Job Details

Sworn Parole and Probation Officer

Are you a motivated community corrections professional or social counselor who is a force for positive change in a fast-paced environment? Do you share our vision of community safety through positive change? Are you a counselor with no law enforcement experience? We can train you. Are you a sworn officer with no counseling experience? We can train you. As a Sworn Parole and Probation Officer (PPO) with Multnomah County's Department of Community Justice (DCJ), you can play a key role in creating a stronger, safer community. You will help your clients develop pro-social behaviors using core correctional practices. You'll use cognitive interventions and behavioral practices with clients to promote accountability and lasting behavior change. You'll have the autonomy and discretion to manage your workload and schedule in order to meet the needs of the clients. If you're seeking a growth opportunity where you can challenge your professionalism, continually learn, be collaborative, and positively impact your community, this may be the right position for you.

The position of Parole and Probation Officer is dynamic, requiring commitment to genuine curiosity, continuous feedback, ability to make arrests, flexibility to work with others, and a willingness to immediately respond to situations or emergencies 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We encourage applicants to consider their purpose in this demanding and complex public service career opportunity, as it presents challenges, yet equally offers high rewards and satisfaction. Selected applicants must successfully complete a 12-month trial service training period to evaluate their effectiveness in the position.

Some examples of evidence-based practices that we use include:

• Motivational Interviewing: You'll establish rapport with Justice Involved Individuals and enhance their motivation to succeed through collaborative communication, confronting issues in a non-threatening manner, and using positive and negative reinforcements. You'll identify each client's needs and risk factors, develop timelines to help them meet their goals, and implement action plans for clients and their families.
• EPICS (Effective Practices in Community Supervision): You will be trained and use a research driven case management model specifically designed to address the highest criminogenic risk domains. EPICS includes a focus on the use of cognitive behavioral interventions.
• Effective Communication: Your ability to communicate in a respectful manner and adapt your communication style for diverse audiences will be key to working effectively with clients, community partners and co-workers. Your writing skills and attention to detail will enable you to prepare accurate, well-written reports and documents for the courts, treatment agencies and other stakeholders, often within tight timelines. All candidates must be able to communicate and interact effectively and professionally with people from diverse backgrounds.
• Investigation and Public Safety Work: You will conduct field investigations, adhering to specific protocols and standards, to uncover facts that are often hidden, unique or complex. You will utilize your crisis prevention, intervention and de-escalation skills to keep the community, your clients and yourself safe. You'll make decisions to arrest in accordance with departmental rules and procedures. You'll coordinate, conduct arrests, and transport as necessary.
• Organization and Time Management: You will be responsible for organizing and prioritizing your own workload to meet strict deadlines. (This can be challenging in a setting where work tasks and priorities change frequently.) You will work independently and as part of a team, and you'll develop creative and innovative ideas to handle your caseload as efficiently as possible.

We encourage bilingual applicants to apply. Some positions require oral and written fluency in English and a second language.

The Department of Community Justice is looking for Criminal Justice professionals who can demonstrate expertise in the following areas:

• Strategic Planning / Leadership: You will develop goals and direction based on the overall county/department mission and vision to increase community safety through positive change.
• Results Through People: You will help achieve results through the contribution of others by motivating and inspiring growth and productivity.
• Relationships and Community: You will build positive and sustainable relationships with a range of key internal and external stakeholders.
• Leading Cross-Culturally: You will foster an inclusive workplace where diversity and individual differences are valued and leveraged to achieve the vision, mission, and goals of the organization.
• Team Building: You will develop, inspire, and foster employees to work collaboratively.
• Organizational Savviness: You will demonstrate understanding and good judgment of organizational culture and interpersonal relationships, with both internal and external groups, to identify opportunities of mutual interest and benefit.
• Delivery: You will ensure services are provided by quality processes through monitoring and understanding.
• Outcomes: You achieve quality outcomes for the individual, the organization, and the county.
• Personal Development: You will strive for an honest and accurate assessment of oneself and demonstrate willingness for continuous improvement.
• Functional/Technical: You possess specific knowledge about laws, regulations, certifications, licensure and skills for specific assignments.

At Multnomah County we are committed to maintaining an effective, respectful and inclusive workplace. We value collaborative problem solving and strive for continuous improvement. We strongly believe in workforce equity, diversity and inclusion. Visit our Workforce Equity Strategies Plan (WESP) to see where Multnomah County is headed with these values.

The Department of Community Justice (DCJ) provides supervision and services to justice involved youth, adults, families, and communities. Our efforts are guided by evidence-based strategies that maximize our resources and results, and by our core belief that people can change. We aim to address the underlying issues that lead to criminal behavior, and to help people successfully engage in civic life. As a nationally recognized leader in adult and juvenile community justice, DCJ makes long-term investments in its employees through the provision of continual education and training. The Department works collaboratively with the judiciary, law enforcement, schools, treatment agencies, and the community to achieve our vision - community safety through positive change.

The Department shares information with community members, partners, and staff to keep communities safe by preventing and reducing crime and routinely evaluating which local policies support best practices. DCJ operates 24 hours a day, with nearly 600 permanent, on-call, and temporary employees. The Department supervises approximately 7,000 justice-involved individuals annually and those defendants requiring pretrial services. DCJ's Juvenile Services Division operates the Donald E. Long Juvenile Detention Facility and is responsible for approximately 360 youth on formal and informal community supervision.

Every day, Multnomah County staff work together to serve as a safety net for our communities. During a disaster, this safety net becomes even more critical. All County employees have a role in serving the public during inclement weather, natural disaster, or other types of community emergency response. During these emergency responses, while typically there begins with a call for volunteers, county employees may ultimately be reassigned from their current position to a role in the emergency response in order to support the critical needs presented by our communities. For more information, please visit the Disaster Service Worker Information page.

Internal candidates: After you have applied, you will receive the Oregon Veteran Preference Questionnaire in your Workday inbox. Your application as an internal candidate is not complete until you fill out and submit the Oregon Veteran Preference Questionnaire.

To qualify, we will consider any combination of relevant work experience, volunteering, education, and transferable skills as qualifying unless an item or section is labeled required. Please be clear and specific about how your background is relevant. For details about how we typically screen applications, review our overview of the selection process page.

Minimum Qualifications/Transferable Skills*:

• Parole/Probation Officers are Sworn Peace Officers and must be able to pass the certification requirements of the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) within eighteen months of hire. State statutes on DPSST exclude from attendance any person convicted of any mandatory disqualifying event as listed on the website linked here: OAR 259-###-####.
• Bachelor's degree in either criminal justice, administration of justice, psychology, sociology, social work or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience, AND;
• Six months experience in either responsible social counseling, case management, community corrections, law enforcement, or corrections, OR;
• An equivalent combination of education and experience. (Example#1: Two-year associates degree in a related field AND two years and six months of listed experiences. Example#2: No college AND four years and six months of listed experiences.)
• Must be a United States citizen or in the process of finalizing U.S. citizenship and completed within 18 months of hire.
• Must have a valid driver's license.
• Must successfully pass a physical examination.
• Must successfully pass a psychological evaluation.
• Must be able to pass a thorough background investigation, including being fingerprinted before the first day of employment.

Preferred Qualifications/Transferable Skills*: You do not need to have the following preferred qualifications/transferable skills to qualify