Team Leader

Team Leader

Positions in this job family are involved in providing direct care, supervision and security, transportation, and role modeling to adjudicated youth in the custody of the juvenile justice system. This will include providing paraprofessional guidance and counseling to residents, interventions to control aggressive behaviors, documentation of behaviors and activities, and monitoring and moderation of resident behavior.

The functions performed in this job family will vary by level, unit and organization, but may include the following:

• Provides security and supervision to adjudicated residents in a variety of situations and activities.
• Performs routine duties in care, custody, education, and treatment of residents; observes, records, and reports health symptoms, behavior, and activity of residents.
• Manages aggressive and non-aggressive behavior through verbal and physical intervention using prescribed and approved techniques; quickly responds to physical assaults, riots, and other emergency situations.
• Conducts counts of residents and enforces institutional rules and regulations; observes resident and staff activities on multiple surveillance monitor screens.
• Provides paraprofessional counseling and instruction to residents by directing their daily activities, maintaining order, providing support, and helping them develop and achieve personal goals; serves on a treatment team to review residents' progress, treatment and educational plans; serves as a group leader by reviewing and assessing the adjustment and functioning of a group of residents.
• Inspects the facility's living areas and work locations to ensure health and safety standards are being met, conducts searches for unauthorized objects, materials, and contraband; maintains security in an assigned area or post; controls movement of residents to and from living quarters for activities and off-campus appointments; maintains order and discipline during programs, meals, and recreation periods by utilizing empathic verbal communication skills.
• Patrols facility grounds, juvenile living quarters and work areas on an assigned shift while observing the activities and movements of residents; checks authorized persons in or out of buildings and grounds area while assuring unauthorized persons are denied access.
• Checks the physical security of the facility, including doors, windows, and lighting.
• Completes written and/or typed reports on a variety of incidents and residents' behaviors; sends and receives verbal transmissions over a hand-held radio; maintains a written log of daily facility activities; communicates by telephone with emergency responder agencies in crisis situations.
• Provide safe and secure transport services for OJA custody youth to and from placement, juvenile detention centers, court hearings, and various other appointments such as medical, dental and mental health evaluations.
• Will have responsibility for GPS monitoring, tracking, inventory and documentation in assigned areas.
• Other high risk transportation duties as assigned and specified through the Performance Management Process (PMP).
• Assists other OJA employees as needed/other duties as assigned.

Levels are distinguished based on the complexity of assigned duties, the level of expertise required for completion of work assignments, and the responsibility assigned for the supervision of others. This is the specialist level of the job family, where employees are assigned responsibilities involving an advanced level of work in a residential unit as a shift supervisor. Responsibilities will be assigned to employees for training and assisting others in the performance of these duties. This includes coordinating the activities of the residents in the unit. These positions will be assigned responsibility for the supervision of lower level staff, including assigning, planning and organizing work, providing training, and evaluating performance. Positions will provide direct supervision which includes additional responsibilities for employee development, approving leave and initiating disciplinary actions, as well as performing related administrative functions including but not limited to various investigations or other security related activities.

Education and Experience requirements at this level consist of the statutory requirements of OAC 377:3-13-43(c)(1): All direct-care staff shall be at least 21 years of age and possess a high school diploma or its equivalent (10 O.S. § 401 et seq.); the completion of thirty semester hours from an accredited college or university or one year of security experience; plus one year of security experience working with juveniles in a residential care and treatment facility. NOTE: There is no substitution for the required one year of experience working with juveniles in a residential care and treatment center.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities required at this level include knowledge of security methods; of basic human physical and psychological needs; of basic first aid methods; of crisis intervention techniques; of simple health and safety precautions; of behavioral problems typically found in delinquent residents; of methods and practices of household management; of environments and events that impact the problems of youth in custody; of state statutes and agency policies concerning care of residents in secure facilities; and of supervisory principles and practices.

Ability is required to interact with juveniles; to establish and maintain effective working relationships with others; to follow written and oral instructions; to gather facts and effectively communicate those facts in reports; to positively interact with residents of various racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds; to remain alert and act quickly and appropriately in emergency situations; to physically and appropriately handle escapees and violent or unruly juvenile residents; to exercise good judgment in the evaluation of situations and in making decisions; to efficiently organize and supervise the work of others; and to conduct investigations and investigative interviews.

Applicants must possess a valid Oklahoma Driver License at the time of employment and maintain a valid license while employed in this job family.

Applicants must be willing and able to work overtime and to work on any designated shift that may span the late evening hours or the early morning hours commonly known as the night shift.

Applicants must be able to successfully complete all training requirements for sole supervision of residents including but not limited to first aid certification, CPR, and unarmed restraint training.

Applicants must be willing and able to perform any/all job-related travel.

Applicants must meet all required physical examination requirements as established and prescribed by the Office of Juvenile Affairs

The Office of Juvenile Affairs has determined that some positions in this job family are safety sensitive as defined by 63 O.S. § 427.8.

Equal Opportunity Employment

The State of Oklahoma is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of genetic information, race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin, or disability.