Parole officers in Quincy, Massachusetts, and the surrounding area work out of the Region 1 parole office, where parole officers had an average caseload of 60 parolees as of December 2010.
The Region 1 parole office, which is part of the Massachusetts Parole Board, an agency within the Executive Office of Public Safety, was responsible for the supervision of 361 parolees in December 2010, or 11 percent of the total number of parolees throughout the Commonwealth.
Quincy, which is located in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, is part of the Metropolitan Boston area. As of the 2010 census, Quincy was the eighth largest city in the Commonwealth, with a population of about 92,000.
Minimum Entrance Requirements for Parole Officer Careers in Quincy
Parole officers in Quincy must be able to obtain a permit to carry firearms; therefore, individuals with a felony conviction are not qualified to pursue parole officer careers in Quincy, Massachusetts. Further, candidates for Quincy parole officer jobs must possess a valid Massachusetts driver’s license and must meet the following experience/education requirements:
Five years of professional work experience (or the equivalent in part-time work) in one or more of the following fields:
- Rehabilitation counseling
- Psychology
- Parole work
- Social work
- Criminal justice
- Probation work
- Vocational counseling
However, candidates for parole officer careers in Quincy, Massachusetts, may substitute some or all of the professional work experience requirement if they have education experience in one or more of the following fields:
- Criminal justice
- Law enforcement
- Social work
- Human services
- Sociology
- Rehabilitation
- Psychology
- Counseling
Education-for-experience substitution rates are as follows:
- Associate’s degree or higher: 2 years = 6 months of experience
- Master’s degree: 2 years = 1 year of experience
- Doctorate degree substituted for work experience
Training Requirements for Quincy, Massachusetts, Parole Officer Jobs
Individuals who want to learn how to become a parole officer in Quincy, Massachusetts, must be prepared to obtain additional training and certifications, depending on the position. Certifications required for some parole officer jobs in Quincy include:
- Firearms
- Firearms Instructors
- Pepper Spray
- Pepper Spray Instructors
- Defensive Tactics Instruction
- Handgun Retention
An Overview of Parole Services in Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Parole Board oversees parole services through the 8 regional parole offices, as well as parole services through the Commonwealth’s state and county correctional centers and the Intensive Parole for Sex Offenders Program.
The Parole Board, which has a staff of more than 200, conducts more than 8,000 parole hearings each year. In 2010, about 5,100 inmates were released on parole in Massachusetts, with about 63 percent of those individuals successfully completing their parole program.