Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists

What the job really is

Provide social services to assist in rehabilitation of law offenders in custody or on probation or parole. Make recommendations for actions involving formulation of rehabilitation plan and treatment of offender, including conditional release and education and employment stipulations.

At a glance

• Sector: Community & Social Service
• O*NET-SOC code: 21-1092
• O*NET job zone: 4 — considerable preparation
• Work sample tasks on file: 12
• Tools and technologies listed: 12

What you actually do

Work sample tasks recorded for this occupation:

• Prepare and maintain case folder for each assigned inmate or offender.
• Gather information about offenders' backgrounds by talking to offenders, their families and friends, and other people who have relevant information.
• Interview probationers and parolees regularly to evaluate their progress in accomplishing goals and maintaining the terms specified in their probation contracts and rehabilitation plans.
• Discuss with offenders how such issues as drug and alcohol abuse and anger management problems might have played roles in their criminal behavior.
• Supervise people on community-based sentences, such as electronically monitored home detention, and provide field supervision of probationers by conducting curfew checks or visits to home, work, or school.
• Investigate alleged parole violations, using interviews, surveillance, and search and seizure.
• Recommend remedial action or initiate court action in response to noncompliance with terms of probation or parole.
• Arrange for medical, mental health, or substance abuse treatment services according to individual needs or court orders.
• Develop liaisons and networks with other parole officers, community agencies, correctional institutions, psychiatric facilities, and aftercare agencies to plan for helping offenders with life adjustments.
• Administer drug and alcohol tests, including random drug screens of offenders, to verify compliance with substance abuse treatment programs.
• Inform offenders or inmates of requirements of conditional release, such as office visits, restitution payments, or educational and employment stipulations.
• Participate in decisions about whether cases should go before courts and which court should hear them.

Tools and technology

Facebook, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Appointment scheduling software, Breathalyzers, Case management software, Corel WordPerfect Office Suite, Court records databases

What employers expect you to already be comfortable with.

Where this job leads

Related occupations — the usual moves up and sideways:

• Correctional Officers and Jailers
• Child, Family, and School Social Workers
• First-Line Supervisors of Correctional Officers
• Rehabilitation Counselors
• Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
• Social and Human Service Assistants
• Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers
• Healthcare Social Workers

Getting in

O*NET assigns this occupation job zone 4 (considerable preparation). The related occupations above are the realistic routes in and out.

Find openings

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Check this against the source

O*NET OnLine: Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists — the authoritative public-domain profile this page is derived from, including the full task list, reported skills and the wage estimates for your region.

Derived and rewritten from the public-domain O*NET database (U.S. Department of Labor / Employment and Training Administration). Figures are observations, not promises — always confirm salary, licensing and visa requirements with the employer and the relevant authority.