Ceccelia Navarro

December 5th ,2014

writing essay

My career as a probation officer

Probation Officers (PO) is an important career in our society; they are the
ones who supervise and hopefully assist in the rehabilitation of clients who come in
contact with the criminal justice system. There is many different angles of being a
PO you can be employed with the adult offenders at either a state or federal lever
or you can work with juveniles offenders at a county or state level. I will focus this
report on juvenile offenders at a county level. While there are additional job
expectations and barriers its an appealing occupation to me and I know I could do
whatever it takes to help change young lives.
To become a juvenile PO its recommended you have a four year degree
preferable a behavioral science degree in criminal justice or related fields, or four
years of experience supervising juveniles. Many agencies in the state of Oregon will
start a probation officer around thirty-two hundred dollars a month and top out
around fifty-five hundred, each county has their own pay scale. From a recent
search I found Washington County and Clackamas county start out at a higher scale
compared to smaller counties like Polk and Yamhill County. Its fare to say most PO
do not enter in to this field to become rich.
Within the juvenile probation officers there are county level and state level
probation officers. At a state level the agency for Oregon is the Oregon Youth
Authority (OYA) this agency has the states counties clients who have continued to
engage in delinquent behaviors and have exhausted all resources at the county

level. OYA supervises clients on probation and parole the parolees are ones who
had been sent to a youth closed custody and had since been released. While this
appears to be a great agency I will narrow my paper to juvenile probation officer on
a county level. The county probation officers serve their entire county and work with
all juveniles who are referred to the agency. The juveniles can be referred to the
department for all crimes; however the department doesn't take action on all cases
and will divert first and minor offensives. The mission statements read on several of
the counties websites are to work with the families and assess what needs are
missing along with holding them accountable for their actions in the county. At
Marion County Juvenile Department they have a program called Alternative
Programs a program that provided clients with a job to repay their victims in the
community.
Juvenile PO's compared to adult PO have to not only deal with their client,but
work with their parents, sometimes two sets of parents, and unfortunately at times
its the Department of Human Services as guardian. No matter who is at the table
the goal is to help them help themselves. The PO for the client is very similar to
another parent to the client to make sure they are doing basic expectations of going
to school and listening to their parents. Its seems like its very rewarding when the
positive support pays off and the client moves on from the juvenile department.
When I got the chance to shadow a Probation officer I took that opportunity
to do so. I didn't know what I was getting my self into by doing this but I was
excited. The Po that I got to shadow was named Jennifer, when I meat her she was
really nice and seemed like she took her job serious. The first thing that she had us
go do was to visit some of her kids at their school. As we got to the school we had
gone to the office, they knew already who she was and why she was there so they

gave her some of the papers she asked for. As she was going threw them she was
telling me what she was looking for and why she was looking for those things. Those
papers had all the grades and there attendance for each and one of them, As we
were walking the hall she had told me that she was going to pull them out of class ,
the reason she did that was to talk to them about their grades and attendance, she
also asked them how they were doing and if they needed her help with anything.
One of them did tell me that she had always been there for him and always did
what she can to help him. He told me that with out her he might of not been about
to graduate from high school, he was a senior that year and he was getting to
graduate with his own class.
Later that day Jennifer had told me that the last thing we were going to do is
go visit a kid that she has been having problems with for quit sometime. She had
told me that she has had him for only two weeks and that he never listens to what
she wants him to do. As we got to the his house we walked up to the door, his
mother had answered and Jennifer had asked if he was home the mother had told
her that he never came home from school, And that she hadn't hurd from him
either. Jennifer had asked her how he was doing with his curfew she had told her
that hes never home when he suppose to and there's times when he doesn't even
come home. Jennifer didn't seem surprised but she told his mother that when he
did get home to call her right away. But as soon as we were walking out he was
getting there, she had talked to him about his curfew and how hes never home on
time. The next thing that she surprised him with was a drug test, She did tell him if
he told her that he had been doing drugs to just tell her and that he wouldn't have
to much a consequence. He told her that he hadn't but of course the test came out
positive. Since he was never home by curfew and failed a drug test all that was

violating his probation so she had arrested him right one the spot. I never knew how
much power a Po could have. After that day my interest of become a Po was a lot
more then they were before, it seems had at times but is well worth it at the end
because our helping children change their lives and become a better person.
Overall, despite the ups and downs of this occupation I would love to help
young teens be resilient and change. I want to help young kids who take an
unfortunate route. There are so many circumstance that cause disruption and
contact with our police agency's and I want to help them see its not to late to turn
around. Social problems will never go away and the juvenile justice system needs
individuals who see there is change that can be made. So Knowing what it take to
become a Po and the experience I had with one, I do realize that having this as my
career is something that I do want to work for and I do believe that I have what it
takes to be one.

Work sited page

Marion county oregon.web.December 5th 2014.

Oregon Youth Authorty.web.December 5th 2014.

Buteau of labor and statics united states department of labor.January 8 th,

2014.web.December 5th 2014.