Anyone a Juv correction officer

[Shrekster]

I just applied to be a JCO in ohio and I want some advice about it. Thanks

[juvieco36]

Jits are a real hand full.

[COSpitfire]

Two place that I would not want to work at and those are Juvie and female prisons.

[BOPCO87]

When I worked for ODRC, ODYS was off the hook. They just had an officer murdered by punk @ss kids. The whole system is pretty messed up. On top of that you can't put your hands on these kids, and they know it. I hope you have a master plan. Cause dealing with these little ****s really isn't worth the pay. For that pay your better off to go deal with the adults for the same pay. I worked ODRC with several officers that came from ODYS and the stories they told, scared me straight from ever attempting to work a juvy facility.

[BOP5150]

Just out of high school, I volunteered at juvie. Manipulating, little SOB's they were!

[PsychoJCO]

Hard to get into ODRC right now. ODYS is pretty easy though. It is night and day, trust me. Not for the weak minded. Be ready to be in restraints, investigations, etc. Bunch of punk ass kids with no respect and the ones that are respectful you really have to watch cuz there the leaders and manipulators. Other than that it's great.

[PepeLep]

Originally Posted by Shrekster

I just applied to be a JCO in ohio and I want some advice about it. Thanks

I taught for Missouri DYS for about four years in two different facilities. I enjoyed it a lot. We have a pretty good system in our state, though. We had the SED (severe emotional disorders) group at my second place, so things were..."interesting" sometimes.


Any advice I'd give is the same as I'd give you for working with adults. Firm, fair, and consistent works with juveniles, too. It works better with some of them. Most of them have never really been held accountable and they need someone who is firm, fair, and consistent. A lot of them want it. It can be quite explosive, but it's really not a lot different. For some of the juveniles, it's a little more positive. I know of a few from where I worked who actually turned out all right as adults. Others were just thugs waiting for their bed in prison. I used to notice an indictment in the paper of a former student of mine once in a while, and I'd think,"I guess I didn't do much for that one." Then I'd run into one at a store or something with a wife and kids who turned out fine. Overall, it was a pretty good experience for me. I worked for two great supervisors, and things I learned there have paid great dividends now that I'm working with adults again. One thing to remember is that a lot of the juveniles you run into need to learn how to function as a productive member of society. You're not rehabilitating them. You're habilitating them.

It can be dangerous as you can see from the article up at the top. Juveniles can be very unpredictable and often don't think. The worst I've been assaulted in corrections was by a juvenile. It did have times when it was rewarding for me, though.

Good luck, and if you have any specific questions, I'll try to answer them for you.