Professional Career Opportunities - Job Title Details

Program Research Specialist Trainee 1 (Criminal Justice), G-13

Occupation Group

Economics, Research and Statistics

Salary Information

Starting Salary

$46,529

Career Ladder Information

Salary Information for Program Research Specialist Trainee 1 Crmnl Jstc
Title Grade Hiring Rate/yr Job Rate/yr
Program Research Specialist Trainee 1 Crmnl Jstc 13 $49,363 $63,169
Program Research Specialist Trainee 2 Crmnl Jstc 14 $52,198 $66,634
Program Research Specialist 1 Criminal Justice 18 $65,001 $82,656
Program Research Specialist 2 Criminal Justice 23 $84,156 $106,454
Program Research Specialist 3 Criminal Justice 25 $93,530 $117,875
Program Research Specialist 4 Criminal Justice 27 $103,784 $127,830

All salary grades for trainees titles are non-statutory (NS) equated to the salary grade identified. These grade equations apply to the starting salaries in their respective salary schedule for the traineeship levels.

Job Description

Program Research Specialists (Criminal Justice) participate in research studies and assist in developing studies relating to crime and the impact of justice system or other forensic interventions. You would assess crime trends, sex offender management, recidivism, risk assessment, quality and effectiveness of program implementation, impact of programming on crime factors or individual/offender outcomes, and evaluation research or performance indicators developed by State or local criminal justice or forensic mental health agencies. Use knowledge of current research methodology to evaluate and analyze agency programs and present your findings to operations and management officials.

Trainees will receive a combination of structured training, on-the-job training, and/or practical job performance to gain the knowledge and experience necessary to function at the full performance level.

Minimum Qualifications

You must meet the requirements below to qualify for this title.

A bachelor's degree or higher in criminal justice, criminology, economics, political science, psychology, public policy, public administration, sociology, or statistics including or supplemented by nine semester credit hours in biostatistics, data analysis, data modeling, economics, econometrics, mathematics*, research methods, or statistics.

*For the purposes of this examination qualifying mathematics courses will include actuarial science, finance, and mathematics

Advanced Placement

If chosen, you may, at the agency's discretion, be appointed to a higher level. You must inform the agency of any additional qualifications at your interview.

View Additional Qualifications

For Trainee 2 you must also have:

Either 1. One year of professional research experience performing the collection, manipulation (e.g., data construction, merging data files, data cleaning, working with data files containing different levels of data) and evaluation of quantitative data directed toward review, analysis, and presentation related to program operations related to criminal justice system topics including: crime, criminal justice trends, adult and youth case processing, incarceration and community supervision, risk assessment, sex offender management, recidivism, and impact of programming and treatment OR

2. A master's degree or higher in criminal justice, criminology, economics, political science, psychology, public policy, public administration, sociology, or statistics including or supplemented by nine semester credit hours in biostatistics, data analysis, data modeling, economics, econometrics, mathematics*, research methods, or statistics.

For the Full Performance Level you must also have:

Either 1. Two years of professional research experience performing the collection, manipulation (e.g., data construction, merging data files, data cleaning, working with data files containing different levels of data) and evaluation of quantitative data directed toward review, analysis, and presentation related to program operations related to criminal justice system topics including: crime, criminal justice trends, adult and youth case processing, incarceration and community supervision, risk assessment, sex offender management, recidivism, and impact of programming and treatment OR

2. A master's degree or higher in criminal justice, criminology, economics, political science, psychology, public policy, public administration, sociology, or statistics including or supplemented by nine semester credit hours in statistics, biostatistics, economics, econometrics, *mathematics, research methods, data analysis, or data modeling AND one year of professional research experience performing the collection, manipulation (e.g., data construction, merging data files, data cleaning, working with data files containing different levels of data) and evaluation of quantitative data directed toward review, analysis, and presentation related to program operations related to criminal justice system topics including: crime, criminal justice trends, adult and youth case processing, incarceration and community supervision, risk assessment, sex offender management, recidivism, and impact of programming and treatment.

*For the purposes of this examination, qualifying mathematics courses will include actuarial science, finance, and mathematics.

How to Apply

The November 2022 PCO Examination is closed, applications are no longer being accepted