Correctional Counselor

State of Iowa; Mount Pleasant (IA); On-site; USD 48,000 - 56,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and dental

Flexible spending

Life insurance

Vacation and sick leave

IPERS retirement

401A plan

Job summary

The Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility of the State of Iowa seeks a dedicated Correctional Counselor to guide incarcerated individuals through individualized and group counseling, while contributing to rehabilitation and reintegration plans. This role supports the department’s mission of safer communities by helping residents prepare for reentry and a constructive path forward.

Typical hours are 12:00 pm–8:00 pm.

Qualifications

• Four years of full-time work experience in providing individual and group guidance and related counseling services in the areas of social, behavioral, educational, vocational and related program planning; or performing correctional, law enforcement, or jail administration duties involving community reentry preparation, pro-social behavior modeling, or supervision of individuals in work assignments.
• A total of four years of education and/or full-time experience (as described in number one), where thirty semester hours of accredited college or university coursework in any field equals one year of full-time experience.
• Within a period of time after hire, employees may be required to obtain a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) and endorsements.

Responsibilities

• Provide individual and group guidance and related counseling services to incarcerated individuals within a correctional facility.
• Participation in the development and implementation of specific plans and goals for rehabilitation.
• Development of plans and goals for reintegration into the community, as well as other related work as required.

Skills

Counseling

Group counseling

Community reintegration

Pro-social modeling

Education

Four years education/experience

Job description

The Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility is a minimum custody, male facility that houses approximately 1150 incarcerated individuals. Our goal is to offer treatment, work, education and apprenticeship opportunities in order to prepare them for their entry back into the neighborhoods of Iowa.

Our Mission:

The mission of the Iowa DOC is “Creating opportunities for safer communities, and our MPCF mission is, “Helping people become their best,” and we need talented and passionate people to fulfill our mission! We are looking to grow our MPCF team with people who share our energy and enthusiasm for making those missions a reality every single day.

Hours of Work:

This position is posted for the Minimum Live Outs building. MLO, as it is called, is comprised of approximately 160 Incarcerated Individuals of the lowest custody level. The majority of the population at MLO works during regular business hours, therefore this position's hours will be from 12:00 pm until 8:00 pm.

Correctional Counselor:

This position gives employees an opportunity to have a positive effect not only the lives of our incarcerated population, but also the other employees of the Department of Corrections, as well as the incarcerated person’s families and communities.

Positive impacts are made through:

• Providing individual and group guidance and related counseling services to incarcerated individuals within a correctional facility,
• Participation in the development and implementation of specific plans and goals for rehabilitation,
• Development of plans and goals for reintegration into the community, as well as other related work as required.

What we offer the selected candidate:

• Collaborative and respectful team environment.
• Opportunities for professional development and personal growth
• Excellent pay and benefits package including health, dental, flexible spending and life insurance
• Biweekly vacation accrual and separate sick leave
• Iowa Public Employee Retirement System (IPERS) retirement package
• Optional 401A plan with employer contributions

E-Verify and Right to Work

The State of Iowa participates in E-Verify, a federal program that helps employers confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. Within the required timeframe, new hires will be verified through the E-Verify system to ensure authorization to work in the United States. The State of Iowa also complies with the federal Right to Work laws, which protect employees’ rights to work without being required to join a labor organization. For more information, please visit www.e-verify.gov.

Applicants must meet at least one of the following minimum requirements to qualify for positions in this job classification:

1. Four years of full-time work experience in providing individual and group guidance and related counseling services in the areas of social, behavioral, educational, vocational and related program planning; or performing correctional, law enforcement, or jail administration duties involving community reentry preparation, pro-social behavior modeling, or supervision of individuals in work assignments.
2. A total of four years of education and/or full-time experience (as described in number one), where thirty semester hours of accredited college or university coursework in any field equals one year of full-time experience.

Within a period of time after hire, as determined by the appointing authority, employees in this class may be required to obtain a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) and endorsements.