Juvenile Correctional Counselor I - Regular and Extra-Help
Working as a Juvenile Correctional Counselor I (JCC I) with the County of Sonoma offers an expansive opportunity for growth and development, the ability to be a part of a collaborative work environment that provides continuous training and education, and the satisfaction of knowing that you are working to better our communities. You can also look forward to excellent benefits*, including:
- Eligibility for a 5% salary increase after 1040 hours (6 months when working full-time) for good work performance; eligibility for a 5% salary increase for good performance every year thereafter, until reaching the top of the salary range
- Competitive vacation and sick leave accruals, 12 paid holidays, and an additional 8 floating holiday hours per year
- Significant portion of health care premiums paid by the County and access to several health plan options
- Opportunities for additional premium pay depending on assignment, generally 5% for each assignment for a maximum of 10%
- May be eligible for up to 8 weeks (320 hours) of Paid Parental Leave after 12 months of County employment
- With experience and good work performance, advancement to Juvenile Correctional Counselor II ($27.37-$33.27/hour)
Being a JCC I
This position offers a challenging and rewarding start to a career helping our community's youth. In addition to learning the fundamental principles of the juvenile justice system, JCC's have the unique opportunity to use their skills to directly and positively influence the course of a young person's life. As a JCC I, you will perform a wide variety of duties related to the care, guidance, and supervision of juvenile offenders. Responsibilities include:
- Communicating directly with detained youths, on an individual or group basis
- Maintaining on-going security checks, and overseeing and directing the activities of youth offenders detained in Probation facilities
- Performing minor clerical duties, including data entry into justice system databases
- Transporting youth to and from various locations
- Maintaining the cleanliness and order of the facility
Candidates with experience working with challenging populations (i.e. youth/adults with mental health conditions, youth/adult offenders, trouble youth) are highly desirable.
Important Information:
Thursday, October 24, 2019
To be considered for this position, applicants must be willing to work all shifts, including days, evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays. Juvenile Correctional Counselors are Peace Officers as defined by Penal Code Section 830.5, and must successfully complete the Board of State and Community Corrections Juvenile Correctional Counselor Core Course within one year of appointment. Incumbents must also successfully complete Penal Code 832 training within one year of appointment.
EXTRA-HELP EMPLOYMENT
Extra-help employees relieve or augment permanent staff. Intermittent, extra-help employees are not in the classified civil service and do not have property rights to permanently allocated positions. In addition, they do not receive most regular employee benefits such as: long-term disability insurance coverage; accrual of vacation; participation in the County retirement program; or eligibility to take promotional examinations. Intermittent, extra-help employees are limited in their employment to a maximum of 1,380 hours within any twelve month consecutive period. Extra-help employees who meet the eligibility requirements (generally worked 11 consecutive pay periods with a minimum of 440 hours and are scheduled at least 40 hours per pay period) may qualify for a County contribution toward medical coverage.
This recruitment is being conducted to fill multiple full-time and intermittent, Extra-Help Juvenile Correctional Counselor I positions in the Probation Department. This employment list may also be used to fill future full-time, part-time, or Extra-Help positions as they occur during the active status of the list.
*Benefits described herein do not represent a contract and may be changed without notice.
Minimum Qualifications
Education and Experience: Any combination of education, training and experience which would likely provide the required knowledge and abilities. Normally, this would include completion of twelve semester units at an accredited college in criminology, administration of justice, child development, sociology, behavioral and social psychology, social casework, social welfare, counseling and guidance, child psychology or a closely related field.
AND
Six months experience as a group or youth counselor or other experience related to counseling or case management of troubled youth.
Additional Requirements: In accordance with California Government Code, Section
1029 - 1031, and the California Corrections Standards Authority, Title 15, Section 131, Minimum Standards for Selection, each employee shall meet the following minimum standards: United States citizenship or status as a permanent resident alien who is eligible for and has applied for citizenship (if a permanent resident alien has not obtained citizenship within three years after application for employment or is denied citizenship, he/she will be disqualified for peace officer status); have no prior felony conviction nor be under current formal probation supervision; and achieved a passing score on the California Corrections Standards Authority Juvenile Correctional Counselor written exam, or equivalent prior to appointment.
Candidates certified for employment must be willing to undergo and successfully complete an in-depth background investigation, including a psychological evaluation, finger printing, criminal history check, a medical examination, including physical agilities testing.
License: Possession of a valid driver's license at the appropriate level including special endorsements, as required by the State of California, may be required depending upon assignment to perform the essential job functions of the position.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
Ability to: effectively communicate orally and in writing, listen actively. Read and comprehend instructions and standards, apply them to a variety of situations; make and record detailed observations. Write descriptive narratives, including incident or detention observation reports and exercise good judgment and adopt effective courses of action in emergency situations. Relate to a wide variety of individuals from varied socio-economic, cultural and ethnic backgrounds and experiences. Establish and maintain appropriate relationships with delinquent youths; establish and maintain effective working relationships with coworkers, supervisors, health and social service providers, family, and law enforcement agencies, other County Departments.
Selection Procedure & Some Helpful Tips When Applying
- Your application information and your responses to the supplemental questions are evaluated and taken into consideration throughout the entire selection process.
- You should list all employers and positions held within the last ten years in the work history section of your application. Be as thorough as possible when responding to the supplemental questions.
- You may include history beyond ten years if related to the position for which you are applying. If you held multiple positions with one employer, list out each position separately.
- Failure to follow these instructions may impact your competitiveness in this process or may result in disqualification.
Please visit Getting a Job with the County of Sonoma to review more detailed information about the application, examination, and department selection processes.
APPLICATION SUBMISSIONS REQUIRE THE SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE BE COMPLETED.
Responses to supplemental questions will be scored using position-specific criteria. Please provide specific and detailed responses of a reasonable length to allow for thorough assessment of your qualifications. Responses which state "See Resume" or "See Application" may be considered insufficient and therefore may not be scored.
The selection procedure will consist of the following examinations:
1. Each applicant's combination of educational coursework, training, experience, knowledge, and abilities which relate to this position will be evaluated (pass/not pass) to ensure satisfaction of the minimum qualifications for this position.
2. A multiple-choice, written examination (pass/not pass) will be conducted to further evaluate each candidate's qualifications as they relate to this position. A brief description of the abilities and attitudes measured in each section of the examination is listed below.
- Following Written Directions
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing Clarity
- Writing Details
- Accuracy with Forms and Coded Information
- Work Attitudes
Applicants must attain a minimum passing grade of at least 70% on the written examination to be considered for the next step in the selection procedure. The minimum passing score may be an adjusted score based on such factors as difficulty of the examination for this group of candidates, natural breaks in the scores achieved by this group of candidates, number of candidates, anticipated vacancies, and past practice.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
To aid you in preparing for the written examination, the BSCC's Juvenile Corrections Officer Examination Candidate Orientation Booklet can be found at:
http://www.bscc.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/Candidate-Orientation-Booklet-JCO-2017.pd (Download PDF reader)f
Important Note - Juvenile Corrections Officer Examination T-Score Information
If you took the BSCC Juvenile Corrections Officer Examination within 6 (six) months prior to the the date of our exam session, the Sonoma County Human Resources Department will allow candidates to submit their T score in lieu of re-taking the test. POST exam T scores may not be used in lieu of this exam. If you wish to use a previously obtained BSCC Juvenile Corrections Officer Examination, please send a copy of your "T score letter" to:
County of Sonoma Human Resources Department
Attention: Adriana Call
575 Administration Drive 116B
Santa Rosa, CA 95403
The letter must be on the testing agencies letterhead and include the:
- Name of the exam
- Date the exam was taken
- T score
- Name of the agency that administered the exam
3. Candidates who pass the written examination will have their submissions evaluated in an Application and Supplemental Questionnaire Appraisal Examination (weight 100%) for educational coursework, training, experience, knowledge and abilities which relate to this position. Each applicant will be scored based on the following criteria:
- Relevance of work history, related experience, and achieved level of education and/or training as described in the application and responses to the supplemental questions.
Scores may be adjusted based on factors as number of candidates, anticipated vacancies, past practice, and natural breaks in the scores achieved by this group of candidates. Applicants must attain a minimum passing score of at least 70%, as established by the pass point, to be placed on the employment list.
BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION
It is the policy of law enforcement/legal offices and departments, in the County of Sonoma, that job candidates complete a thorough background investigation process prior to employment. This policy is imperative in order to keep the department's employees and the public safe, and to maintain high standards in the law enforcement community. Candidates referred to departments for a selection interview are typically required to sign authorization and release forms enabling such an investigation. Failure to sign prescribed forms will result in the candidate not being considered further for that vacancy. Reference information will not be made available to applicants.
The background investigation will include a thorough assessment of a candidate's personal, employment, educational, criminal, and credit history. The investigation may include, but is not necessarily limited to: use of prescription and/or other drugs, reports from former employers, friends, family members, educational institutions, law enforcement agencies, credit reports, court reports, public records search, and/or other relevant sources. Candidates must be honest and forthcoming about information that may arise during the background process. Deception during any portion of this process is grounds for disqualification, even after employment.
All candidates will be required to take a pre-employment medical examination. The pre-employment medical examination will include drug testing as part of the medical examination for all applicants and for all current employees who are offered employment with the Offices/Departments. Additionally, candidates may be required to take a pre-employment psychological examination. The results of these examinations and the background investigation shall be confidential and shall not be available to the candidate for review. Failure to pass the background investigation will eliminate a candidate from the employment process. You may also review the Job Classification Screening Schedule to determine the requirements for this position.
Issues that arise during the investigation process will be assessed, and judgment and discretion will be used to determine the employability of the candidate. Where there is evidence of a candidate's past use of controlled substances, many factors shall be used to determine the employability of the individual such as pattern of use, kind of drug used, circumstances of the start of the drug use, treatment, behavior and attitude since discontinuance, etc. Please note that a history of using controlled substances does not result in automatic disqualification from the selection process. Prior to disqualifying any candidate whose profile falls within the provisions of the policy, the candidate shall be given the opportunity to present any and all evidence of mitigating facts which the candidate feels should be considered by the hiring authority.
HOW TO APPLY
Applications are accepted on-line at: www.yourpath2sonomacounty.org. Paper applications may be submitted by person, fax (707-565-3770), email, or through the mail. All applications and appropriate supplemental information as outlined in the job bulletin must be RECEIVED by the time and date specified on the first page of this job announcement. Applications received after the recruitment closes will not be accepted.
The County of Sonoma prioritizes and is committed to continuously providing a workplace where equal employment opportunity is afforded to all people. Please view the County's Equal Employment Opportunity Policy for further information.