PT Counselor - Justice Scholars (Categorically Funded)

Cerritos College; Norwalk (CA); On-site; USD 94,000 - 118,000; Part time

Job summary

Cerritos College is seeking a Part-Time Counselor for the Justice Scholars program, delivering holistic academic, career, and personal counseling to justice-involved and disadvantaged students at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall and on-campus in Norwalk, CA.

The role requires a Master’s degree in counseling or related field and at least two years’ experience with justice-involved populations, with strong collaboration across campus services to support student success and enrollment persistence.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in counseling or related field.
• Two years of occupational experience with justice-involved populations or related DI group.
• Experience counseling students in educational settings and ability to work with custodial facilities.

Responsibilities

• Provide holistic academic, career, and personal counseling to justice-involved students.
• Develop and monitor Comprehensive Student Educational Plans (CSEP) for students.
• Coordinate with program staff and community partners to deliver wrap-around services.

Skills

Holistic counseling

Career counseling

Student support

Interpersonal communication

Education

Master's degree in counseling or related field

2 years experience with justice-involved populations

Job description

PT Counselor - Justice Scholars (Categorically Funded)

Salary: $68.22 - $86.78 Hourly

Job Type:

Job Number: PT-COUNS-Justice Scholars 2026

Closing: 10/23/2026 11:59 PM Pacific

Location: 11110 Alondra Blvd., Norwalk, CA

Department: PT-COUNS-Justice Scholars 2026

Division: Student Equity and Success

Equity and Diversity

The District is strongly committed to achieving staffdiversity and the principles of equal opportunity employment. The District encourages a diverse pool of applicants and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, religion, marital status, disability, or sexual orientation in any of its policies, procedures or practices. Infact, the college encourages applications from all segments of qualified people.

Closing Date

This position will close on October 23, 2026 at 11:59PM.

College Profile

Cerritos College is ranked 14th among the top 100 schools with the highest Hispanic enrollment in the United States by the UnitedStates Department of Education. Cerritos College serves as a comprehensive community college for southeastern Los AngelesCounty. Communities within the college's district include Artesia,Bellflower, Cerritos, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, La Mirada, Norwalk,and portions of Bell Gardens, Lakewood, Long Beach, Santa FeSprings, and South Gate. Cerritos College offers degrees andcertificates in more than 180 areas of study in nine divisions.Enrollment currently averages 20,000 students. Visit CerritosCollege online at http://www.cerritos.edu.

Department Profile

The Justice Scholars Program, within the Division of Student Equityand Success at Cerritos College, is dedicated to supporting incarcerated, formerly incarcerated, and other justice-impacted students. The program provides educational opportunities in detention facilities and on-campus delivering comprehensive supportservices to promote student success and persistence. The program is also part of the Rising Scholars Network, a statewide initiativeacross California Community Colleges committed to expanding accessand support for justice-impacted students.

Summary

Under the direction of the Manager of the Justice Scholars Program, the Academic Counselor divides assigned time between Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, where Cerritos College provides educational servicesto pre-adjudicated youth, and the Cerritos College campus. The counselor provides holistic academic, career, and personalcounseling services to current and formerly justice-involvedstudents, as well as economically and socially disadvantagedstudents, to promote enrollment, retention, persistence, and thesuccessful attainment of their educational and career goals. The counselor filling this role will work with Cerritos College JusticeScholars students at the Los Padrinos juvenile detention center andon campus.

The Counselor will provide specialized academic counselingservices, career guidance, and advisement to students from diversebackgrounds for the purpose of developing and facilitating theattainment of their academic, vocational, and personal objectives.The position requires demonstrated ability to work effectively withjustice-involved populations, faculty, staff, and externalpartners, and to navigate the unique requirements of custodialeducational environments.

Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall is a Los Angeles CountyProbation-operated secure juvenile detention facility thattemporarily houses youth in custody within the juvenile justicesystem, primarily while awaiting court proceedings or placementdecisions. The facility provides a structured, supervisedcorrectional environment with controlled access and movement, wheredetained youth remain under the custody of probation officers andparticipate in education, rehabilitation, and support programsunder Los Angeles County Probation Education Services and LosAngeles County of Education (LACOE).

Distinguishing Career Features

The academic counselor serves in a key operational andstudent-facing role within the Justice Scholars program, providingon-site academic support in a juvenile detention setting while alsoexposing campus-based programs and services to formerlyincarcerated and system-impacted on-campus students. The positionrequires demonstrated ability to work effectively withjustice-involved populations, faculty, staff, and externalpartners, and to navigate the unique requirements of custodialeducational environments.

Unlike general academic counseling roles, this position functionsin close collaboration with the Justice Scholars manager andprogram facilitator and designs academic planning around thescheduled general education courses for Los Padrinos Juvenile Hallrather than assuming traditional on-campus Comprehensive StudentEducational Plans.

Job Duties

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide sustained, holistic, and individualized counseling toassist justice-involved students to set academic and career goals,create education plans, and track their progress toward a degree orcertificate.
• Assist students in creating and updating Comprehensive StudentEducational Plans (CSEP) tailored to their specific degree,transfer, career goals, or Cal-GETC GE requirements.
• Collaborate with the Rising Scholars Network staff,instructional faculty, Los Angeles Probation Education Services andLACOE staff and campus support programs (e.g., Financial Aid, BasicNeeds Center, Mental Health Services, EOPS, and Tutoring) toprovide comprehensive wrap-around services for students.

• Evaluate transcripts from local or out of state institutions toalign student general education goals towards degree or certificatecompletion.
• Develop systems, processes, and partnerships that embed thiswork into the core operations of participating colleges with LAProbation and LACOE.
• Codify intake and counseling procedures and maintain studentrecords, and track progress toward educational goals.
• Serve as a liaison between the participating Rising Scholarscolleges and students to ensure access to resources and othercampus service areas when students transition to other juveniledetention centers.
• Facilitate workshops and orientations on topics such aseducational planning, transfer readiness, navigating institutionalsystems, financial aid, and career exploration.
• Promote campus-based programs and services designed to improveretention, persistence, course completion, graduation, and transferoutcomes for formerly incarcerated and system-impactedstudents.
• Assist on-campus formerly incarcerated students with navigationof college systems and processes including enrollment,registration, financial aid, assessment, and referrals to studentservices.
• Work collaboratively with the Justice Scholars manager andprogram facilitator to design and implement strategic educationalpathways that enhance institutional coordination and support thetimely completion of certificates, degrees, or CGEC and Cal-GETCgeneral education requirements for justice-involved students.
• Work with the Justice Scholars manager and Program Facilitatorto coordinate workshops, orientations, student engagementactivities, and support services aligned with Justice Scholarsprogram goals for on-campus formerly incarcerated students.
• Collaborate with the Justice Scholars manager and programfacilitator, and campus partners (e.g., Financial Aid, EOPS/CARE,CalWORKs, Student Accessibility Services, Basic Needs) to ensurecomprehensive and coordinated support for program on-campusparticipants.
• Teach any/all assigned Counseling classes (if assigned) for allscheduled minutes, designed specifically for the Los Padrinosstudent population, utilizing culturally responsive teachingmethodologies tailored to juvenile-involved populations.
• Teach courses in accordance with the course outlines ofrecord.
• Provide opportunities for students to be aware of theirprogress.
• Submit a copy of the syllabus for each class to the DivisionOffice.
• Keep accurate records of student enrollment, attendance, andacademic progress and submit them to appropriate offices by thepublished deadlines.
• Submit end-of-session grades, including supportingdocumentation, and attendance reports by the publisheddeadlines.
• Stay up-to-date on federal, state, and local laws andinitiatives affecting justice-impacted student populations.

Minimum Qualifications

Education and Experience

• Master's degree in counseling, social work, rehabilitationcounseling, guidance counseling, educational counseling, or careerdevelopment, or the equivalent, and shall have two years ofoccupational experience in work relating to justice impactedpopulations or a related disproportionate impacted (DI) group.
• An understanding of and sensitivity to meeting the needs of thediverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability and ethnicbackground of the student, community, and employee population

Demonstrated experience in:

• Academic counseling in juvenile detention facilities. Educationprograms and services that are designed to support incarcerated andformerly incarcerated students.

• Best practices in serving the unique needs of incarcerated andformerly incarcerated students, including conditions ofprobation.
• Experience connecting students to necessary resources both onand off-campus within the community, such as housing referrals,food insecurities, mental health issues, etc.

Desired Qualifications

• Experience working with Justice Scholars or similar programsfocused on justice-involved teens/adults.
• Experience understanding and trained in trauma-informedframe-works.
• Experience working with justice-involved populations, in highereducation, and/or in custodial or alternative education settings ispreferred.

Supplemental Information

Knowledge and Abilities

• Knowledge of student support services, retention strategies,and educational pathways in community colleges.
• Understanding of the needs, barriers, and strengths ofincarcerated, formerly incarcerated, and system-impacted studentpopulations.
• Working knowledge of instructional support practices,mentoring, tutoring, and student engagement strategies.
• Familiarity with or ability to learn policies and proceduresrelated to education in juvenile detention facilities.
• Strong interpersonal, oral, and written communication skillswith demonstrated cultural humility and sensitivity to diversepopulations.
• Ability to maintain accurate records, collect data, and supportprogram reporting efforts.

Abilities

• Ability to work effectively in both custodial (juvenile hall)and campus-based environments. Ability to support faculty andstudents in instructional settings.
• Ability to build rapport and trust with justice-involvedstudents.
• Ability to coordinate multiple tasks, prioritizeresponsibilities, and meet program timelines.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise sound judgmentwhen working with sensitive student information.

Physical Abilities

• The incumbent must be able to perform the essential functionsof the position, with or without reasonable accommodation.
• The position requires the ability to move throughout a securefacility, including navigating controlled-access doors, corridors,and stairs; to stand and/or walk for extended periods whilefacilitating sessions; and to sit for extended periods to performdesk-based and administrative work.
• It requires sufficient physical and emotional stamina to remainalert and maintain composure throughout the workday, including in astructured detention environment.
• The position also requires sufficient manual dexterity tohandle, grasp, and manipulate documents, materials, and officeequipment; the ability to reach, bend, stoop, and kneel toretrieve, store, or arrange materials and supplies; the ability tolift, carry, push, or pull program materials, supplies, andequipment weighing up to 25 pounds; and sufficient physical abilityto transport instructional materials between locations and set upprogram spaces.

Working Conditions

• Work may include flexible schedules and split-site assignments(both on and off campus locations).
• Work on campus is in an office environment with moderate noiselevels, controlled temperature conditions, and no direct exposureto hazardous physical substances. Incumbents may interact withstaff, students, and/or the public in interpreting and enforcingdepartmental policies and procedures.
• Work off campus is performed at a secure juvenile detentionfacility, requiring compliance with all facility securityprotocols, controlled movement procedures, and restrictions onpersonal items. This site involves working in a structured,supervised correctional environment.

• This assignment entails working with both juvenile and adultjustice-involved students.

Licenses and Certificates/Special Requirements

• Requires a valid driver's license
• Must pass and maintain all background clearances required towork within a Los Angeles County Probation secure facility,including Live Scan fingerprinting (DOJ and FBI).

• Must satisfy and maintain facility security clearance andcomplete required facility orientation and training, which mayinclude PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) training.
• Must be eligible to serve as a mandated reporter under theChild Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act.

Conditions of Employment

Assignments are contingent upon sufficient funding and enrollment.

Assignments may include day, evening, and/or weekend classes.

Individual who is offered employment shall be required to obtain fingerprints for a criminal history clearance through the StateDepartment of Justice and remit the required fee for processing thefingerprints, produce an original social security card, and submita TB Risk Assessment reviewed and signed by a health professionalbefore employment.

Faculty must be able to teach on-campus or remotely as assigned.

Candidates must be able to provide proof of Californiaresidency prior to employment.

Proof of eligibility to work in the United States and signing of loyalty oath per Government Codes 3100-3109.

The District ensures that all qualified applicants foremployment and employees have full and equal access to employmentopportunity, and are not subjected to discrimination in any programor activity of the District on the basis of national origin,religion, age, sex or gender, race, color, medical condition,ancestry, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status,physical or mental disability, or because he or she is perceived tohave one or more of the foregoing characteristics, or based onassociation with a person or group with one or more of these.actualor perceived characteristics.