Victim Witness Specialist

United States Attorneys' Offices; Sacramento (CA); On-site; USD 54,000 - 78,000; Full time

Job summary

United States Attorneys' Offices in Sacramento seeks a Victim-Witness Specialist to identify resources for victims, provide information on case status, and assist with accessing funding and services. You will support victims in court, coordinate notifications, and conduct outreach to communities and groups on victim-related issues.

Responsibilities grow with training and experience as you collaborate with federal agencies and service providers to ensure victims receive timely help and effective

Qualifications

• Experience in victim-witness communications and advocacy.
• Ability to collaborate with law enforcement and social service providers.
• Experience conducting workshops, seminars, and trainings.

Responsibilities

• Identify resources and refer crime victims, families, and witnesses.
• Provide information on schedules, pleas status, and trial results.
• Offer in-court support to victims and witnesses during hearings and trials.
• Speak to groups on victims' issues and public outreach.
• Collaborate with law enforcement and social service providers.
• Respond to inquiries and determine program eligibility for services.
• Assist victims with applications for funding and services.
• Coordinate victim notifications and restitution information.
• Conduct victim assistance workshops and presentations.
• Review literature on victim-witness issues.

Skills

Victim-witness advocacy

Public speaking

Collaboration with law enforcement

Education

LL.B./J.D. or related professional degree

Master's degree or higher

2 years of graduate education

Job description

Summary

For more information on the Department of Justice and the United States Attorneys' Offices, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/.

As needed, additional positions may be filled using this announcement.

Salary contains multiple steps. In most cases, the salary is set at the minimum salary for the grade applicant(s) is selected.

This position is also being announced to All U.S. Citizens and Nationals under 27-CAE-13081465-DE.

Duties

• Identifying resources and providing referrals to crime victims, their families, and witnesses.
• Providing information to victims on schedule changes, status of defendant's pleas, and results of trial.
• Providing in-court support to victims and witnesses during and prior to hearings and trials.
• Speaking to public, civic, industry and special interest groups on victim's issues.
• Collaborating with law enforcement personnel, Federal investigative agency victim specialists and social service providers.
• Responding to victim inquiries, assessing concerns, and determining program eligibility for victim-witness services.
• Assisting crime victims in completing applications and required documents to access victim assistance funding or needed services;
• Coordinating and managing victim notifications, restitution claims, and other pertinent case information;
• Conducting victim assistance workshops, seminars, and presentations.
• Reviewing literature on victim witness issues.

Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• Initial appointment is conditioned upon a satisfactory pre-employment adjudication. This includes fingerprint, credit and tax checks, and drug testing. Continued employment is subject to a favorable adjudication of a background investigation.
• You must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable.
• If selected, you may be required to complete a one year probationary period.
• Time-in-Grade: Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements within 30 days after the closing date of this announcement.
• You must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements within 30 days after the closing date of this announcement and before placement in the position.

Qualifications

Note: In order to be considered "qualified" for this position, your specialized experience must be described in your resume. Please be sure that your resume clearly defines any and all of the specialized experience that you may have. If your specialized experience is not clearly detailed in your resume, you may not be considered for this position. The USAO cannot assume what duties were/are accomplished based on a job title.

GS-9: To be eligible at the GS-9 level, you must meet at least ONE of the following conditions, as defined below: Specialized Experience, Education, OR a combination of Education and Experience.

Specialized Experience

One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 level.

Specialized experience is defined as experience assisting with ongoing victim-witness communication needs; supporting victim advocacy communication and/or legal advocacy programs; collaboration with law enforcement personnel and/or social service organizations; and conducting and/or or providing assistance with workshops, seminars, presentations, and/or meetings.

Education

One of the following types of education in a closely related field (e.g., Criminal Justice, Social Work, Psychology, Sociology): a LL.B. or J.D., if related; OR Master's or equivalent graduate degree or higher; OR 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree.

Combining Education and Experience

Combinations of successfully completed graduate education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements. In order to qualify based on a combination, graduate education must be in excess of 1 full year.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP)

The ICTAP provides eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your ICTAP eligibility; 2) you apply under the instructions in the announcement; and 3) you are found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and receive a score of 85 or better on established ranking criteria. You must provide proof of eligibility to receive selection priority. Such proof may include a copy of your written notification of ICTAP eligibility or a copy of your separation personnel action form. Additional information about ICTAP eligibility is at: http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)

The CTAP provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees in the Department of Justice with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your Department of Justice component has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility, 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement, and 3) you are found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and receive a score of 85 or better on established ranking criteria. You must provide a copy of your written notification of CTAP eligibility with your application. Additional information about CTAP eligibility is at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA)

VEOA allows eligible veterans to apply and compete for positions announced under merit promotion procedures when the hiring agency is recruiting from outside its own workforce. To be eligible for a VEOA appointment, a veteran must be honorably separated and either a preference eligible or have substantially completed three (3) or more years of continuous active military service. If you are applying for a Merit Promotion announcement and wish to be considered under VEOA, you must submit a copy of the Member Copy 4 of your DD-214, in addition to any other required documents listed on this announcement.

Special Employment Consideration

Persons with disabilities, veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more, certain other veterans, spouses of certain members of the armed forces, and returning Peace Corps volunteers are examples of individuals who are potentially eligible for non-competitive appointments. For further information, click on the links provided below. You must specify in your online questionnaire under what authority you wish to be considered and submit appropriate documentation to verify your eligibility.

Noncompetitive Appointment Authorities Links

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/competitive-hiring/#url=Types-of-Appointments

Education

All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at a college or university that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, see http://www.ed.gov

OR Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the above education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to timely provide such evidence by submitting proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency with your application materials. More information may be found at http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html. All documentation must be in English or include an English translation.

Additional information

Payment of relocation expenses will not be authorized.

The Department of Justice offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part, paid vacation; sick leave; holidays; telework; life insurance; health benefits; and participation in the Federal Employees Retirement System.

Selective Service

If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System, or is exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. See http://www.sss.gov/.

Reasonable Accommodation Statement

Federal Agencies must provide reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities, where appropriate. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should contact the hiring agency directly. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.

EEO Statement/Policy

The United States government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service or other non-merit factor. More information can be found here: https://www.justice.gov/jmd/media/1425556/dl?inline.

Political Appointees (Current or Former)

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political Schedule A, Schedule C or Non-Career SES employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the HR Office. Failure to disclose this information could result in disciplinary action including removal from Federal Service.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Help

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