City & County of
San Francisco
Juvenile Probation Department
Assistant Chief Probation Officer
City & County of San Francisco
San Francisco is the fourth largest city in California and
serves as a center for business, commerce and culture for
the West Coast. San Francisco occupies a stunning 49 square
miles on the northern end of the San Francisco Peninsula and
has a total population of more than 800,000 people and an
annual economy of approximately $535 billion. The region
is expected to gain nearly 500,000 jobs in the next decade.
The City and County of San Francisco (the “City”),
established by Charter in 1850, is a legal subdivision of the
State of California with the governmental powers of both a
city and a county under California law. The City exercises
its powers through a Board of Supervisors, serving as the
legislative authority, and a Mayor and other independent
elected officials, serving as the executive authority. The
City’s government has an annual budget of $7.9 billion and
consists of sixty (60) departments and seventy (70) advisory
commissions and boards that oversee various governmental services. As a City and County, San Francisco
has a single police department, and school district. The County has a longstanding history of focused fiscal
investment in community-based programs and services for youth.
Juvenile Probation Department
The San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department investigates and supervises youth, ages 11–17, who have
been referred to the Department by law enforcement. Under the leadership of the Chief Probation Officer,
the Juvenile Probation Department (JPD) locates, develops, and administers programs for the assessment,
education, treatment, appropriate rehabilitation and effective supervision of youth under the jurisdiction of the Department. The
Department consists of 270 employees and has a budget of $37 million. The San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department is
the only freestanding juvenile department in the state, not combined with an adult probation department. In addition, it reports
to the Mayor in the executive branch of government. Additionally, the Juvenile Probation Commission, whose members are
appointed by the Mayor and serve staggered four-year terms, oversees the Department.
The Juvenile Probation Department is comprised of four primary divisions:
• Finance and Administration
• Probation Services
• Juvenile Justice Center
• Log Cabin Ranch School
The core probations services and facilities operated include:
JUVENILE JUSTICE CENTER: The Juvenile Justice Center (also known as “Juvenile Hall”) is a short term detention center which
holds youth after arrest. This 150-bed facility has the capacity to provide residential services in a secure setting, 24-hours a
day, seven days a week. While youth are in custody, they receive educational, recreational, medical and mental health services.
Additionally, they receive training in socialization skills and general counseling from staff.
LOG CABIN RANCH (LCR): Log Cabin Ranch is a long-term (9 month) rehabilitative residential facility for post adjudicated
boys aged 14-18 years old. In 2009, this facility adopted the Missouri Youth Services Institute (MYSI) model of correctional
intervention. Youths are maintained in small groups of no more than 12 boys each. The program has the capacity to serve up
to 24 residents. Log Cabin provides a wide range of intensive services for its residents, including an accredited school, vocation
CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO
Assistant Chief Probation Officer
training and programs, enrichment activities, family engagement, counseling and other therapeutic interventions as well as
focused reentry and aftercare plan development.
PROBATION SERVICES: Probation Services provides pre and post adjudication services to youth arrested in the City and County
of San Francisco. After arrest, each youth is assigned a probation officer who investigates the circumstances of the arrest and
assists the youth in all relevant social and family issues.
In addition, JPD partners with other City agencies (Office of the Public Defender; Office of the District Attorney; Department of
Public Health; Superior Court, Juvenile Division for the City and County of San Francisco; Human Services Agency; Department
of Children, Youth and their Families; San Francisco Unified
School District) and numerous community-based organizations
to develop collaborative strategies to assess and rehabilitate
youth, and reunify families when a youth has been removed
from the home. Community supervision strategies are designed
to serve the best interest of the youth while focused on public
safety and the needs and rights of victims.
Youth Served
On an annual basis, the San Francisco Juvenile Probation serves
approximately 1800 youths, 73% of whom is male and 27%
female. These youth are mostly 17 year olds (31%), 16 year olds
(23%) and 15 year olds (19%). In terms of ethnic makeup, 52 % of
the youth are African-American, 26% Latino, 8% Caucasian, 6%
Asian, 4% Pacific Islander, and 4% classified as “other.” More
than half of the crime the youths commit are against a person
(55%), followed by property crimes (23%), public order crimes
(15%), and drug crimes (7%).
SF Juvenile Probation Department Mission
The mission of the San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department is to serve the needs of youth and families who are brought
to its attention with care and compassion; to identify and respond to the individual risks and needs presented by each youth, to
engage fiscally sound and culturally competent strategies that promote the best interests of the youth; to provide victims with
opportunities for restoration; to identify and utilize the least restrictive interventions and placements that do not compromise
public safety; to hold youth accountable for their actions while providing them with opportunities and assisting them to develop
new skills and competencies; and contribute to the overall quality of life for the citizens of San Francisco within the sound
framework of public safety as outlined in the Welfare & Institutions Code.
SF Juvenile Probation Department Vision
It is the vision of the San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department that effective models of intervention with youth are
created in partnership with all Juvenile Justice stakeholders, thereby leading to reductions in juvenile delinquency. Youth
and families involved with the juvenile justice system are strengthened to become more self-sufficient as a result of their
contact with the Department. Victims and communities affected by juvenile crime
are given opportunities to be heard and experience satisfaction through their active
participation in the juvenile justice process. Communities are safer due to continual
reductions in juvenile crime and recidivism rates.
Assistant Chief Probation Officer
The San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department seeks a transformational leader,
solid operational administrator and collaborator with a commitment to juvenile
justice/probation reform to serve as its Assistant Chief. The position reports directly
to the Chief Juvenile Probation Officer and is a key member of the Department’s
Management Team. The Assistant Chief is distinguished by its executive and
administrative responsibility for assisting the Chief in directing, leading, and evaluating
the daily administrative, programmatic and financial operations of the Department
including developing and implementing effective department programs, policies and
procedures. The Assistant Chief will work closely with and as a collaborative partner
to the Chief Probation Officer and the Department’s leadership team, community and
agency stakeholders.
In addition to directly overseeing the core operations of the department, supervising three division directors (Director of
Probation Services, Director of the Juvenile Justice Center and Director of Log Cabin Ranch), enforcing department policies and
implementing best practices in juvenile justice, the Assistant Chief is also responsible for representing the department externally
to City agencies, policy makers and community-based organizations/partners, and serves as the Chief Probation Officer in his
absence.
CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO
Assistant Chief Probation Officer
The San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department seeks
an Assistant Chief who will focus on following strategic
department priorities:
Ideal candidate
The ideal candidate will possess the following expertise and
attributes
• BUILDING A BEST IN CLASS JUVENILE JUSTICE
AND PROBATION WORK CULTURE – The Assistant
Chief will work with the Chief and management
team members to foster collaborative relationships
across interdepartmental disciplines, with the goal of
establishing a “work culture” that is youth and family
centered, data-driven, and performance outcomebased. The Assistant Chief will help promote a work
environment where employees and management work
jointly to promote interdepartmental and community
collaboration, trust, cooperation, respect and
accountability.
• Knowledge of Evidence-based practices in community
corrections (Assessment of Risk and needs, Case Plan
development, Effective Community program linkages
and partnerships);
• ELEVATING & ENHANCING JPD’S EXTERNAL
RELATIONSHIPS AND PRESENCE - The Assistant Chief
will play a major role in supporting and complementing
the chief’s efforts to build, maintain, and grow strategic
relationships and partnerships among JPD partner
agencies that support and/or enhance the department’s
efforts to provide community-based alternatives to
detention, evidence-based services that address the
needs of youthful offenders and their families, and
effective diversion programs to serve as alternatives to
involvement in the juvenile justice system.
• Strong leadership skills with demonstrated experience
and ability to develop, implement and evaluate multiple
organizational and operational goals, objectives,
programs, policies, procedures, performance standards
and internal controls that are data-driven, resultsoriented and performance-based;
• CHANGING THE WAY THE DEPARTMENT DOES
ITS WORK – The Assistant Chief will help bring the
Department’s operations and practices into the 21st
century with goals to develop and implement model
programs, and create an organizational culture
that values solid, effective, and practical alternative
detention strategies. The Assistant Chief will manage
and ensure the successful launch of the new case
management system, with a commitment to engage
and train staff, and manage the necessary reengineering
of work and business practices.
• Familiarity with Juvenile Hall, Juvenile Ranch and Camp
programs and their operations;
• Experience as an operational leader and manager in
probation/juvenile justice with strong business, staff
management and problem solving skills and a track
record of driving successful organizational change;
• Extensive knowledge of applicable practices, principles,
methods and techniques in administering progressive
juvenile probation services and applicable laws, codes,
statutes and policies regulating juvenile probation
practices, programs and services (e.g., Title IV-E of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §§ 671-679b); California
Government Code §3300, et seq.; Title 15 of the California
Code of Regulations; Penal Code, and the Welfare and
Institutions Code);
• Visionary leader and strategic thinker who possesses
a progressive lens to juvenile justice with the
understanding and experience of facilitating systemwide service integration models that encompass strong
partnerships with community-based organizations and
city/county agencies to provide services and support of
alternative detention strategies;
CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO
Assistant Chief Probation Officer
• A team builder with the ability to empower, nurture and
coach a team of committed and skilled employees and
rely on their professional/technical expertise; to motivate
staff to reach higher levels of performance; to encourage
and actively identify professional development; and to
hold staff accountable at all levels and works effectively
with a unionized workforce;
• Passion and sensitivity for the needs of youth and families
of a diverse urban population with a selfless approach to
juvenile justice reform and a belief in the rehabilitative
responsibility of the juvenile justice system and a
commitment to increased family participation;
• Proven track record of collaboration and building trust and
consensus as demonstrated by having established and
maintained, in a highly political environment, cooperative
and effective working relationships with a variety of
stakeholders (e.g.,
residents, nonprofit and private
organizations, members of boards and commissions,
other government agencies, and staff);
• Knowledge and effective management of public sector
budget and fiscal concerns and the ability to secure
additional/alternative program funding;
• Exceptional interpersonal and communications skills
(both verbal and written)
• A team builder with a high degree of emotional intelligence;
and
• Consummate problem solver with the ability to think
analytically, exercise independent judgment, respond
to issues quickly, and make sound decisions and
recommendations.
Required Experience and Training:
Candidates for the Assistant Chief Probation Officer must
possess:
• A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or
university with major course work in social science,
administration of justice, business or public administration,
or related fields.
• Seven years of progressively responsible experience in
social work or justice administration in areas of probation,
youth services and delinquency prevention, including four
years of management and supervision in an organization
associated with delivery of services in probation,
corrections or justice programs.
Special requirement: must meet Peace Officers Standard
Training requirements (POST).
Compensation and Benefits
The salary range for the position is $126,334 to $161,226,
based on qualifications and experience. The City and County
of San Francisco offers an attractive salary negotiable
dependent on the qualifications of the successful candidate
and benefits package that includes:
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Ten vacation days accrued per year;
Thirteen sick leave days accrued per year;
Eleven legal holidays;
Five floating holidays;
Five Executive Leave days per year;
Pension benefits via the California Public Employees
Retirement System or the San Francisco Employees
Retirement System;
• $50,000 life insurance policy; and
• Management Cafeteria Plan.
Selection Process
The Assistant Chief Probation Officer recruitment is being
conducted on a national basis by The Hawkins Company.
The Hawkins Company will review all written materials
submitted, and will screen and evaluate all candidates. Only
those deemed qualified will advance to the next level of the
recruitment process. The most highly qualified candidates will
be invited to participate in an on-site interview. All questions
must be addressed to The Hawkins Company.
How To
Apply
Submit a letter of
interest and resume
by February 21, 2014,
electronically to Ms.
Brett Byers at brett@
thehawkinscompany.com or Mr. Bill
Hawkins at bill@thehawkinscompany.com
or mail materials to:
THE HAWKINS COMPANY
11040 Bollinger Canyon Road,
Suite E-216
San Ramon, CA 94582
For additional information or questions, please
contact Ms. Brett Byers at 323-403-8279 or Bill
Hawkins at 310-348-8800.
The City and County of San Francisco is an Equal
Opportunity Employer.