Detention and Corrections Ombudsperson

Job Description:

Detention and Corrections Ombudsperson

Description

Introduction

THIS IS A NEW ASSEMBLED EXAMINATION. The eligible list resulting from this examination will cancel any existing list and may last approximately one year but can be extended.

Supplemental Questionnaire: A properly completed Supplemental Questionnaire must be submitted with each application. Failure to submit the supplemental questionnaire will result in disqualification. Applications and Supplemental Questionnaires must be in the possession of the Human Resource Services Department by 5:00 PM on the last day for filing.

Applications and Supplemental Questionnaires will only be accepted online.

DESCRIPTION

ABOUT THE ALAMEDA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office is a full-service law enforcement agency accredited through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) for its law enforcement services, its Regional Training Center, and its Dispatch Unit; the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors Laboratory Accreditation Board for its Crime Lab; the Bomb Squad Commanders Advisory Board for its Explosive Ordinance Unit. Additionally, the agency's health care provider, Wellpath, has experience working with the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC).

The Sheriff's Office has a current budget of approximately $600 million and has over 1700 authorized positions, including in excess of 1000 sworn personnel. The agency's Chief Executive Officer is Sheriff / Coroner Yesenia L. Sanchez, who is assisted in the operation of the agency by Undersheriff April Luckett-Fahimi, Assistant Sheriffs Emmanuel Christy and Daniel McNaughton.

The Sheriff of Alameda County is responsible for a vast array of tasks and duties, including the following:

• Providing security to the Consolidated Superior Courts
• Operating the Coroner’s Bureau
• Operating a full-service criminalistics laboratory
• Performing Civil Process
• Operating the County Jail (Santa Rita)
• Operating the County Office of Emergency Services
• Providing patrol and investigative services to the unincorporated areas of Alameda County
• Pursuant to contractual agreements, providing patrol and investigative services to the City of Dublin, Oakland International Airport, Highland County Hospital, Social Services, and to the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District
• Conducting a basic academy pursuant to Police Officer Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.) requirements. [Sheriff's Academy website]
• Providing Fish and Game enforcement
• Project Director of the Narcotics Task Force
• Serving as the Executive Director of the Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) Task Force

For more detailed information about the agency, visit: Alameda County's Sheriff's Office.

THE POSITION

The Detention and Corrections Ombudsperson is a single-position classification located in the Management Services Division of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. Under general direction, to serve as the contact for inmates, their families, attorneys, community-based groups other agencies and institutions in facilitating the investigation and resolution of inmate grievances, claims, lawsuits, and other critical issues within Santa Rita Jail involving the care and custody of inmates; to act as a neutral third party to provide advice and consultation and make recommendations to executive level staff regarding departmental policies, procedures, and programs applicable to detention and correctional facilities; serve as a key policy and public relations expert; analyze, research, gather and interpret information on evidence-based practices, legislation, and inmate programs; and to do related work as required.

For more detailed information about the job classification, visit: Detention and Corrections Ombudsperson (#1290).

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

EITHER I

The equivalent of two (2) years of full-time experience in the classification of Administrative Specialist II in the Alameda County Classified service.

OR II

The equivalent of two (2) years of full-time experience in the classification of Program Specialist in the Alameda County Classified service.

Substitution :

Completion of the Alameda County Management Academy “Management & Supervision Certificate Program” may substitute for six (6) months of the required qualifying experience for Patterns I and II.

OR III

Education :

Possession of a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university (180 quarter units or 120 semester units) with major coursework in business or public administration, criminal justice, social welfare, or a field related to the work.

AND

Experience :

The equivalent of three (3) years of full-time professional-level experience in independently providing complex administrative or management services, including planning, organizing, and conducting high-level administrative, organizational, or related studies at a level equivalent to or higher than the County classifications of Administrative Specialist II, or Program Specialist, preferably in a law enforcement agency setting.

Substitution :

Additional professional or paraprofessional administrative services experience may be substituted for the educational requirement on a year-for-year basis in Pattern III.

Special Requirements :

A thorough background investigation will be conducted of all prospective employees to ensure they are suitable for law enforcement related work. Candidates must have a valid California Driver’s License prior to appointment. May be required to drive a County or personal vehicle to attend meetings. Working Conditions :

Incumbent must work effectively and remain calm and organized while performing duties in a noisy enclosed jail environment that includes:

• Interaction with potentially hostile and challenging individuals.
• Exposure to health risks and odors associated with a jail environment.
• Exposure to anti-social inmate behavior.
• Using walkways in sections of Santa Rita Jail that are also used by escorted and unescorted inmates.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

The most suitably qualified candidates will possess the following competencies:

Knowledge of:

• Principles and practices of operational, policy, and programmatic research and analysis.
• Federal, State, and County detention and correctional facility regulations.
• Agency policies, procedures, programs, and services within the correctional facility setting.
• Practices and techniques of administrative and statistical analysis and report preparation.
• Knowledge of state and federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) policies and laws.
• Knowledge of computer systems and applications related to the job.
• Office administrative practices and procedures including records management.
• Conflict resolution techniques.
• Interviewing techniques.

Ability to:

• Develop/collect data to be analyzed and used for reporting requirements for all inmate grievances and other complaints related to the safety, care, and custody of inmates.
• Research, compile, and summarize varied information, evaluate alternatives, and reach sound conclusions.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of the work.
• Handle high-pressure, crisis situations professionally and extract appropriate information in such situations.
• Interpret, explain, and apply complex policies, regulations, and procedures.
• Deal effectively and tactfully with hostile, disorganized, or aggressive clients/inmates.
• Work cooperatively with varying interest groups and coordinate them toward solving a problem.
• Organize and prioritize work to meet critical deadlines.
• Represent the Agency and County in meetings with others.

EXAMINATION COMPONENTS

THE EXAMINATION WILL CONSIST OF THE FOLLOWING STEPS:

1) A review of applications to verify possession of minimum requirements. Those applicants who possess the minimum requirements for the class will move on to the next step in the examination process.

2) A review of supplemental questionnaires to select the best qualified applicants to continue in the process.

3) An oral interview which will be weighted as 100% of the applicant's final examination score. The oral interview may contain situational exercises.

CANDIDATES MUST ATTAIN A QUALIFYING RATING ON EACH PORTION OF THIS EXAMINATION

We reserve the right to make changes to the announced examination components.

Alameda County utilizes a Civil Service Selection System founded on merit. Such a system is competitive and based on broad recruitment efforts and equal opportunity for qualified applicants to test in an examination process designed to determine the qualifications, fitness and ability of competitors to perform duties of the vacant position. Many of our recruitments are targeted and specific to the needs of a current vacant position, in which case, the eligible list may be exclusively used for that current vacant position. Other recruitments may be more broadly used for both current and future vacancies, or for other alternate jobs with comparable scopes of work.

To learn more about our recruitment and selection process, please visit the " Hiring Process " section of our website: https://hrs.alamedacountyca.gov/

Selection Plan

Applicants will be informed via email with reasonable notice in advance of any examination process which will require their attendance. The following dates are tentative and subject to change based on the needs of the Agency:

TENTATIVE SELECTION PLAN

Deadline for Filing:

*Monday, November 18, 2024, at 5:00 PM

Review of Applications for Minimum Qualifications:

*Monday, December 2, 2024

Supplemental Questionnaire Review for Best Qualified:

*TBD

Oral Interviews:

*TBD

*Updated 11/5/2024

WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE CHANGES TO THE ANNOUNCED RECRUITMENT & SELECTION PLAN

Alameda County and the Human Resource Services Department will make reasonable efforts in the examination and/or selection process to accommodate qualified individuals with disabilities and/or medical conditions in accordance/compliance with the State Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Alameda County’s Reasonable Accommodation Policy and applicable statutes. To request an accommodation due to a disability/medical condition during this or other phases of the examination/selection process, please contact the assigned Human Resources Representative listed on the job announcement before the last date of filing . Alameda County requires applicants to provide supporting documentation to substantiate a request for reasonable accommodation. To qualify for a reasonable accommodation, applicants must have a disability/medical condition pursuant to the ADA, FEHA and applicable statutes.

For more information regarding our Reasonable Accommodation procedures, please visit our website: https://hrs.alamedacountyca.gov/.

BENEFITS

Alameda County offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package that affords wide-ranging health care options to meet the different needs of a diverse workforce and their families. We also sponsor many different employee discount, fitness and health screening programs focused on overall wellbeing. These benefits include but are not limited to*:

For your Health & Well-Being

• Medical - HMO & PPO Plans
• Dental - HMO & PPO Plans
• Vision or Vision Reimbursement
• Share the Savings
• Basic Life Insurance
• Supplemental Life Insurance (with optional dependent coverage for eligible employees)
• Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance
• County Allowance Credit
• Flexible Spending Accounts - Health FSA, Dependent Care and Adoption Assistance
• Short-Term Disability Insurance
• Long-Term Disability Insurance
• Voluntary Benefits - Accident Insurance, Critical Illness, Hospital Indemnity and Legal Services
• Employee Assistance Program

For your Financial Future

• Retirement Plan - (Defined Benefit Pension Plan)
• Deferred Compensation Plan (457 Plan or Roth Plan)

For your Work/Life Balance

• 12 paid holidays
• Floating Holidays
• Vacation and sick leave accrual
• Vacation purchase program
• Management Paid Leave**
• Catastrophic Sick Leave
• Pet Insurance
• Commuter Benefits Program
• Guaranteed Ride Home
• Employee Wellness Program (e.g., At Work Fitness, Incentive Based Programs, Gym Membership Discounts)
• Employee Discount Program (e.g., theme parks, cell phone, etc.)
• Child Care Resources
• 1 st United Services Credit Union

*Eligibility is determined by Alameda County and offerings may vary by collective bargaining agreement. This provides a brief summary of the benefits offered and can be subject to change.

** Non-exempt management employees are entitled to up to three days of management paid leave. Exempt management employees are entitled to up to seven days of management paid leave.

Conclusion

All notices related to County recruitments for which you have applied will be sent/delivered via email. Please add @jobaps.com, @acgov.org and Noreply@jobaps.com as accepted addresses to any email blocking or spam filtering program you may use. If you do not do this, your email blocking or spam filtering program may block receipt of the notices regarding your application for recruitments. You are also strongly advised to regularly log into your County of Alameda online application account to check for notices that may have been sent to you. All email notices that will be sent to you will also be kept in your personal online application account. You will be able to view all of your notices in your online application account by clicking on the "My applications" button on the Current Job Openings page and clicking on the link 'last notice sent' for the respective recruitment.

Please take the steps recommended above to ensure you do not miss any notices about a recruitment for which you have applied. The County of Alameda is not responsible for notices that are not read, received or accessed by any applicant for a County recruitment.

NOTE: All notices are generated through an automated email notification system. Replies to the email box Noreply@jobaps.com are routed to an unmonitored mailbox. All notices are generated through an automated email notification system. Replies to the email box are routed to an unmonitored mailbox. If you have questions, please go to our website at https://hrs.alamedacountyca.gov/ . You may also contact the Human Resources Analyst listed on the job announcement for the recruitment for which you have applied.

Elaine Lemi| Human Resources Analyst
Human Resource Services, County of Alameda
(510) 272-6434 | elaine.lemi@acgov.org

DISASTER SERVICE WORKER
All Alameda County employees are designated Disaster Service Workers through state and local law. Employment with the County requires the affirmation of a loyalty oath to this effect. Employees are required to report to work as ordered in the event of an emergency.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
Alameda County has a diverse workforce, that is representative of the communities we serve and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All aspects of employment are based on merit, competence, performance and business need. Alameda County does not discriminate in employment on the basis of, race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factors protected under federal, state and local law. Alameda County celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive, and welcoming workplace environment.

Closing Date/Time: 11/18/2024 5:00:00 PM

Salary:

$47.26 - $57.43/hour; $98,300.80 - $119,454.40/year