Bristol County Sheriff’s Office creates new jobs focused on post-release services

“The Bristol County Sheriff’s Office posted several jobs on Friday to support Sheriff Paul Heroux’s commitment to reduce recidivism though strategic discharge planning.

The positions include an Assistant Director, four Coordinators and other positions focused of securing housing, healthcare, and employment for inmates being released from jail.

“Housing, healthcare, and employment are the three pillars of prisoner re-entry. These are necessary to reduce the risk of an inmate reoffending after release from jail,” Sheriff Heroux said. “Finding inmates housing, healthcare, and jobs is challenging because of their criminal records and complicated life histories. We need specialists to address each of these post-release needs.

“In the past, each employee was focused on housing, healthcare, and a job, leaving that employee spread thin and not developing an expertise in any one of those challenging areas,” Sheriff Heroux continued. “Under this reorganization and the newly created positions, employees tasked with helping inmates find housing, will only work on housin­­­g. This allows the employee to develop expertise in just housing, resulting in better housing placement for the inmate. Employees tasked with helping inmates find a job, will only work on employment, resulting in better job placement for the inmate. The same thing goes for healthcare, which will include mental health and drug treatment after release.”

The positions, which will be posted on the BCSO website (www.bcso-ma.us) and LinkedIn, include:

• Assistant Director of Inmate Services for Post-Release ($76,000-$92,000): Oversee re-entry services of the Post-Release Program of the BCSO. Work with the community stakeholders to provide services to the inmates of Bristol County after post-release.

• Coordinator for Post-Release Housing ($63,000-$76,000): Coordinates re-entry services in the Post-Release program of the BCSO. Works under the Assistant Director of Inmate Services for Post-Release on housing for inmates leaving the BCSO. Work with the community stakeholders to provide housing to the inmates of Bristol County post-release. Oversees staff tasked with finding inmates housing post-release.

• Coordinator for Post-Release Healthcare ($63,000-$76,000): Coordinates healthcare re-entry services in the Post-Release program of the BCSO. Works under the Assistant Director of Inmate Services for Post-Release on healthcare support services. Work with the community stakeholders to provide healthcare services to the inmates of Bristol County after post-release. Find inmates healthcare options prior to the inmate’s release. Oversees staff tasked with finding inmates healthcare post-release support services. This includes mental health and addiction support services post-release.

• Coordinator for Post-Release Employment ($63,000-$76,000): Coordinates re-entry services in the Post-Release program of the BCSO. Works under the Assistant Director of Inmate Services for Post-Release on employment support services for inmates leaving the BCSO. Work with the community stakeholders to provide services to the inmates of Bristol County after post-release. Oversees staff tasked with finding inmates employment post-release support services.

• Coordinator for Post-Release Support Services ($63,000-$76,000): Coordinates re-entry services in the Post-Release program of the BCSO. Works under the Assistant Director of Inmate Services for Post-Release on support services including but not limited to obtaining a state identification card, getting set up with missed childcare support, setting up a bank account, etc. Work with the community stakeholders to provide services to the inmates of Bristol County after post-release. Oversees staff tasked with finding inmates’ post-release support services.

• Post-Release Workers ($55,000-$66,000): Provides inmates with housing, healthcare and a job during incarceration and post-release to aid in their successful re-entry back into the community.

• Inmate Case Workers ($48,000-$57,000): Inmate Case Workers shall perform daily case management in the institution, which involves daily contact with inmates. This includes, but is not limited to fostering program plans for inmates as well as assisting inmates with re-entry and post-release needs.

Anyone interested in applying can submit a resume and cover letter to Caitlin DeMelo in Human Resources via email: CaitlinDeMelo@bcso-ma.org.”-Bristol County Sheriff’s Office.