CORRECTIONAL COUNSELOR 2* - 03252025 - 66404

Job Information

LOCATION OF (1) POSITION(S) TO BE FILLED: DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION, NORTHWEST CORRECTIONAL COMPLEX, LAKE COUNTY

Qualifications

1. A valid vehicle operator's license may be required for employment in some positions.

Overview

Responsibilities

1. Calculates sentencing information to determine the accuracy of an offender's sentence computation.
2. Verifies that offender sentencing complies with judgment order.
3. Completes initial intake packages and/or risk-need assessments on offenders.
4. Prepares and maintains records and reports on offender history, progress, adjustment, rule violations, visitation, recommendations for special visits, and other related statistics.

1. Provides appropriate interventions in interactions between staff and offenders to resolve issues of conflict.

1. Administers risk/needs assessment to offenders using motivational interviewing techniques.
2. Conducts Prison Rape Elimination Act screenings to determine potential victim or aggressor status.
3. Speaks to appropriate agencies and personnel to gather information relevant to offender history.
4. Interviews offenders to evaluate progress in accomplishing recommendations and parole board mandates.

1. Evaluates all offender records, case notes, and information to ensure compliance with all applicable standards, laws, policies, rules, and regulations.

1. Develops workshops for offender reentry and career development.
2. Facilitates workshops for offender reentry and career development.

1. Uses motivational interactions with offenders to realign offender behaviors, thinking, and reactions to conform to facility rules and societal norms.

1. Reviews offender files to fulfill various institutional needs.
2. Participates in classification and reclassification hearings to review information relevant to offender behavior, program participation, and other factors for the purpose of determining offender custody levels and programmatic goals.
3. Supervises a caseload of up to 150 offenders in an institutional setting.
4. Monitor environment to identify security related concerns in order to assure continued safety of the facility.
5. Monitor offenders to ensure compliance with recommendations and parole board mandates.

1. Develops reentry plans for offenders within established time frames and in accordance with departmental procedures.
2. Provides counseling and instruction specific to the needs of a reentry caseload.
3. Contacts and counsels with offender family members concerning release.
4. Counsels offenders concerning risk of reoffending.
5. Provides information to offenders in regards to community resources and methods of finding and keeping employment and improving family relations.

1. Collaborates with medical professionals to provide information to offenders regarding advanced directives.
2. Assists offenders to adjust to incarceration by conducting individualized or group sessions with assigned offenders to discuss facility and program rules and regulations.
3. Counsels offenders regarding personal and family issues as needed.
4. Addresses offender mental health and medical needs with appropriate staff.

1. Schedules outside services to assist with offender transition from prison to the community.

1. Assists offenders with communicating with persons or agencies outside of the institution to expedite release plans or respond to emergencies.

1. Documents referrals made to offenders regarding outside services.
2. Records risk-needs assessment interviews for quality assurance.

1. Assists offenders in addressing their concerns regarding job pay, trust fund, sentence information, educational needs, and programs.
2. Identifies issues with offender behavior to ascertain appropriate intervention techniques.

1. Enters and retrieves information concerning offenders using computerized databases daily.
2. Uses web-based programs to communicate with persons inside and outside the agency concerning offender needs.

1. Communicates with other counseling personnel to gain knowledge or understanding of counseling responsibilities.
2. Communicates with various institutional personnel to meet offender needs.
3. Provides information to other team members in treatment team meetings and staffings regarding offender progress in programming.

1. Attends various mandated training to enhance job skills and performance.

1. Analyzes disciplinary reports to determine offender behavior trends.

1. Identifies offender movement to ensure caseload accuracy.

Competencies (KSA's)

1. Clerical
2. Computers and Electronics: Intermediate knowledge of web-based databases, word processing, e-mail systems, and data entry
3. Education and Training
4. Law and Government
5. Mathematics
6. Psychology: Basic knowledge of human behavior and performance, individual differences in ability, personality, and interests, and learning and motivation
7. Public Safety and Security
8. Sociology: Basic knowledge of group behavior and dynamics as well as societal trends and influences
9. Counseling: As it pertains to offenders

1. Active Listening
2. Active Learning
3. Critical Thinking
4. Learning Strategies
5. Math
6. Reading Comprehension
7. Speaking
8. Writing
9. Coordination: As relates to offender behavior
10. Instructing
11. Negotiation
12. Persuasion
13. Service Orientation
14. Social Perceptiveness
15. Complex Problem Solving
16. Judgment and Decision Making
17. Time Management

1. Deductive Reasoning
2. Fluency of Ideas
3. Information Ordering: As it relates to determining behavior trends
4. Oral Comprehension
5. Oral Expression
6. Originality
7. Problem Sensitivity
8. Selective Attention
9. Spatial Orientation: As it relates to institutional safety
10. Time Sharing
11. Written Comprehension
12. Written Expression
13. Auditory Attention
14. Speech Clarity
15. Speech Recognition

Tools & Equipment

1. Personal Computer
2. Printer
3. Word Processing Software
4. Electronic/Paper Documents
5. Multi-line Telephone
6. Calculator
7. Copy Machine
8. Fax Machine
9. Digital Recorder
10. 2-Way Radio
11. Keys
12. Lamination Machine
13. Calendar/Planner
14. Files
15. Shredder
16. Lamination Machine