Juvenile probation services in Maine are organized into three separate regions, with the largest one being located in the city of Portland. In Portland (region 1) there is one juvenile probation sub-office located in Biddeford and the Long Creek Youth Development Center, which is the largest juvenile probation facility in the state and is located in South Portland. The Long Creek Youth Development Center houses 163 juveniles, both male and female, and has a staff of 193 employees.
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The development center is meant to train juveniles that are on probation in order to set them on the right path, provide counseling and teach them life skills that can transfer into social life and work. The sub-office in Biddeford is used to process juveniles on probation and to keep track of progress while the offenders are on probation. All juvenile probation services in Main operate under the Division of Juvenile Services as part of the Department of Corrections.
Juvenile probation officer jobs in Maine do not involve having peace officer status, but these officers are allowed to make arrests of offenders under their supervision. Also, juvenile probation officers in Maine are not permitted to carry firearms while on duty, which is fairly standard in most states.
Education and Experience Requirements
In order to obtain a juvenile probation officer job in Portland, Maine, applicants must first meet a standard set of basic requirements and qualifications. The applicants must have at least a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university or college, as well as six months of relevant work experience.
It is preferred that the bachelor’s degree be in criminal justice, social services or a similar field, and the work experience must be related to juvenile probation/ parole work, youth counseling, case management, counseling or a career field very closely related to one of them. In special cases, an equivalent amount of work experience and education can be substituted for the requirements.
Juvenile Probation Officer Training in Portland, Maine
Once hired by the sub-office Biddeford or the Long Creek Youth Development Center, new-hires must complete 80 hours of training at the Department of Corrections Training Academy as a part of learning how to become a juvenile probation officer in Portland.
Training includes communication skills, counseling techniques, defensive tactics, arrest procedures, how to complete reports and how to make referrals in regards to psychological counseling and employment services, among many other skills, procedures and techniques.
After the training, officers are then required to complete six months of mentor training under a veteran juvenile probation officer at one of the facilities in the region.
Once the six months of mentorship are completed, officers are then allowed to work on their own without regular supervision, but are required to complete an additional 40 hours of training every year that they are employed with the Division of Juvenile Services.