Pupil Services Specialist (12 Month) (35 Hour)

Pupil Services Specialist
Join the State of Connecticut, Department of Children and Families (DCF) as a Pupil Services Specialist in our Juvenile Justice Educational Oversight Unit (JJEOU). Help provide high-quality educational services and supports to youth and young adults in our juvenile justice facilities.

As a Pupil Services Specialist, you will:

• Perform services for students in areas such as transition planning, counseling, social work, case management, maintaining records, and assessments.
• Confer with parents, guardians, and teachers about individual students and assist in planning educational programs.
• Collect and record data from intake to discharge, including but not limited to acquiring IEPs, state assessments, and educational histories.    
• Collaborate with facility clinicians by participating in Care Plan and Discharge meetings.
• Secure transcripts and monitor updates needed to meet graduation requirements. 
• Serve as a liaison between school systems, students and their families, former education placements, outside agencies, local school programs, and other stakeholders. 
• Counsel students individually and in groups.
• Participate in and contribute student information to the Student Study Teams (SST) and Planning and Placement Team (PPT) processes. 
• Assist students in obtaining credit recovery opportunities and programming along with Individual Education Plan (IEP) and Individual Transition Plan (ITP).

We are looking for candidates who:

• Are organized, resourceful, and have strong time management skills.
• Possess strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Have the ability to work independently and as part of a team to meet deadlines.
• Are diligent and adaptable.
• Have experience working with confidential and time-sensitive information.
• Hold State of Connecticut certification in at least one of the following: School Counselor (068), School Psychologist (070), School Social Worker (071), or Special Education (065).

Join Us
By joining the State of Connecticut, you’ll be part of a team that aims for outstanding outcomes. We consistently uphold the highest standards and offer world-class support to our staff. Our comprehensive benefits package includes excellent health care, generous leave policies, a retirement plan, a deferred compensation program, and more. We prioritize work-life balance and foster a positive, inclusive, and collaborative work environment.

We are committed to empowering our employees to excel at the highest level and successfully implement our mission of encouraging resilient children and families. If you are ready to embrace this fulfilling opportunity, we encourage you to apply and join us on our transformative journey.

• Please visit our 'Applicant Tips on How to Apply' page or view our tutorial. 
• The minimum experience and training requirements must be met by the close date on the job opening, unless otherwise specified. 
• Although applicants will receive correspondence via email, as a backup they are also encouraged to sign on to their Personal Status Board on a daily basis to monitor their status, view all emailed notices and complete tasks required in the recruitment process.  
• In order to comply with Public Act 21-69, the State of Connecticut is no longer asking for resumes during the initial application process.   
• This posting may require completion of additional referral questions (RQs). You can access these RQs via an email that will be sent to you after the posting's closing date or by visiting your JobAps Personal Status Board (Certification Questionnaires section). Your responses to these RQs must be submitted by the question's expiration date. Please regularly check your email and JobAps Personal Status Board for notifications. Please check your SPAM and/or Junk folders on a daily basis in the event an email provider places auto-notification emails in a user's spam.  
• Note:  At any point during the recruitment process, applicants may be required to submit additional documentation which support their qualification(s) for this position.  These documents may include:  a cover letter, resume, transcripts, diplomas, performance reviews, attendance records, supervisory references, licensure, etc., at the discretion of the hiring agency.  Applicants must meet the minimum qualifications as indicated to apply for this position.  
• Should you have questions pertaining to this recruitment, please contact Liz Pinette at elizabeth.pinette@ct.gov. 
• This position will be filled in accordance with contractual language, reemployment, SEBAC, transfer, promotion and merit employment rules. 
• The immediate vacancy is listed above, however, applications to this recruitment may be used for future vacancies in this job class. 
• All application materials must be received by the recruiting agency by the time specified on the job opening for the position for which you are applying. Late applications may not be submitted and will not be considered. Exceptions are rare and limited to documented events that incapacitate a candidate during the entire duration of the job posting time period.  It is the candidate’s obligation and responsibility to request an exception and provide a legally recognized justification to accommodate such exception.  Requests should be made to DAS.SHRM@ct.gov. 
• For current state employees, salary calculations are not necessarily comparable from one of the three branches of state government (i.e., Executive, Legislative, Judicial) to the other. 
• Read through this helpful link to prepare for your interview. 

In a state institution, facility or region within a state unified school district performs professional services within the area of pupil personnel and special education services in a school setting and serves in a resource capacity and consultant to teachers.

• Knowledge of
  • the philosophy and methods of service delivery to the assigned disciplines; 
  • the principles and practices of education and or services for special needs population; 
• Ability to
  • motivate students; 
  • communicate at the appropriate level; 
  • establish cooperative relationships with those contacted in planning educational programs; 
  • prepare written reports; 
  • perform educational testing.

A Master's degree which includes a planned program of preparation for the field in which the special services are performed.

• Experience acting as a liaison between students, former education placements, outside agencies, local school programs, and other interested parties
• Experience with individual and group counseling of students
• Experience participating and contributing student information as a member of the Student Study Teams (SST) and Planning and Placement Team (PPT) process
• Experience monitoring the achievement of Individual Education Plan (IEP) and Individual Transition Plan (ITP) objectives
• State of Connecticut certification in at least one of the following: School Counselor (068), School Psychologist (070), School Social Worker (071) or Special Education (065).

In addition to the checking of references and of facts stated in the application, a thorough background investigation of each candidate may be made prior to appointment.

AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.

As defined by Sec. 5-196 of the Connecticut General Statutes, a job class is a position or group of positions that share general characteristics and are categorized under a single title for administrative purposes.  As such, a job class is not meant to be all-inclusive of every task and/or responsibility.