Probation and Parole Officer

Environment, Conservation and Parks | Environnement, Protection de la nature et Parcs; Northwestern Ontario; On-site; CAD 69,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

The Ontario Public Service is hiring Probation and Parole Officers to provide supervision, assessment and intervention for adult offenders in the Geraldton and Thunder Bay areas. Roles include reporting to Courts and the Ontario Parole Board, developing case plans and coordinating with victims and partners.

Two openings exist: 1 Permanent and 1 Temporary (up to 18 months). Travel within the North Region is required. The salary is listed per the OPS collective agreement.

Qualifications

• Degree in social work, psychology, sociology or criminology or degree plus 5+ years in social services or correctional work.
• Ability to travel regularly within Geraldton and Thunder Bay reporting areas.

Responsibilities

• Provide probation, parole and conditional sentence services to adult offenders.
• Investigate and gather information for court-ordered reports.
• Enhance community safety by monitoring conditions of court orders.
• Assess risk and needs; develop offender case management plans.
• Guide offenders through evidence-based interventions and motivational interviewing.
• Liaise with victims and justice partners including Indigenous communities and agencies.

Skills

Counselling

Motivational interviewing

Relationship building

Assessment

Case management

Interventions delivery

Verbal communication

Education

Social work degree

Psychology degree

Sociology degree

Criminology degree

Experience in social services or correctional organization (5+ years)

Job description

1 Permanent, 1 Temporary (up to 18 months with possibility of extension)

$1,506.53 - $1,861.87 Per week*
*Indicates the salary listed as per the OPSEU Collective Agreement.

If you have not completed the Ministry's Probation and Parole Officer basic training program and the experience requirement, you will be hired in the Probation Officer (PO1) salary range ($1182.40 - $1541.00) per week.

As public servants working in the Ministry of the Solicitor General, you will lead with integrity, demonstrate professionalism, champion inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility and human rights, and strive for excellence. Probation and Parole Officers are entrusted by our fellow citizens to play a pivotal role in the justice sector, promoting community and victim safety through the assessment and effective case management of offenders on community supervision.

While supporting public safety, ensuring offender accountability, and enforcing compliance, Probation and Parole Officers are tasked with assisting vulnerable offenders who face significant barriers and require guidance navigating the challenges of living with issues such as mental health, addictions, historical and ongoing systemic discrimination (e.g., racism) and related barriers such as poverty, transiency and historical/intergenerational trauma. They are committed to evidence-based practice in response to the changing needs of diverse communities.

Probation and Parole Officers are honest, accountable, caring, ethical, respectful, inclusive, and are passionate about reducing recidivism to support victim and community safety.

This is an exciting and intrinsically rewarding career within the Ontario Public Service where you can assist the offender population in making significant changes in their lives.

Please Note: The results of this competition may be used to form an eligibility list of qualified candidates to potentially fill future vacancies within 17 months of the posting closing date.

About the job

• Provide probation, parole and conditional sentence services to adult offenders
• Investigate and gather information to prepare reports ordered by the Courts and the Ontario Parole Board to support sentencing and parole decisions
• Enhance community safety by monitoring and enforcing conditions of court orders
• Assess criminogenic and other risk and needs and develop and implement offender case management plans to address those needs
• Help offenders to make positive changes by guiding and supporting their efforts through meaningful interventions, skills building, cognitive-behavioural counselling, referrals, programming and motivational interviewing
• Liaise with victims and build relationships with diverse criminal justice system partners and stakeholders such as police, courts and community agencies (including Indigenous communities and organizations)

Experience working with Indigenous offenders

• Demonstrated insight into the impacts on offenders, victims, and communities who have experienced the effects of systemic barriers and intergenerational trauma
• Demonstrated understanding of Indigenous peoples' histories, the impacts of colonization, systemic discrimination and barriers, and intergenerational trauma, and of the unique needs of Indigenous offenders, victims and communities
• Demonstrated ability to integrate culturally appropriate, relevant and meaningful services and methods of intervention for offenders in their healing journey, and to support reconciliation
• Creativity, flexibility and respect for Indigenous perspectives and traditional approaches to achieving and maintaining change

Mandatory requirements

• Degree (from an institution authorized by the province to grant degrees) in one of the following disciplines: social work, psychology, sociology, and criminology OR a degree (from an institution authorized by the province to grant degrees) and experience greater than five years in total, in a social services or correctional organization, in a role(s) that involves the formal assessment of human behaviour and the application of structured interventions aimed at supporting the changing of human behaviour.
• The ability to travel regularly within and around Geraldton as there are no public transit options and PPO's are required to travel to and from reporting centres.
• The ability to travel regularly within and around Thunder Bay as public transit options are limited.

Applied social work expertise

• Demonstrated counselling and motivational interviewing experience
• Relationship building skills to counsel, provide offenders with guidance and support
• Demonstrated ability to develop, implement, monitor, update and evaluate offender-focused case management
• Experience in the delivery of structured individual and group interventions
• Demonstrated ability to effectively gather data to support the completion of a comprehensive assessment
• Demonstrated ability to interpret and analyze assessment information gathered through identification of offender risk, need and responsivity

Strong decision-making expertise

• Demonstrated use of professional discretion to make timely and appropriate decisions that are aligned with offender supervision strategies, individual needs, critical analysis, policy and legislation
• Demonstrated ability to set clear and consistent expectations for accountability or to initiate corrective action to address risk mitigation and offender rehabilitation

Communication and interpersonal skills

• Demonstrated interpersonal skills to contribute to a respectful workplace that values human rights, diversity, inclusion and equity
• Skills and ability to ensure completion of the administrative components of case management (including documentation, data entry, meeting deadlines and managing multiple priorities)
• Verbal communication skills to work effectively with colleagues, offenders, victims, stakeholders and justice partners with diverse needs and perspectives
• Demonstrated ability to gather and present information verbally and in writing in a clear, accurate, concise and professional manner

Don't meet every qualification?

If you are excited about this position and meet most, but not all, of the listed qualifications, please still consider applying. We recognize that no one person might have every qualification in this job ad, and you just might be the right candidate!

How we support diversity, inclusion and accessibility

We are building an inclusive workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We encourage everyone interested in working with us to apply, including people with disabilities, Indigenous, Black and racialized individuals, as well as people from all ethnicities, cultures, sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions.

Our hiring process is accessible, consistent with Ontario's Human Rights Code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005. We are working to prevent and remove barriers in our hiring processes and can offer accommodation to address specific needs related to Code-protected grounds such as disability, family status and religion. For more information about accommodation during the hiring process please contact us.

• diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives
• accessibility
• Anti-Racism Policy

What we offer

The Ontario Public Service is one of Ontario's largest employers. Employees work for a wide range of ministries, with offices in more than 70 cities across the province.

We offer:

• a career that can grow across ministries and job functions
• flexible learning and developmental opportunities, including education and mentorship programs
• a comprehensive compensation and benefits package
• base salary that aligns to market trends with performance-based pay and scheduled salary progression
• tailored work arrangements, including opportunities like flex hours, self-funded leave and more
• a modern, friendly and accessible physical work environment

Additional information

• 1 English Temporary, duration up to 18 months, 189 Red River Rd, Thunder Bay, North Region, Vulnerable Sector Check, Driver's License History
• 1 English Permanent, 208 Beamish Ave, Geraldton, North Region, Vulnerable Sector Check, Driver's License History
• About security checks: A criminal or other federal offence record does not automatically disqualify you from the position. We consider each situation based on the position's responsibilities. If a check is needed and you've lived outside of Canada in the past 5 years for 6 or more months in a row, or if you are not a Canadian resident, you'll need to provide an out-of-country police clearance certificate from the country you lived in. Employment screening checks are only reviewed and evaluated by the Transition and Security Office, which also maintains them and keeps them strictly confidential.
• Less qualified applicants may be considered on an underfill basis.
• The information that you provide for the purpose of this competition and the results from this competition may be used to fill other positions. These positions may be of various tenures including short-term assignments. Your information and the results from this competition will be retained for the purpose of filling vacancies in accordance with the applicable collective agreement or policy provisions.
• OPS employees are required to quote their WIN EMPLOYEE ID number when applying.
• If you require a disability related accommodation in order to participate in the recruitment process, please ContactUs to provide your contact information. Recruitment services team willcontact you within 48 hours.

Language requirements and assessment

All external Ontario Public Service (OPS) job ads are posted in English and French. Check the 'position(s) language' section at the top of each job ad for the language requirements. For all roles, candidates are assessed in English, the business language of the OPS. If the position is bilingual (English/French), you'll also need to pass a French-language proficiency test.