Juvenile probation officers in Newark are based out of the Community Services Probation and Aftercare’s Hudson State Service Center on Ogletown Road. Also known as Family Service Specialists, these officers work in a variety of settings, including preventative programs that provide outreach to Newark’s18 public high schools where most of the city’s nearly 4,000 youths under the age of 18 will be educated.
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The Delaware Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families (DSCYF) provides oversight for the Division of Youth Rehabilitative Services (DYRS), which oversees the juvenile probation program, whose primary goal is to support positive changes in youths and their families while promoting public safety.
Juvenile probation officers in Newark can expect to earn a starting annual salary of $31,440 with the entry-level salary topping off at $47,160 for officers with the highest level of relevant education and experience.
Education for Careers in Newark Probation
Juvenile probation officers in Newark manage difficult cases where they must juggle a juvenile offender’s crime, the individuals involved, the demands of the juvenile justice system, and the delinquent’s family to produce an outcome that both provides justice for the victim while structuring a pathway towards reform for the young perpetrator.
It takes a skillful officer to manage this balancing act, a fact recognized by the DYRS in its mandated requirement that all applicants for juvenile probation officer jobs possess at least a bachelor’s degree in the social or behavioral sciences, or a closely related subject area. Candidates should also have some knowledge or experience in:
- Case management
- Conducting interviews and investigations to obtain facts
- Theory and application in the health and human services field, in areas such as:
- Unemployment
- Housing
- Mental health and substance abuse treatment
Navigating the Application Process and Training
The first step to becoming a juvenile probation officer in Newark is to fill out an application. These are accepted when there is an advertised vacancy for a Family Service Specialist, as juvenile probation officers are also known in Delaware, which will be posted on the DSCYF’s jobs listing page, as well as the state’s employment portal. Applications are completed and submitted by following all instructions in the job announcement, and if there are no current vacancies candidates can sign up to be notified when juvenile probation jobs become open.
Once applicants are hired and have made it through the interview, background check, drug test, and other evaluation processes, their next challenge will be training. During the first year of their new careers, juvenile probation officers in Newark will need to complete 80 hours of training courses in which they learn how to become probation officers, followed each year by an annual 40 hours of refresher training. Subject areas covered include:
- Newark city laws and statutes
- Juvenile psychology and teen issues
- Arrest and restraint techniques
- Self-defense and emergency medical aid
- Intake interviews and juvenile risk assessments
- Probation philosophy and practice