User:
Site Name: Harris County Juvenile Probation Department
Department: Forensic Unit
We will notify applicants via email if they have been invited to participate in an interview. We will have two to three interview dates in mid- to late-January from which applicants can choose to participate. An on-site interview is stongly preferred, but we can arrange an interview by Skype or by phone if necessary. The interview day begins at 9 AM and will last until approximately 3 PM. However, we realize that not all applicants can stay for the entire time, as some individuals will have airline flights to catch. Please notify the Training Director in advance if unable to stay for the entire day.
Applicants will have at least three individual interviews with staff members, which will include the Training Director (Dr. Dorsey), the Chief Psychologist (Dr. Chibueze). and the current Post-doctoral resident. In addition, applicants will individually meet with two small panels of additional staff members (2-3 staff members per panel). Applicants will be asked to complete a writing assignment while on-site for the interview, and most applicants find it preferable to bring along their own laptop or tablet for this exercise. Applicants will be given a brief tour of the detention center and will have the opportunity to meet with the current interns. During the interview, we will ask to take a photo of each applicant in order to assist us in remembering each individual after we have conducted all of our interviews. Applicants may elect not to have a picture taken, which will have no effect on the interview or applicant status. Applicants will also be asked to sign an acknowledgment form that matched interns must successfully complete a criminal background clearance, Department of Family and Protective Services clearance, and a drug/alcohol screening prior to starting the internship.
Detailed information about the APA-accredited internship program at Harris County Juvenile Probation Department is available at: hcjpd.harriscountytx.gov (click on "Join our Team" in the blue header, then "Internship Program"). The client population at Harris County Juvenile Probation Department is comprised of youth with diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, ethnicities, ages, and diagnoses. Recipients of mental health services are children ages 10 to 17 years who are involved in the juvenile justice system. The primary training site will be the Juvenile Justice Center in Houston, Texas, which houses approximately 250 youth. However, there will also be opportunities to provide services within the community; therefore, personal transportation is strongly recommended. The primary emphasis of the internship program is assessment-focused. Our department provides general psychological evaluations as well as more forensically oriented evaluations.
Interns will participate in three major rotations. They will spend their first rotation primarily conducting general psychological evaluations with the juvenile forensic population, with a focus on clarifying diagnoses and making appropriate recommendations for treatment and placement. The second rotation will give the intern opportunities to conduct more specific forensic evaluations, such as when the court is considering transferring the youth to the adult criminal justice system or fitness to proceed (competency to stand trial) evaluations. At times, such evaluations might require an intern to provide court testimony regarding the findings of their evaluation. The third rotation will consist of the intern being an integral part of one of our specialty courts, either the Court 360 for youth who have extensive mental health needs, or the CARE Court, for youth who are involved in human trafficking. This role involves evaluating youth for the appropriateness of speciality court involvement, possibily providing short-term psychotherapy to youth who are awaiting transfer to a more permanent placement, extensive multidisciplinary consultation, and interfacing with judges and attorneys. Throughout the year, interns will also have a small caseload of individual therapy clients of youth who are residing in the detention center. There might also be opportunties to provide group therapy to youth who are in the detention center or who are residing in the community.
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Additional information about training opportunities: Not all rotations or experiences may be available at all consortium sites, and some internship programs may not have updated this information recently. Please consult the program's web site https://hcjpd.harriscountytx.gov/Pages/Internship.aspx or other application materials for a complete description of the training opportunities available at each site.
