DCS PROGRAM COORDINATOR - NETWORK DEVELOPMENT UTILIZATION REVIEW - SMITH COUNTY - 10202026-82061

State of Tennessee; Carthage (TN); On-site; USD 57,000 - 72,000; Full time

Job summary

The State of Tennessee is seeking a Program Coordinator in the Utilization Review (UR) division within the Department of Children’s Services for Smith County. This full-time role focuses on reviewing each child’s progress in residential care and coordinating with clinical staff to plan discharge and next steps.

The UR Coordinator will maintain open communication with the child’s FSW and supervisors to ensure effective permanency planning, placement stability, and timely referrals to appropriate

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and four years of professional work in counseling/case management or program evaluation, with at least three years in children and/or juveniles.
• Graduate coursework in social work, criminal justice, psychology, sociology, human services, or child development may substitute for one year of experience.
• Experience as a DCS Program Specialist or DCS Case Manager can substitute for education on a year-for-year basis, up to one year.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with clinical staff to review each child monthly in residential care for progress and treatment.
• Guide communication between DCS and providers, including the child’s FSW and supervisors, for permanency planning.
• Support discharge planning, level of care changes, and placement stability/disruption meetings for providers including foster care.
• Initiate referrals when a child is ready to transition to a lower level of care and coordinate placement resources accordingly.

Skills

Time Management

Critical Thinking

Instructing

Judgment and Decision Making

Operations Analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree + relevant experience

Job description

State of Tennessee Job Information

Opening Date/Time 10/20/2026 12:00AM Central Time

Job Information

State of Tennessee Job Information

Opening Date/Time 10/20/2026 12:00AM Central Time

Closing Date/Time 10/26/2026 11:59PM Central Time

Salary (Monthly) $5,151.00 - $6,437.00

Salary (Annually) $61,812.00 - $77,244.00

Job Type Full-Time

City, State Location Carthage, TN

Department Children's Services

LOCATION OF (1) POSITION(S) TO BE FILLED: DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN'S SERVICES, SMITH COUNTY

This is a DCS Program Coordinator position for the Utilization Review division of the Central Office Network Development Team.

This position is currently located in Smith County.

This position requires a criminal background check. Therefore, you may be required to provide information about your criminal history in order to be considered for this position.

Qualifications

Education and Experience:

Graduation from an accredited college or university with a bachelor's degree and experience equivalent to four years of professional work in one or a combination of the following: counseling or case management services, or program evaluations of counseling or case management services, three years of which must involve providing these services to children and/or juveniles.

Substitution of Education for Experience:

Graduate course work credit received from an accredited college or university in social work, criminal justice, psychology, sociology, human services, and/or child development may substitute for the required experience on a year-for-year basis to a maximum of one year, there being no substitution for the required three years of children's services work (e.g. 36 graduate quarter hours in one or a combination of the above listed fields may substitute for one year of the required experience).

Substitution of Experience for Education:

Experience equivalent to one year as a DCS Program Specialist or a DCS Case Manager 3 with the State of Tennessee.

Necessary Special Qualifications:

Applicants for this class must:

• Must be at least twenty-one (21) years of age on the date of application;
• Be a citizen of the United States;
• Possess a valid driver's license prior to and during employment;
• Have a good moral character, as determined by investigation;
• Complete a criminal history disclosure form in a manner approved by the appointing authority;
• Have no conviction for a felony;
• Agree to release all records involving their criminal history to the appointment authority;
• Supply a fingerprint sample in a manner prescribed by the TBI for a fingerprint based criminal history records check.
• Submit to and pass a pre-employment screening test for use of illegal drugs.

Overview

The Utilization Review (UR) process supports the placement system by providing the necessary structure to effectively monitor children's progress in treatment and ensure they do not linger in residential care.

Responsibilities

The UR Program Coordinator engages in collaboration with the provider agency's designated clinical staff and together, reviews each child monthly for children in residential care. The focus of the review is the child's progress in treatment, length of stay, progress monitoring, and readiness for discharge or stepdown. The UR Program Coordinator guides clear communication between DCS and the provider network to include consistent communication with the child's FSW and supervisors to ensure effective permanency planning is occurring, and barriers are being addressed at the regional level. In addition, the UR Program Coordinator supports the Child and Family Team process in consistent decision making around discharge planning, level of care changes, and placement stability/disruption meetings for all providers, including agency foster care. The UR Program Coordinator initiates the referral process when a child is ready to transition to a lower level of care to assure the timely identification of placement resources at the desired level of care to include initiating the referral process for those children needing a different level of care. The UR Program Coordinator maintains communication with Independent Living and ECF Choices/DDA to plan for youth requiring transition to adult services. The UR Program Coordinator maintains consistent communication with Network Development peers regarding placement activities.

Competencies (KSA's)

• Decision Quality
• Manages Complexity
• Action Oriented
• Organizational Savvy
• Nimble Learning

Knowledge

• Customer and Personal Service
• English Language
• Law and Government
• Public Safety and Security

Skills

• Time Management
• Critical Thinking
• Instructing
• Judgment and Decision Making
• Operations Analysis

Abilities

• Deductive Reasoning
• Inductive Reasoning
• Problem Sensitivity
• Information Ordering

Tools & Equipment

• Office Equipment
• Computer
• Mobile Phone

TN Driver Standards

State of Tennessee positions that may involve driving responsibilities require candidates to meet the following minimum driver qualifications:

• A valid driver's license
• For the past five years, the candidate's driver record must not have record of the following violations: driving under the influence (DUI), reckless driving, license suspension for moving violations, more than 4 moving violations.

Please include your Driver's License Information under the Licenses and Certifications section of your application.

• Agencies may allow an exception based on other factors.