UNITED STATES PROBATION OFFICE
EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

OPENS: March 22, 2024

CLOSES: April 8, 2023

POSITION TITLE: Intensive Supervision Specialist

TYPE OF APPOINTMENT: Full-Time/Permanent

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT: 24-02

CLASSIFICATION LEVEL:

CL-29: $82,952 - $134,826 per annum

(FN Pay Table) Fresno-Madera-Hanford, CA

(The salary at time of appointment will be set in accordance with the Court Personnel System. Lateral transfers will be considered for probation officers currently employed in other districts. A lateral transfer is considered an officer’s current Classification Level (up to CL-29) and Step from their current pay table to Fresno Pay Table. The agency is unable to match locality pay.)

The U.S. Probation Office for the Eastern District of California has an opening for a Special Offender Specialist position. The Special Offender Specialist serves in a judiciary law enforcement position and assists in the administration of justice and promotes community safety, gathers information, supervises offenders/defendants, interacts with collateral agencies, prepares reports, conducts investigations, and presents recommendations to the court. Special Offender Specialists manage a caseload that includes a significant proportion of offenders/defendants of a specialized type and serve as local experts on cases of this type. The Special Offender Specialist performs duties that involve high-risk issues, such as mental health treatment, substance and/or alcohol abuse, sex offenses, computer-related crimes, and financial (white collar) crimes or cases with location monitoring or mental health conditions. Intensive supervision is often required for high-risk offenders/defendants.

Candidates will find the U.S. Probation Office in the Eastern District of California is a great place to continue a career with the federal court system. We offer a stable, positive and professional work environment, a competitive salary range and full federal benefits. Our agency is currently comprised of 80 staff members and our district headquarters is located in Sacramento with a divisional office located in Fresno. There are currently field offices in Roseville, Elk Grove, Redding, Modesto, Visalia, and Bakersfield. Geographically, the Eastern District of California includes 34 counties in the central valley from the Oregon border to Bakersfield.

**Officer candidates currently employed in this district will be considered from all duty stations and, if selected, will remain in their current duty station (transfer requests to another duty station in the district will be at the chief’s discretion).

Representative Duties:

• Identifies and evaluates district’s need for home confinement/electronic monitoring program and supervision strategies dealing with offenders with home confinement/electronic monitoring requirements.
• Develops guidelines and procedures for the district’s home confinement/electronic monitoring program.
• Assists in evaluating usage of contract services and evaluates the effectiveness of the home confinement/electronic monitoring program.
• Participates in administrative level planning, provides advice and consultation and offers ideas on program direction.
• Determines and evaluates available resources to assist or complement program.
• Prepares program procedures in written form to ensure overall understanding and consistency within the district.
• Supervises offenders with home confinement, electronic monitoring, or GPS requirement and monitors their compliance with program requirements.
• Assists officers if needed in utilization of home confinement, electronic monitoring, or GPS programs and conducts training for staff, if needed. Serves as an in-house resource on home confinement, electronic monitoring, or GPS to presentence investigators.
• Assists if necessary in the determination of acceptability of a participant into the program. This may include participants in the BOP’s Federal Location Monitoring program.
• Serves as a liaison/consultant to officers, judges, attorneys, and the community concerning the home confinement/electronic monitoring program.
• Acts as a liaison between the district and the location monitoring vendors.
• Works closely with other specialist(s), supervisor(s), and management to continuously monitor the effectiveness of the vendor(s) to ensure that the service provided meets the standards developed by the Probation and Pretrial Services Office (PPSO).
• Works with the Budget Unit to develop better practices in tracking co-payments. Certifies all billing associated with program expenditures. Reviews participant co-payments on a monthly basis.
• Maintains oversight of program inventory and supplies. Responsible for facilitating the maintenance and repair of electronic monitoring units.
• Assures 24 hour and weekend coverage of all electronic monitoring cases on assigned cases and as a backup officer.
• Oversight of designated offices along with monitoring of vendor reports, which includes distribution of those reports.
• During heavy workload periods and/or while the SUSPO is out of the office, the specialist will assist the SUSPO with their workload, as directed. And other duties, as directed, such as supervising high risk clients.

Job Requirements/Special Working Conditions:

This position will have a Location Monitoring component based on the caseload requirements.

This position requires non-traditional working hours, to include weekends and nights. Due to the nature of the caseload, the position primarily focuses on field work and, consequently, domiciling a government vehicle (if available) is preferred.

Frequent travel within the district will be required to oversee the specialized caseload, conduct field visits, enforce conditions, and meet national and local polices. Nationwide travel may be required periodically to attend relevant training.

A specialist must carry at least a 50 percent caseload, spending at least 50 percent of their time working with defendants and/or offenders. Special Offender Specialists may guide the work of probation officer assistants and other staff.

In regard to all officer specialist positions, the representative duties expected and required are in addition to performing the regular functions of a line officer whether that be in a presentence investigation unit or a supervision unit.

Qualifications:

Required Education/Experience

All probation or pretrial services officer positions require completion of a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in a field of academic study which provides evidence of the capacity to understand and apply the legal requirements and human relations skills involved in the position.

To qualify for the Special Offender Specialist position, the applicant must possess a minimum of three years of specialized experience, including at least one year as a probation/pretrial services officer in the United States Courts.

Specialized Experience

Progressively responsible experience, gained after completion of a bachelor’s degree, in such fields as probation, pretrial services, parole, corrections, criminal investigations, or work in substance/addiction treatment, public administration, human resources, social work, psychology, or mental health. Experience as a police, custodial, or security officer, other than any criminal investigative experience, is not creditable.

Preferred Experience

Current U.S. Probation Officer/Pretrial Services Officer experience is preferred. Preference will be given to candidates with current and/or prior supervision experience working with a sex offender or mental health population. The candidate must have demonstrated and sustained exceptional performance.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS AND MAXIMUM ENTRY AGE

The duties of probation and pretrial services officers and officer assistants require the investigation and management of alleged criminal offenders or convicted offenders who present physical danger to officers and to the public. In the supervision, treatment, and control of these offenders, these duties require moderate to arduous physical exercise, including prolonged periods of walking and standing, physical dexterity and coordination necessary for officer safety, and use of self-defense tactics. On a daily basis, these officers face unusual mental and physical stress because they are subject to danger and possible harm during frequent, direct contact with individuals who are suspected or convicted of committing Federal offenses.

Because officers must effectively deal with physical attacks and are subject to moderate to arduous physical exertion, applicants must be physically capable. Officers must possess, with or without corrective lenses, good distance vision in at least one eye and the ability to read normal size print. Normal hearing ability, with or without a hearing aid, is also required. Any severe health problems, such as physical defects, disease, and deformities that constitute employment hazards to the applicant or others, may disqualify an applicant. Examples of health problems that may be disqualifying are an untreated hernia, cardiovascular disorders, serious deformities or disabilities of the extremities, mental health disorders, fainting and/or seizure disorders, metabolic disorders, bleeding disorders, and marked speech abnormalities.

First-time appointees to positions covered under law enforcement officer retirement provisions must not have reached their 37th birthday at the time of appointment. Applicants 37 or over who have previous law enforcement officer experience under the Civil Service Retirement System or the Federal Employees' Retirement System and who have either a subsequent break in service or intervening service in a non-law enforcement officer position may have their previous law enforcement experience subtracted from their age to determine whether they meet the maximum age requirement.

SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS

Applicants considered for this position must undergo a full Office of Personnel Management (OPM) background investigation, as well as a local background investigation.

MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS

Prior to appointment, the selectee considered for this position will undergo a medical examination and drug screening. Upon successful completion of the medical examination and drug screening, the selectee may then be appointed provisionally, pending a favorable suitability determination by the court. In addition, as conditions of employment, incumbent will be subject to ongoing random drug screening, updated background investigations every five years and, as deemed necessary by management for reasonable cause, may be subject to subsequent fitness-for-duty evaluations.

The medical requirements and the essential job functions derived from the medical guidelines for probation officers, pretrial services officers and officer assistants are available for public review at http://www.uscourts.gov.

CITIZENSHIP

Applicants must be citizens of the United States or eligible to work in the United States. To review citizenship requirements for employment in the Judiciary, please visit http:///www.uscourts.gov.

Background Investigation, Drug Screening and Medical Standards (for lateral transfers)

U.S. Probation/Pretrial Services Officers transferring to another district are not required to undergo a medical examination, drug testing or the initial OPM background investigation. However, all applicable standards for the background reinvestigation apply. The Chief U.S. Probation Officer of the receiving district may, at his or her discretion, request drug and/or medical testing be conducted if, through direct observation or objective evidence, finds an officer is unable to perform the essential job functions, as defined in the medical guidelines. Also, at the Chief’s discretion, the most recent reinvestigation report completed on behalf of the officer may be examined.

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

U.S. Probation Officers are Judicial Branch employees and are not covered by Office of Personnel Management (OPM) regulations. They are, however, entitled to the same benefits as other Federal employees. Some of these benefits are:

• Up to 13 days paid vacation per year for the first three years of employment; up to 20 days per year until the 15th year of service; thereafter, 26 days per year. Sick leave earned at four hours per pay period (13 days per year).
• Participation in the Federal Law Enforcement Hazardous Duty Retirement Program and in a tax-deferred Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) - similar to a 401(k) plan.
• Voluntary participation in a Federal health, dental, and vision insurance program.
• Voluntary participation in the Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance Program.
• Up to 11 paid holidays per year.
• Optional enrollment in the Federal Long-Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP), Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), and commuter benefits program.
• Time-in-service with other Federal agencies and prior military service will be taken into consideration in computing employee benefits.

Application Process:

To apply for the Intensive Supervision Specialist position, qualified candidates are required to submit the following in one pdf document in the following order:

• a cover letter* addressed to Chief U. S. Probation Officer Mindy McQuivey, 501 I Street, Suite 2500, Sacramento, CA 95814 (see instructions below)
• a current detailed resume (including training that you have completed and certifications obtained)
• AO-78, Federal Judicial Branch Application for Employment (Revised 3/2024) (download from http://www.caep.uscourts.gov or http://www.uscourts.gov)
• title the pdf document as follows: Last Name-First Name-24-02
• please email the pdf document to caep_hr@caep.uscourts.gov

*The cover letter should include the following information; however, not exceed two pages:

• the vacancy announcement number (24-02)
• why you are interested in the position
• overall qualities and/or strengths that you will bring to the position
• describe your core values and leadership style

Failure to submit the above-mentioned required documents, in one pdf document, will result in immediate disqualification. Incomplete applications will not be considered, retained, or returned. Only one application per candidate will be accepted for this announcement.

• Applicants for law enforcement officer positions are required to complete the AO 78, Federal Judicial Branch Application, Revised 3/2024. The application form must be filled out thoroughly to determine eligibility for the position. This includes the Optional Background Information (questions, 19, 20, and 21) on page 5 of the application form.
• The United States Probation Office, Eastern Judicial District of California, is headquartered in Sacramento, with offices in Roseville, Elk Grove, Redding, Modesto, Fresno (Divisional Office), Visalia, and Bakersfield. Although it is the agency’s practice to try to accommodate individual duty station preferences, all employees of the United States Probation Office are subject to transfer to any office in the judicial district, if necessary, to perform the work of the courts.
• The U.S. Probation Office is not authorized to reimburse candidates for interview or relocation expenses.
• Applicants must possess a valid driver’s license.
• This position is subject to mandatory Electronic Funds Transfer participation for payment of net pay.
• The office reserves the right to amend or withdraw any announcement without written notice to applicants.
• The Special Offender Specialist’s performance will be monitored closely during the first year in this position.
• More than one position may be filled from this announcement.
• Applications received after 5 PM PST on 4/8/2024, will not be considered.
• The U.S. Probation Office for the Eastern District of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $82,952.00 - $134,826.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Flexible schedule
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Retirement plan
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• Day shift
• Monday to Friday

Ability to Relocate:

• Fresno, CA: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: In person