting with clients and performing case management duties.

• Support clients with life skills, including cleaning; light moving of items to next temporary or permanent housing opportunity; clearing rooms/residences; and transporting clients and their belongings as needed.

• Respond to client emergencies during business hours.

• Along with all department staff, this position will actively participate on an emergency preparedness and response team to support DDPHE’s responsibilities outlined in the City’s Emergency Operations Plan.  This may require being ‘on-call’ from time to time to help respond to emergencies.  Additional training commensurate with assigned duties will be provided.

• Other duties as assigned.

NOTE: This position is field based, which includes visiting client locations (client homes/shelters, encampments, and other locations). Employees can expect to spend up to 80% of their time in the field. Therefore, in this position, you could be exposed to extreme weather, unsanitary conditions, diseases and illness, animals, open air drug use and paraphernalia, criminal activity, and other harsh conditions. Personal protective equipment (PPE) is provided.

What You’ll Bring

We value diversity of ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, sexual identity, gender, religion, language, ability, and experience and exemplify this through the makeup of our team at all levels. You'll be right at home here if you cultivate strong relationships and push yourself, your work, the people around you and Denver to the next level.

Our ideal candidate has some or all the following experience, skills, and characteristics:

• At least 4 years’ experience managing a complex care caseload.

• Experience working with unhoused community members, individuals with chaotic substance use, and individuals diagnosed with a severe and persistent mental illness

• Comprehensive knowledge base of community resources

• Robust understanding of insurance systems, namely Medicaid and Long-Term Care through Medicaid

• Experience with substance-use disorder and other mental health conditions

• Dedication to trauma-informed, person centered, and culturally responsive care

• Previous training in motivational interviewing and harm reduction best practices

• Ability to build trust and rapport quickly

• Competence with determining the most appropriate level of care for a participant to meet a participant’s need

• Strong ability to be flexible and work with a team

• Enjoyment from working outside of the typical office space

• Exceptional organization skills and attention to detail, along with excellent communication skills (verbal and written).

• Excellent customer service skills, along with initiative, empathy, flexibility, and patience, which will translate to work with clients, other City agencies, and community partners.

• A tenacious work ethic.

• Strong situational awareness and ability to de-escalate situations

• Ability to adapt to changing situations.

• Serve as a model of best practices in case management services

• Willingness and capability of working with a diverse group of people to achieve a common goal.

Required Minimum Qualifications

• Education Requirement: Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work, Psychology, Mental Health, or a related field.

• Experience Requirement: Three (3) years of experience working with and counseling patients and individuals with special needs such as mental health issues, substance abuse, homelessness, and marginalized individuals within the criminal justice system.

• Education and Experience Equivalency: One (1) year of the appropriate type and level of experience may be substituted for each required year of post-high school education.

• Additional appropriate education may be substituted for experience requirements.

• License/Certification Requirement: Requires a valid Driver’s License at the time of application.

• Licenses and certifications must be kept current as a condition of employment.

Application Deadline

This position is expected to stay open until Wednesday, September 2, 2026. Please submit your application as soon as possible and no later than that date at 11:59 p.m. to ensure consideration.

To be considered for this position, you must include the following on your job application (upload the attachment(s) to the Resume/CV section on the My Experience tab):

• Cover Letter outlining how your experience relates to this position

• Resume

About Everything Else

Job Profile

CS3419 Behavioral Health Specialist

To view the full job profile including position specifications, physical demands, and probationary period, click here.

Position Type

Unlimited

Position Salary Range

$63,679.00 - $105,070.00

Target Pay

$64,000.00 - $90,000.00

Agency

Dept of Public Health & Environment

The City and County of Denver provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, genetic information, age, or any other status protected under federal, state, and/or local law. 

It is your right to access oral or written language assistance, sign language interpretation, real-time captioning via CART, or disability-related accommodations. To request any of these services at no cost to you, please contact [email protected] with three business days’ notice.

Applicants for employment with the City and County of Denver must have valid work authorization that does not require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the U.S.

For information about right to work, click here for English or here for Spanish.