thought difference, You never you d end up here, did you? where they ll It s not everyday you get to make a visible

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1 Psychologist Social Worker You never thought you d end up here, did you? It s not everyday you get to make a visible difference, to use your skills in an environment where they ll have the biggest impact.

2 Why make the move? This is not psychology/social work as you know it. It s the chance for you to contribute in a real way to an offender s rehabilitation so they might make something of their lives. It s a great responsibility, but the most rewarding kind, knowing you perform a vital role in making a difference to them, their families and the community. Working with young people and adults in both a community and custodial environment, our psychologists and social workers enjoy a range of benefits including: a positive working environment career planning specific to individual interests and aspirations opportunity to inspire and engage the hearts and minds of troubled youth and adults professional development and training provided by the Department of Corrective Services interesting and engaging work working alongside and learning from a range of staff with speciality skills in areas such as counselling, prevention and diversion, forensics, education, health and Aboriginal consultancy. There s no better place to facilitate change to a troubled person s life than at the Department of Corrective Services. Plus you ll have all the support you need to focus on the matter at hand rehabilitating youth at risk and adult offenders and assisting in their reintegration into society. Our services are designed with this in mind. Tailored to meet individual needs, they allow you to get involved with a person s rehabilitation. By encouraging young people at risk and adult offenders to address their behaviour, you ll reap the benefits of knowing you ve made a difference to someone s life. There s no greater satisfaction. A bit about the roles Senior Programs Officer Whether in prison or out in the community working with adults, or at a detention centre working with young people, rehabilitation will be front of mind in everything you do. You ll facilitate the therapeutic programs used to promote law abiding behaviour. Our programs look at criminogenic needs and specific behaviours related to sexual and violent offending, substance abuse and domestic or family violence. You will use a strong model of clinical governance, clinical management and clinical supervision. Utilising all your mental, therapeutic and assessment knowledge, you ll facilitate offender programs and assess participants ongoing rehabilitation needs, making recommendations and consulting other Corrective Service staff to ensure offenders are receiving the best possible treatment. It s about finding what s best for an offender s needs, so that the hope of a successful outcome becomes a reality.

3 Clinical, Counselling, Forensic Psychologists These roles are based in youth justice and adult community psychological services. You will be working with adult offenders or young people at risk of offending and with the forensic consultant team. Depending on your level of experience, under professional supervision, you will exercise independent judgement concerning the selection and application of established principles, methods and techniques. Watching a person make progress is one of the greatest rewards of this job. You ll counsel people on an individual basis, making sure they are adjusting to their circumstances in a correctional environment and receiving all they need in order to bring about the best chance of rehabilitation and community integration. To that end, you ll carry out advanced risk or need assessments to identify suicidal and other clinical or behavioural risk factors. And you ll be there to extend a supportive hand to less experienced team members when it s needed. Prison Counselling Service You re here to put your specialist professional skills to the test by helping offenders adjust to the day to day life of imprisonment. Your goal will be rehabilitating them so they may reintegrate into society. From crisis counselling and assessments/interventions, to supporting less experienced team members and keeping an eye out for signs of suicidal or self-harming behaviour, you ll do everything you can to enhance rehabilitative outcomes. Some other roles People with social work/psychology degrees, although the degree is not essential, may want to consider a role as a Community Corrections Officer or Youth Justice Officer. Alternatively, you may want to consider a role as a Prevention and Diversion Officer or Clinical Intervention Officer. These are only some of the many roles that are performed by staff within the Department. Do you tick all the boxes? Working with young people or adults, it goes without saying that you ll need to be patient, communicative and skilled at getting people to open up and understand themselves. That comes with the territory. But they ve never been more indispensable qualities to have than they are now. You ll be dealing with real people and real problems people and a system that will be relying on you to apply your skills. So you ll need to be confident in your ability to breakdown barriers in the face of some difficult situations and personalities. Even after a challenge, you ll question attitudes and behaviours, not stopping until you ve achieved what you set out to. As you know, it s not always plain sailing. You ll need to keep your wits about you when the pressure s on and bend and shape to the needs of an ever-changing environment. For you, there s nothing like the reward of knowing you ve genuinely helped someone take steps towards a more law abiding lifestyle.

4 Training and Supervision The Department of Corrective Services recognises the importance of training and career development. Corrective Services staff receive training in a number of different areas, as well as training specific to their role. Specific training may include suicide prevention; risk and treatment assessment; group work practice; and specific offending behaviour program content. What you ll need for specialist positions, a minimum of a 4-year degree in Social Work/Psychology and be eligible for full membership with the Australian Association of Social Workers/ Psychologists Board of Western Australia Australian citizenship or permanent residency or New Zealand Citizenship current Working with Children check or be eligible to obtain one valid driver s licence. About Us The Department of Corrective Services is one of the state s largest government departments with over 4,000 staff members. It is our responsibility to take care of all adult and young offenders in custody and in the community, across WA. And it is our job to see to it that there is compliance with court orders and that community standards are upheld. We also act as mediators when helping victims of crime. We ll be the first to admit it s not an easy job, but it s without doubt one of the most rewarding. Community & Youth Justice The Community and Youth Justice division employs staff to work with young people in detention, as well as young people and adults on community-based orders. These staff have life experience which help relate to troubled youths and adults in order to break the cycle of offending. The range of services and programs offered by the Department to young people and their families fall into four main areas: preventing and diverting young people from entering detention centres; helping young people complete community-based sentences after they have been convicted of a crime; intervening with young people and their families to help them get back on track when a young person develops a criminal record; and working with young people in detention or coming out of detention. Offender Management & Professional Develoment The Offender Management and Professional Development division has staff with backgrounds in mental health, addictions and occupational therapy at all prison locations and at a number of Adult Community Corrections Centres. Everyone works towards breaking the cycle of adults re-offending, protecting the community and helping offenders adopt law-abiding lifestyles. We aim to achieve this through promoting emotional and physical wellbeing, engaging offenders in programs, providing education and activities that are used to put structure into their lives to help them make the right choices.

5 This is by far one of the most challenging, rewarding and varied careers you ll come across, not least because of the people and and situations you ll face, but because of the you can make of offenders, difference to the lives their families and the community. It s this and the satisfaction you get from it that s hard to beat!

6 DCS locations Joondalup Wooroloo Warwick Acacia Mirrabooka Bandyup Midland Mt Lawley Perth Belmont Victoria Park Boronia Maddington Rangeview Fremantle Hakea Banksia Hill Cockburn Legend Community Corrections Centres Community and Youth Justice Prisons Work Camps Youth Justice Services Broome South Hedland Karratha Roebourne Millstream Newman Wyndham Kununurra Bungarun Derby Halls Creek Rockingham Casuarina Carnarvon Meekatharra Mandurah Karnet Bunbury Busselton Geraldton Perth Greenough Wheatbelt Northam Narrogin Katanning Pardelup Mt Morgans Kalgoorlie Eastern Goldfields Esperance Walpole Albany Are you ready for it? Contact us If you believe you tick all the boxes for a role in community services, keep your eye on our advertised recruitment drives by visiting Otherwise you can regularly check our website for updates at For more information please contact DCS Recruiting on or dcs.recruiting@correctiveservices.wa.gov.au Alternatively, visit our website at Updated April 2011 Department of Corrective Services