How To Become A Juvenile Probation Officer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a juvenile probation officer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Juvenile probation officers manage and supervise the cases of youth offenders who are either under parole or probation. Their main duties revolve around monitoring the activities of their assigned cases to ensure that they don't commit any more offenses. Usually, this entails them visiting the youth's homes or even accompanying them to school. Furthermore, a juvenile probation officer conducts interviews, recommends rehabilitation or reformative plants for the offender, and coordinates with other parties such as schools, social services, and law enforcement agencies.

To meet their goal in turning youth offenders' lives around, however, a juvenile probation officer must also serve as a positive role model and provide counseling services to help youngsters overcome their issues. To become a juvenile probation officer, you must have a degree in criminal justice, psychology, social work, or something similar. You may also be required to have certification as a juvenile probation officer, which means you have undergone training to counsel troubled youth.

As a juvenile probation officer, you can earn an average of $48,000 per year. However, don't expect this job to be easy -- be prepared for a lot of resistance, negative attitudes, and wrongful acts. Nevertheless, you can help youth offenders change their lives by doing your duties well.

ScoreJuvenile Probation OfficerUS Average

Salary

3.7

Avg. Salary $46,765

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

3.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.90%

Asian 1.80%

Black or African American 14.05%

Hispanic or Latino 18.60%

Unknown 2.60%

White 62.06%

Gender

female 53.09%

male 46.91%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.1

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.5

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a juvenile probation officer

Explore juvenile probation officer education requirements

Most common juvenile probation officer degrees

Bachelor's

76.0 %

Master's

12.9 %

Associate

8.2 %

Start to develop specific juvenile probation officer skills

Skills	Percentages
Mental Health	9.44%
Social Work	7.27%
Rehabilitation	6.20%
Substance Abuse	6.00%
Court Orders	5.85%

Complete relevant juvenile probation officer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New juvenile probation officers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a juvenile probation officer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real juvenile probation officer resumes.

Research juvenile probation officer duties and responsibilities

Manage significant DUI caseload to court-ordered and conditional probation completion.
Provide case management, treatment, supervision, counseling and rehabilitation of both adjudicate and non-adjudicate juvenile offenders in various settings.
Facilitate physicals restraint courses and CPR training classes.
Complete training in CPR, first aid, and physical restraint techniques.

Prepare your juvenile probation officer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your juvenile probation officer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a juvenile probation officer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable juvenile probation officer resume templates

Build a professional juvenile probation officer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your juvenile probation officer resume.