Corrections professionals who foster a humane and secure environment and ensure public safety by preparing individuals for successful reentry into our communities.
Duties
Functions as a School Counselor within the secure confines of a Bureau of Prisons (BOP), federal correctional facility. Acts as the primary liaison between the Education department, Unit Team, as well as other departments, to provide counseling and direction of the educational process for offenders. Provides the necessary skills, abilities, training, and experience to counsel offenders through the educational process in a successful manner, including those requiring special services. Promotes positive social-emotional-behavioral supports for offenders while ensuring necessary accommodations, interventions, and modifications are implemented as needed. Helps to create a safe, proactive educational experience, strengthens community partnerships and improves Bureau-wide accountability. Along with all other correctional institution employees, incumbent is charged with responsibility for maintaining security of the institution. The staff correctional responsibilities precede all others required by this position and are performed on a regular and recurring basis.
Salary
Qualifications
Basic Requirements: Degree: that included or was supplemented by at least 24 semester hours appropriate to the position to be filled in one or a combination of the areas described below. At least one course must have been from (1) or (2) below. For guidance counselor positions, a college or university-sponsored practicum in counseling is also required. Test and measurement: Study of the selection, evaluation, administration, scoring, interpretation, and uses of group and individual aptitude, proficiency, interest, and other tests. Adult education: Study of the adult as a learner, teachinglearning theories for adults, models and procedures for planning, designing, managing, and evaluating adult learning activities. Educational program administration: Study of the foundation and methods in organizing for adult and continuing education programs. Curriculum development or design: Study of the principles and techniques for development of curricula for adult or vocational education programs. Teaching methods: Study of teaching strategies and learning styles of the adult learner. Guidance and counseling: Study of the purposes and methods in counseling and guidance, the role of the counselor in various settings, approaches to counseling, and the uses of tests in the counseling situation. Career planning: Study of career development, learning activities, systems, approaches, program coordination, use of educational and community resources, and vocational counseling systems.. Occupational information: Study of theories of occupational choice and vocational development and their application to the guidance process. Identification and utilization of various types of occupational information and resources. AND In addition to having the above Basic Requirements, applicants must also meet the following: Education: Three years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree OR Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. OR Experience: One year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade level. To be creditable, this experience must have equipped the applicant with the particular qualifications to perform successfully the duties of the position and must typically be in or related to the position to be filled. Some examples of this qualifying experience could be: Experience in serving as a school counselor and delivering evidencebased school counseling practices to students while independently creating school counseling lesson plans, instructional materials, student worksheets, and progress monitoring charts and graphs as well as documenting all student progress for learning and social-emotional-behavioral indices. Experience in serving as lead school counselor and supervising graduate practicum students in their completion of required university program assignments. Experience in developing and delivering in-service training to fellow school counselors on the four sets of school counseling standards as defined by the American School Counselors Association (ASCA). Experience in developing and delivering in-service training to school faculty and staff on American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Student Standards: Mindsets & Behaviors for Student Success. Experience administering, scoring and interpreting criterion-referenced and standardized academics test, followed by developing intervention strategies to address individual academic and social-emotional-behavioral needs of students. OR Combination of Education and Experience: Combinations of successfully completed graduate level education and specialized experience may be used to meet total experience requirements. Only graduate level education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be combined with experience. This experience must have equipped you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the major duties of this position as described above. If applicable, credit will be given for paid and unpaid experience. To receive proper credit, you must show the actual time (such as the number of hours worked per week) spent in activities. **Your eligibility for consideration will be based on your responses to the questions in the application.**
Education
ONLY if education is a requirement/substitution for specialized experience, applicant MUST upload legible transcripts as verification of educational requirement. Transcripts MUST be uploaded and electronically linked from USAJOBS at the time you apply and MUST include identifying information to include School Name, Student Name, Degree and Date Awarded (if applicable). All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at a college or university that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, Click Here. Foreign Education: For information regarding foreign education requirements, please see Foreign Diploma and Credit Recognition at the U.S. Department of Education website: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications. If you are selected for this position and qualified based on education (i.e. basic education requirement and/or substitution of education), you will be required to provide an OFFICIAL transcript prior to your first day on duty.
Required Documents
Failure to provide legible required documents and/or follow the prescribed format often results in removal from consideration. If uploading documentation, do not identify/save your documents utilizing a special character such as %, #, @, etc. Documentation should be identified/saved as VA Letter, DD-214, or Transcripts. Veterans' Preference Documentation: Failure to submit all required documents at the time of application will result in the loss of claimed preference eligibility. DD-214: Veterans MUST provide a DD-214 demonstrating that they have been discharged or released from active duty under honorable conditions (i.e., the individual must have received either an honorable or general discharge). SF-15: If you are a disabled veteran, a Purple Heart recipient, widow/widower of a veteran, the spouse of a disabled veteran or the parent of a disabled or deceased veteran, you must submit: A completed Standard Form (SF) 15, "Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference" AND all required documentation identified on the SF-15. NOTE: A Department of Veterans Affairs letter must contain the Veteran's Name and Combined Service-Connected Evaluation. For a copy of the most current SF-15, Click Here. If you are on active duty and expect to be discharged or released from active duty service within 120 days, you may submit a Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty from the appropriate Branch Personnel Office containing the following information: The military service dates including the expected discharge or release date; and The character of service (must be an honorable or general discharge); and Any qualifying service/campaign/expeditionary medals. Resume (limited to 2 pages) must include your name, contact information, and relevant experience (cover letter optional). Experience that would not normally be part of the Federal employee's position is creditable when documented by satisfactory evidence of qualifying experience (e.g., a memorandum from the manager, Human Resource Manager, SF- 52, MOU, etc.). If providing a memorandum, it must follow the format below AND clearly cite the duties performed. To receive credit for experience, your resume and/or any satisfactory evidence must include: Start date and end date in month/year format (MM/YYYY) AND Number of hours worked per week. College transcript: includes the School Name, Student Name, Degree, and Date Awarded (if applicable). NOTE: If you are selected, official transcript(s) will be required prior to your first day. SF-50: for proof of prior LEO coverage, if applicable. Proof of ICTAP/CTAP eligibility, Click Here, if applicable. For more help, visit USAJOBS Help Center - How do I write a resume for a federal job? We cannot be held responsible for incompatible software, delays in mail service, applicant application errors, etc.
How to Apply
Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. The application process is as follows: Click the Apply Online button. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside about two (2) hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: Visit https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to/application/status. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. USAJOBS Help Center - How to Add a Resume to Your Profile All required supporting documentation MUST be received by the Consolidated Staffing Unit by 11:59 p.m., Eastern Standard Time on08/21/2026. Supporting documentation for announcements with an application limitation MUST be uploaded the same day you apply, as these positions may close earlier than stated in the announcement. If applicable see Notice for Preference Eligible Veterans Applicants
