Duties

Summary

Why work for the Federal Bureau of Prisons?

You can have a meaningful career with an agency that truly values a diverse workforce. You will find a diverse workforce employed from entry level jobs to senior management positions. We protect public safety by ensuring federal offenders serve their sentences of imprisonment in facilities that are safe, humane, and provide reentry programming. Employees at correctional facilities perform correctional work regardless of their specific occupation.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

The incumbent independently conducts group guidance sessions of a varying nature. This counseling deals with institutional adjustment, U.S. Parole commission, release planning, and interpersonal communications, individual counseling sessions varying in methods and intensity relevant to the individual's problems. They may focus on helping the individual offender understand and live within the complex family circumstances and assist him in developing new adjustment techniques. The Case Manager helps the offender view problems objectively and to deal with them realistically. Routinely deals with community resources to secure information and develop release plans. Prepare special progress reports for such consideration as parole, transfer, restoration of forfeited good time, and makes appropriate recommendations. Corresponds with attorneys, judges, probation and parole officers and other professionals regarding the inmate's case.

The incumbent in preparation of diagnostic studies, is responsible for collecting, interpreting and evaluating factual information reflecting developmental and circumstantial factors for the assigned caseload of inmates. The incumbent acts in a liaison capacity with other units and institutional employees on matters concerning inmate behavior. Serves as the primary liaison with the U.S. Parole Commission in reporting the inmate's program progress, readiness or lack of readiness for release, and resources in the community relevant to the desirability of his release. Actively develops program planning by presenting cases to the Unit Team and coordinating case management services with other correctional disciplines.

Along with all other correctional institution employees, incumbent is charged with responsibility for maintaining security of the institution. The staff correctional responsibilities precede all others required by this position and are performed on a regular and recurring basis.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - Travel may be required for training and/or work related issues.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
11

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship is Required.
• See Special Conditions of Employment Section.

The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees in the Department of Justice with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your Department of Justice component has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP eligibility, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility; 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement; and 3) you are found well qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and score 85 or better on established ranking criteria. You must provide a copy of your written notification of CTAP eligibility with your application. Additional information about CTAP eligibility is at: Click Here

Qualifications

To be considered for the position, you must meet the following:

Basic Requirements:

A. Degree - that included at least 24 semester hours of course work in the behavioral or social sciences.

OR

B. Combination of education and experience - that included at least 24 semester hours of course work in the behavioral or social sciences, and that provided applicants with knowledge of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a 4-year degree as shown in A above.

Evaluation of Education - Courses, such as sociology, correctional administration, criminal justice, government/political science, psychology, social work, counseling, and other related social or behavioral science courses may be used to satisfy the 24-semester-hour requirement.

Evaluation of Experience - Experience must have been gained in (1) casework in a correctional institution or in another criminal justice setting; (2) counseling in any setting, provided it required diagnostic or treatment planning skills to achieve specific social or occupational goals; or (3) work treating persons in need of social rehabilitation.

AND

In addition to meeting the above Basic Requirements, all applicants must have the following:

Education:

GL-07: One year of graduate-level education or superior academic achievement.

GL-09: Two years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree.

Graduate Education must have been in corrections or a related field, such as criminal justice, sociology, psychology, counseling, social work, or other course work related to the position.

OR

Experience:

GL-07 and GL-09: You must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade level in federal service. To be creditable, this experience must have equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to successfully perform the duties of the position, and must typically be in or related to the position to be filled.

Some examples of this qualifying experience are:

GL-07:

• Assist in case management services.
• Assist in the collection, verification, and analysis of information in the preparation of social histories reflecting the nature and extent of problematic behavior, current social problems and causative factors.
• Assist in writing correspondence and preparation of correspondence and responses to various sources, including Attorneys, Judges, Members of Congress, Parole Offices and others.
• Assist in determining inmate needs and program goals for individuals and monitoring the progress of the programs.

GL-09:

• Experience in providing case management services to the local inmate population.
• Experience in the collection, verification, and analysis of information in the preparation of social histories reflecting the nature and extent of problematic behavior, current social problems and causative factors.
• Experience in determining inmate needs programs goals, monitoring inmate progress through development of progress reports
• Experience in writing correspondence and preparation of correspondence and responses to inquiries from various sources, i.e. Attorneys, Judges, Members of Congress, Parole Offices and others.

OR

Combination of Education and Experience:

GL-07 and GL-09: Combination of successfully completed graduate level education and specialized experience. This experience must have equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the major duties of this position as described above.

If applicable, credit will be given for paid and unpaid experience. To receive proper credit, you must show the actual time (such as the number of hours worked per week) spent in activities.

**Your eligibility for consideration will be based on your responses to the questions in the application.**

Education

See Qualifications Section for education requirements, if applicable.

ONLY if education is a requirement/substitution for specialized experience, applicant MUST upload legible transcripts as verification of educational requirement. Transcripts MUST be uploaded and electronically linked from USAJOBS at the time you apply and MUST include identifying information to include School Name, Student Name, Degree and Date Awarded (if applicable). All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at a college or university that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, Click Here .

Superior Academic Achievement (S.A.A.) applicants MUST provide a transcript in order to be considered under S.A.A.

Foreign Education: For information regarding foreign education requirements, please see Foreign Diploma and Credit Recognition at the U.S. Department of Education website: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications

If you are selected for this position and qualified based on education (i.e. basic education requirement and/or substitution of education), you will be required to provide an OFFICIAL transcript prior to your first day on duty.

Additional information

This position IS included in the bargaining unit.

In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 3307, a maximum entry age of 36 has been established for initial appointment to a position in a Bureau of Prisons institution.

The representative rate for this position is $70,657 per annum ($33.86 per hour).

Special Conditions of Employment Section:

Appointment is subject to satisfactory completion of a urinalysis, physical, and background investigation. All applicants are subject to National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and credit checks.

All applicants not currently working in an institution will be required to complete a qualification inquiry regarding convictions of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence in order to be authorized to carry a firearm.

The Core Value Assessment (CVA) is an in-person assessment that must be facilitated at a Bureau of Prisons Human Resource Servicing office. On the day of the scheduled interview, a CVA will be administered. The applicant assessment must be completed within a 70 minute time period and a passing score must be obtained. Further employment consideration will not be extended if the applicant fails to complete the examination or fails to achieve a passing score. Note: The Core Value Assessment will not be administered to current BOP employees.

Successful completion of the "Introduction to Correctional Techniques," three-week training course at Glynco, Georgia is required.

The addresses listed on the USAJOBS account/resume must be the primary residence at the time of application. You may be required to provide proof of residence.

Additional selections may be made if vacancies occur within the life of the certificate.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

If your composite score exceeds the average score for this job, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your online assessment questionnaire responses and utilized to determine whether you meet the job qualifications listed in this announcement. If you rate yourself higher than what is supported by your application materials, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job. If you are found to be among the top candidates, you will be referred to the selecting official for employment consideration.

There are several parts of the application process that affect the overall evaluation of your application:

• Your resume, which is part of your USAJOBS profile;
• Your responses to the eligibility questions;
• Your responses to the online assessment questionnaire;
• Your supporting documentation, if required.

Time-in-Grade: Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements for consideration. You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this announcement.

If you applied to more than one grade level, BE ADVISED that you may be selected at ANY grade level for which you applied and are found qualified (i.e., if the job is announced at the 9/11 grade levels and you apply for the GS/GL-9 and the GS-11,and you are found qualified at BOTH grade levels, you may be selected at either grade level).

What Competencies/Knowledge, Skills and Abilities are Required for this Position?

The following Competencies/Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA's) are required:

GL-07:

• Ability to use time and resources efficiently.
• Ability to communicate orally.
• Ability to communicate in writing.
• Ability to interpret and apply policy/guidelines.

GL-09:

• Ability to communicate in writing.
• Ability to analyze.
• Knowledge of casework theories, methods and guidelines.
• Ability to communicate orally.
• Ability to use time and resources efficiently.

To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
Yes

Required Documents

• Resume showing relevant experience (cover letter optional).
• In order to receive credit for experience contained in a resume, your employment history must be documented in month/year format (MM/YYYY), reflecting starting date and ending date and include the number of hours worked per week. Failure to follow this format may result in disqualification.
• Current or former Federal employees NOT employed by the Bureau of Prisons MUST submit a copy of their SF-50 Form which shows competitive service appointment, tenure group, and salary. If you have promotion potential in your current position, please provide proof. If you are applying for a higher grade, and your experience was gained at a Federal agency other than the Bureau of Prisons, you MUST provide the SF-50 Form which verifies the length of time you have been in your highest grade and supports your claim for time in grade.
• Employees applying with an interchange agreement must provide proof of their permanent appointment.
• Current federal employees NOT employed by the BOP and former federal employees MUST submit a copy of their latest yearly performance appraisal/evaluation.
• Military Spouses who meet the requirement of Executive Order 13832 - must include marriage certificate and copy of active duty military members orders OR letter from VA OR DD214 describing 100% disability of spouse, OR SF-50. For more information Click Here.
• CTAP, Click Here , if applicable.
• A college transcript which includes the School Name, Student Name, Degree and Date Awarded, if applicable. (Note: If you are selected for this position, official transcript(s) will be required prior to your first day.)

Failure to provide these documents could possibly result in removal from consideration for this vacancy. If uploading documentation, do not identify/save your documents utilizing a special character such as %, #, @, etc. Documentation should be identified/saved as VA Letter, DD214, or Transcripts.

We cannot be held responsible for incompatible software, delays in mail service, applicant application errors, etc.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education .

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.