Yaneli Rangel
Yaneli Rangel
Cedar City, Utah
Criminal Justice
Leadership Track
Internship at Iron County Fifth District Juvenile Probation
My EDGE project was done in the month of February. I was able to do an internship at the Iron County Fifth District Juvenile Probation. Before being able to get this internship, I had to do an orientation in order to know the guidelines I needed to follow during this internship. I was also held to the same confidentiality as the probation officers are held to, which meant I had a great amount of responsibility no to share any personal information to anyone. Once I finished orientation I got to meet the rest of the probation officers that worked in probation. Going into this internship my goal was to shadow probation officers. I was able to do more than that and participate in some of the duties that they take on a day to day basis. The first day I started I went to observe the detention hearings that they had in court. I then had to go back and explain to the probation officer what things happened in court. Along the way I was able to conduct meetings with the youths that were on probation. I was also able to do other things that a PO does when a youth is on probation. They also have DPO which is a deputy probation officer. I was able to join the DPO on work crews and know what they are all about.
The reason why I decided to do an internship for probation was not only to learn what they do, but it would also give me more insight if it is a career that I want to pursue in the future. I have always been interested in a career in probation. By doing this internship I would be able to learn more about it in depth and be able to see if it is something that I was still interested in. Learning along the way that probation officers are not only there to almost monitor everything you do because of a youth being in probation, but they are also there to let you know about other services that they have in order for you to be successful and not come back in the Juvenile Justice System.
One of the challenges that I faced was trying to always make it on time for my internship. I have class from 12pm to 12:50pm and I was suppose to be at my internship at 1pm. I was able to work with my professor and letting him know that if Tuesdays and Thursdays I could get out a couple minutes early. He was very kind and said he would be okay with that. At first it was a bit hard trying to balance school and an internship from Monday through Friday. It felt like I had a part time job. I was able to get myself organized and plan my homework and study time ahead, so would not have to be behind any homework.
Being able to have access and being able to do some duties Probation Officers do was very exciting. I was able to help them with such duties while they focused on other things that needed to get done. Everyday was something new that I got to learn from each probation officer. I also got to see what others do in the court when it comes to detention hearings. I was able to attend detention hearings twice a week. I got more insight of what other things are involved when the youths are on probation.
I really enjoyed my project and was beyond excited to have an opportunity to do something I would like to do in my career. I was able to engage with the youth with things that probation officers help them with. Not only did I gain experience, but I also gained a better understanding on what it is to take on such an important role in a youth's life when it comes to probation. I am excited to be able to apply everything I learned from this project to my future career.