Juvenile Shift Supervisor (Unit Coordinator)

Full Job Description

Travis County Juvenile Probation is seeking a Unit Coordinator to support the residential services in overseeing direct supervision of clients and facility operations.

The Unit Coordinator works within a multidisciplinary team to provide case management services to the juveniles and families of high-risk and high-needs juveniles who have been court-ordered to residential treatment in the Travis County Juvenile Problem Department Intermediate Sanctions Center.

The Unit Coordinator provides a continuum of case management support to families during the juvenile’s placement.

The Unit Coordinator position will provide advocacy, support, and encourage family involvement during placement.

The Unit Coordinator will be assigned to oversee the daily operations of housing units and will maintain the logistics of those assigned units.

The Unit Coordinator must be flexible, creative, and be able to work varied hours and may be required to fill in as the on-duty Shift Supervisor due to facility needs.

The Unit Coordinator will be expected to function well in crisis situations, with individuals who have experienced trauma, have limited resources, and have challenges in functioning in everyday settings.

The Travis County Juvenile Probation Department is committed to creating a supportive environment that recognizes diversity, equity, and cultural competency as key components to the services provided.

The position offers opportunities to develop professional skills related to trauma-informed services, evidence-based practices, and children's mental health while making a difference in the lives of children and families.

This is a job classification within the Senior Management/Middle Management job family. Provides supervision to clients who have been placed in the juvenile facility by the Court system.

Provides supervision to Juvenile Officer positions of various types. Duties performed are of a more complex nature and type.

Incumbents in this classification typically functions as a working lead over the activities of other positions in addition to the normal range of duties. May require work in secure facilities.

Remains on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This classification may require a flexible work schedule in order to meet the needs of the department.

Requirements

• Supervises shift activities within the juvenile facility, including assigned personnel, assigns tasks to shift workers and schedules part-time employees. Conducts mandatory training sessions and staff
  meetings.
• Assumes responsibility during assigned shift for juveniles detained in the residential facility.
• Provides orientation for juveniles entering the system during the shift, and programs and coordinates daily living activities for the residents, including health and personal hygiene, counseling, recreation, education and social experiences.
• Maintains chronological logs concerning juveniles, including medical and emotional conditions.
• Writes reports and communicates significant observations to the staff, parents, attorneys, and judges.
• Ensures that chronological records of the juveniles in the facility are updated daily at the end of the shift.
• Inspects and maintains safety, sanitation and security of the facilities, and ensures that all policies and procedures regarding safety, sanitation and security of residents and staff are followed.
• Establishes probable cause and makes decisions to detain youth.
• Researches and maintains current knowledge of family law, counseling, treatment techniques, and
  departmental policies and procedures. Maintains current knowledge of available community resources for making referrals.
• Receives data and processes information concerning juveniles.
• Participates in in-service training and continuing education.
• Maintains records and generates statistical and other reports, as required.
• Ensures that all incident and medical reports are written and distributed to appropriate persons at the end of each shift.
• Ensures that appropriate persons are contacted in the event of a dorm incident or medical emergency.
• Communicates with law enforcement agencies, correctional agencies, attorneys and families as
  needed. Counsel’s residents and shift members.
• Conducts employee job performance evaluations, trains, supervises, recommends and carries out
  disciplinary action for line staff, in conjunction with the manager.
• Conducts research and recommends programs and policies.

Qualifications

Education and Experience:
Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice or in one of the Social or Behavioral Sciences, Social Work, Sociology, Psychology, Counseling or a directly related field AND four (4) years increasingly responsible experience in probation, community corrections, social services or related work.

Licenses, Registrations, Certifications, or Special Requirements:
Must be at least 21 years of age.
Certification as a Juvenile Probation Officer and Residential Officer or eligible for certification within six (6) months of date of hire, including successful completion of Cardio-pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Certification, First Aid and Handle with Care (state approved physical restraint technique).
Valid Texas Driver’s License

Preferred:
One (1) year of mid to senior level supervisory or management experience.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

Knowledge of:

• Supervisory principles, practices and techniques.
• Policies, practices, procedures and legal terminology related to Court system.
• Federal, State, Local and County applicable laws, rules, regulations and applicable juvenile justice system standards and procedures.
• Standard practices in area of assignment.
• Psychological concepts of good behavior, social adjustment and emotional stability.
• Standard counseling techniques.
• Safety and security techniques and standards.
• Physical restraint techniques to control aggressive behavior.
• First aid techniques.
• Computer equipment to include word processing, spreadsheets, databases and a variety of software packages.
• May be required to develop knowledge of and adhere to federal and state laws requiring the confidential handling of certain health information.

Skill in:

• Training, supervising and reviewing the work of others.
• Monitoring and responding to client behavior.
• Problem-solving and decision-making.
• Interviewing clients.
• Both verbal and written communication.

Ability to:

• Train, guide, organize and assign the work of others.
• Make investigations and report the results clearly, accurately and impartially.
• Gather, analyze and evaluate facts to develop individual program plans and appropriate case dispositions.
• Develop, analyze and interpret policies and procedures.
• Deal effectively with mentally disturbed, hostile and aggressive individuals.
• Manage time well, perform multiple tasks and organize diverse activities.
• Research, compile, analyze, interpret and prepare a variety of fiscal, statistical and administrative reports.
• Perform in a stressful environment while maintaining a professional manner.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with departmental clientele, representatives of outside agencies, other County employees and officials, and the general public.

Additional Information

Physical requirements include the ability to lift/carry up to 50-100 pounds occasionally, visual acuity, speech and hearing, hand and eye coordination and manual dexterity necessary to operate a computer and office equipment. Subject to standing, walking, sitting, repetitive motion, reaching, climbing stairs, bending, stooping, kneeling, crouching, crawling, pushing, pulling, balancing, squatting to perform the essential functions. Requires exposure to hostile behavior from clients. May be subject to contact with noise, vibration, fumes, foul odor, dirt, dust, mist, gases and poor ventilation. Subject to contact with communicable diseases, radiation, hazardous waste, human fecal matter and foul odors. Subject to stressful environment and client and customer contact for extended periods of time.

Travis County employees play an important role in business continuity. As such, employees can be assigned to business continuity efforts outside of normal job functions.

Shift work: 6:00 AM to 2:00 PM, 2:00 PM to 10:00 PM, 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM (Must be able to work all three shifts as needed.) Works some holidays, nights, and weekends

Location: 2515 S. Congress Ave. Austin, Texas 78704

Department: Juvenile Probation

Criminal background check, Driving, Education, and Employment verification required.

This job description is intended to be generic in nature. It is not necessarily an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities. The essential duties, functions and responsibilities and overtime eligibility may vary based on the specific tasks assigned to the position.

You must ensure your application accurately reflects your skills and abilities as they relate to the position. Only periods of employment and experience detailed in the "Work Experience" section of the application will be considered in determining which applicants move forward in the selection process, as well as determining pay level for candidate(s) recommended for hire.