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Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists
Provide social services to assist in rehabilitation of law offenders in custody or on probation or parole. Make recommendations for actions involving formulation of rehabilitation plan and treatment of offender, including conditional release and education and employment stipulations.
Also Known As:
Adult Probation Officer
Correctional Counselor
Deputy Probation Officer (DPO)
Juvenile Probation Officer
Parole Agent
Parole Officer (PO)
Probation Agent
Probation Counselor
Probation Officer
Probation and Parole Officer
Wages
Annual wages for Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists in United States
Job Outlook
Average
New job opportunities are likely in the future
United States
2034 Projected Employment
94,800
3% Change From 2024
Explore Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Arrange for medical, mental health, or substance abuse treatment services according to individual needs or court orders.
- Recommend remedial action or initiate court action in response to noncompliance with terms of probation or parole.
- Inform offenders or inmates of requirements of conditional release, such as office visits, restitution payments, or educational and employment stipulations.
- Develop rehabilitation programs for assigned offenders or inmates, establishing rules of conduct, goals, and objectives.
- Prepare and maintain case folder for each assigned inmate or offender.
- Arrange for postrelease services, such as employment, housing, counseling, education, and social activities.
- Conduct prehearing and presentencing investigations and testify in court regarding offenders' backgrounds and recommended sentences and sentencing conditions.
- Identify and approve work placements for offenders with community service sentences.
- Investigate alleged parole violations, using interviews, surveillance, and search and seizure.
- Develop liaisons and networks with other parole officers, community agencies, correctional institutions, psychiatric facilities, and aftercare agencies to plan for helping offenders with life adjustments.
- Supervise people on community-based sentences, such as electronically monitored home detention, and provide field supervision of probationers by conducting curfew checks or visits to home, work, or school.
- Gather information about offenders' backgrounds by talking to offenders, their families and friends, and other people who have relevant information.
- Conduct prehearing and presentencing investigations and testify in court regarding offenders' backgrounds and recommended sentences and sentencing conditions.
- Assess the suitability of penitentiary inmates for release under parole and statutory release programs and submit recommendations to parole boards.
- Administer drug and alcohol tests, including random drug screens of offenders, to verify compliance with substance abuse treatment programs.
- Develop and prepare packets containing information about social service agencies, assistance organizations, and programs that might be useful for inmates or offenders.
- Write reports describing offenders' progress.
- Participate in decisions about whether cases should go before courts and which court should hear them.
- Interview probationers and parolees regularly to evaluate their progress in accomplishing goals and maintaining the terms specified in their probation contracts and rehabilitation plans.
- Supervise people on community-based sentences, such as electronically monitored home detention, and provide field supervision of probationers by conducting curfew checks or visits to home, work, or school.
- Provide offenders or inmates with assistance in matters concerning detainers, sentences in other jurisdictions, writs, and applications for social assistance.
- Discuss with offenders how such issues as drug and alcohol abuse and anger management problems might have played roles in their criminal behavior.
- Recommend appropriate penitentiary for initial placement of an offender.
- Assess the suitability of penitentiary inmates for release under parole and statutory release programs and submit recommendations to parole boards.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")