Social Service Counselor

Social Service Counselor

The Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice (OJJ) is driven by a powerful mission: protecting the public while transforming the lives of youth through safe, effective, and individualized services that help them grow into productive, law-abiding citizens. We are excited to welcome a compassionate, motivated, and skilled professional to join our team as a Social Service Counselor, playing a vital role in the rehabilitation and well-being of youth in secure care.

In this impactful position, you will provide direct counseling and case management that supports each youth's emotional, behavioral, and social development. Through meaningful one-on-one interventions, dynamic group facilitation, and collaborative treatment planning, you will help guide young people toward healthier choices and brighter futures. The ideal candidate brings empathy, strong clinical insight, and a deep commitment to trauma-informed, youth-centered care—someone who believes in the potential of every young person and is energized by the opportunity to make a lasting difference.

An ideal candidate will possess the following competencies:

• Demonstrating accountability:
  The ability to take ownership of actions, behaviors, performance, decisions, and outcomes.
• Focusing on customers:
  The ability to understand and meet the needs, preferences, and experiences of internal and external customers.
• Making accurate judgments:
  The ability to assess options, weigh risks, and make sound decisions using available information and logical reasoning.
• Acting with ethics and integrity:
  The ability to make choices that reflect ethical standards, integrity, and honesty, regardless of circumstances or personal benefit.
• Adapting to change:
  The ability to demonstrate flexibility in thoughts, behaviors, and actions in response to evolving circumstances or unexpected change.

Minimum qualifications include three years of social services experience; or six years of full-time experience in any field; or a bachelor's degree. Experience substitution is available. Positions that provide addictive disorder counseling or prevention services will require certification or eligibility for certification issued by the Addictive Disorder Regulatory Authority (ADRA), or its successor.

Job duties include conducting psychosocial assessments and developing individualized service plans, providing individual and group counseling using evidence-based approaches, collaborating with facility staff, families, and external providers to coordinate care, monitoring youth progress and adjusting interventions to meet evolving needs, maintaining accurate documentation of services, treatment goals, and case notes, participating in multidisciplinary team meetings and contributing to case planning, and advocating for youth needs and supporting their transition to community-based services.

Position-specific details include work location at the Lafayette Regional Office in Lafayette, Louisiana. Appointment type is full-time, probational. Career progression includes the possibility of filling as a Social Service Counselor 1, 2, or 3. The incumbent must not have been convicted or pled nolo contendere to a crime listed in R.S. 15:587.1 (c). The Office of Juvenile Justice will receive a list of eligible applicants only from those who respond to this posting.

No Civil Service test score is required to be considered for this vacancy. To apply, click on the "Apply" link and complete an electronic application.

Benefits include competitive pay, insurance coverage, parental leave, holidays and leave, and retirement options.