Senior Correctional Counselor

Summary Statement

A class incumbent is responsible for full-performance professional counseling work providing rehabilitation services to adult offenders incarcerated in correctional institutions or assigned to Community Corrections.

Career Ladder

Upon satisfactory completion of department promotional standards and job requirements, employees may be eligible to be promoted to the next level.

Essential Functions

Essential functions are fundamental, core functions common to all positions in the class series and are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all job duties for any one position in the class. Since class specifications are descriptive and not restrictive, incumbents can complete job duties of similar kind not specifically listed here.

Conducts individual and/or group counseling sessions with inmates/clients.
Develops treatment program based on counseling sessions as well as information obtained from inmate file, records, and reports, family members, associates, former employers, and other counselors or rehabilitation team members.
Assesses inmate progress efforts towards resocialization and compliance with recommended treatment program.
Prepares a variety of records, reports and summary evaluations relative to inmate progress.
Maintains files on clients/inmates which include appropriate supporting documentation, classification reports, social histories progress notes and counseling records.
Serves on a variety of boards and committees such as the Multi-Disciplinary Team's classification committees and inmate grievance committees.
Makes recommendations relative to appropriate classification level of inmates/clients based on assessment of behavioral/attitudinal changes and positive effort made towards self improvement and compliance with program/institutional requirements.
Participates in case conferences regarding treatment alternatives of inmates/clients. Makes referrals to such resources as drug or alcohol treatment programs, educational programs, etc.

Job Requirements

JOB REQUIREMENTS for Senior Correctional Counselor
Applicants must have education, training and/or experience demonstrating competence in each of the following areas:

At least one year experience providing rehabilitation services to adult offenders OR Masters degree or higher in Behavioral Science, Social Science or related field. Six months experience in behavior management such as understanding, explaining, describing and predicting behavior, studying the connection between behavior and its causes and identifying appropriate behavior modification strategies for individual situations. Six months experience in case management which includes assessing, planning, developing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating options and services to meet an individual's human service needs. Six months experience in providing rehabilitation services to adult offenders which includes evaluating progress in attainment of goals and adjusting treatment plans; analyzing social and criminal history; participating in interdisciplinary conferencing. Six months experience in using an automated information system to enter, update, modify, delete, retrieve/inquire and report on data. Six months experience in interpreting laws, rules, regulations, standards, policies, and procedures. Six months experience in narrative report writing.

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