CCJS Internships

Information on this web page:

• Things to know about an internship
• How to find a placement
• Internship (CCJS 499) course requirements
• Writing in your internship journal

Things to know about an internship

There are various important things to know about an internship:

• Students can not add CCJS 499 to their own schedule. CCJS staff must do this.
• Fall 2008 Internship Registration. Students who wish to do an internship Fall 2008 semester need to know this: Internship Agreement Forms (IAF) must be submitted to the CCJS Department by no later than around September 9th. Some students have already completed these forms and courses will be added to their load during 2nd registration effective Fall, 2008. However, many students seeking CCJS internships may not get their fully completed IAF to the CCJS Department by around September 1st (e.g., they don't have an internship or they are still going through a background check). If this includes you please note that you have to have the class (CCJS 499) added to your schedule anyway. You do this by requesting a TBA internship no later than around Sept. 9th. Filling out a TBA form is simple: go to the CCJS Department, get the form from the vertical file, fill out the first two lines of the IAF, sign it in the appropriate spot on the bottom of the form, and turn it in to either Katie Musick or Dr. Jackson (or put it in Dr. Jackson's mailbox). Once we have this form the 4 unit CCJS 499 (Internship) will be added to your schedule for you.
• Under the usual circumstances, you may need to set up an internship well in advance of the semester if you wish to finish it the same semester you enroll for it.
• You need to have an internship agreement form signed by all parties (work supervisor, faculty) before beginning your internship hours, unless you are merely enrolling via the TBA method. Note: 1) even a TBA'd internship has to be completed within a year of the time the incomplete was assigned or it turns into the equivalent of a failing grade; and 2) you must submit a fully completed internship agreement form before beginning your internship hours.
• You need to familiarize yourself with the CCJS Internship Course Requirements (see below)

How to find a placement

You can find an internship in a variety of places. 

• Check the CCJS web page list of jobs and internship resources at this link.
  
• The Sonoma County Internship Program publishes a monthly bulletin of internships, paid and unpaid. The contact person for the county internship program is Renée Rutan-Garrison (phone: 707.565.2930; leave a message, speaking clearly, and leave your contact information). Their updated list of internships in pdf is available at this link. Here is their Internship Form that you must also fill out. You may email them at this address.
  
• Some listings may be posted on Dr. Jackson's door, and you can write to (email address) or speak to him (707.664.2126); leave a phone message if needed.
  
• You may approach an organization that you would like to work with and develop an internship on your own.
  
• You can check out the list of agencies found in the Sonoma County Profile of Criminal and Civil Justice Agencies for other agencies and contact information for them. Here is a link for Sonoma County Agencies in general created by county civil servants.

Here are specific opportunities available for CCJS majors (please let us know of errors, additions or updates):

• Sonoma County Sheriff's Department:
  
  There is a need for 4 interns in Inmate Programning and Services beginning in the Fall or September. Students will have to apply for this internship through the County Internship Program but you can contact Cammie Noah about the specifics. Read the internship description below.
  Brief description
  To assist program deputies, educators and library staff at both detention facilities. Volunteering in Inmate Programs and Services is an opportunity to have a positive impact on our incarcerated population by assisting in providing over 120 classes weekly to inmates in both the Main Adult Detention Facility and the North County Detention Facility. The management of such a large program requires a great volume of detailed paper work. Interns will have little direct contact with inmates, but may work inside Jail's secure perimeter.
  JOB DESCRIPTION
  Specific tasks and responsibilities of the intern:
  
  • --Database Management; --Filing;
  • --Researching school credits earned by Inmates that may be applied to reduced sentences;
  • --Assisting general education teacher/art teacher preparing course materials, may assist in providing instruction to inmate;
  • --Copying course materials;
  • --Preparing/correcting correspondence class packets;
  • --Creating forms, flyers promoting classes;
  • --Fulfilling Inmate Request forms;
  • --Write articles for "On the Inside," a newsletter developed by Programs staff for the 250 plus volunteers who work in our facilities providing programs for the inmates;
  • --Checking library books for inmate messages and repairing damaged books.
  
  QUALIFICATIONS
  Required skills, abilities, education levels, or other qualifications necessary for the job: Over the age of 18. No history of drug or alcohol charges. Willingness to commit to a weekly schedule.


• Santa Rosa Police Department:
This department has internships available in three different areas. Contact Sophia Selivanoff or call her at 707.543.4043 if you are interested in one of these:

• Community Outreach, which will include answering phones, data entry (Neighborhood Watch), event planning, CPA participation and planning, public presentations, crime prevention activities, and school development activities.
• Graffiti Abatement Program (click link to read description)
• Property Crimes (click link to read).


• The Mendocino County Probation Department has a need for interns. Residence near Ukiah would be helpful although it is not required. Contact Jean Glentzer at 707.463.5750.


• The Girl Scouts of Northern California has two intern positions. See their flyer and position description. Contact Sandy Miles at 524.9214 for further information.


• Friends Outside is a Drop-In Center at the Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Center. They need two interns. Download their flyer here in Word or as a pdf document. They need CCJS SSU majors. Call Kate Jenkins at 707.526.7318. They have flexible days and flexible hours.


• Sonoma County Legal Aid, located in downtown Santa Rosa. Hit the ground running. They have numerous needs for law related matters. Minimum commitment is 8 hours per week for 4 months. An advanced commitment is 16m hours week for 4 months.See their flyer. Call Ronit Rubinoff at 707.668.4034 or e-mail Ronit.


• United Against Sexual Assault (UASA) has various internships and crisis line training that begins on September 9th. For more information and to sign up: Intervention Manager at 545-7270 x19. Download their crisis line flyer at this link. and their Prevention Educator flyer at this one.


• The Public Defender's Office often needs interns. You must first e-mail Dr. Jackson if you are interested in interning there.


• Circle of Sisters needs interns. See their flyer and contact Jen Hyman at volunteer.cos@gmail.com (707.525.5300, x 3221).


• YWCA Sonoma County There are needs in a variety of areas, including Domestic Violence Services Program, at their hotline and confidential women's shelter, or at Sonoma County's only therapeutic Preschool 'A Special Place.' They are willing to work closely with interns for specific areas of interest, although many positions require interns to attend their 40-hour domestic violence training that begins in September. Call Donata Bohanec, YWCA Volunteer Coordinator, at 707.546.9922 x8 or email her. Their latest flyer in PDF may be helpful to you.


• The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California has Fall 2008 and Spring 2008 Policy Department Internship positions relating to death penalty, police practices and racial justice. See the above flyer to learn how to apply. If you have questions contact Romy Ganschow, ACLU of Northern California, 39 Drumm Street, San Francisco, CA 94111 or via e-mail, rganschow@aclunc.org. His phone information is also available on the flyer.


• Target may have positions for interns in asset protection. Contact CCJS alumni Matt Ellis in Novato at 415.892.3313.
  
  Target may also have other paid ($14 hr.) "Executive Internships" that can happen over the summer. Contact Melissa Chu at Melissa.Chu@Target.com, phone 510.574.1044 or 650.219.2593 or e-mail Katherine Ginther at Katherine.Ginther@target.com.


• The Family Connection offers internships working with families that are transitioning out of homelessness. Interns serve as a member of a mentor team, providing practical, social and emotional support to the family as they try to put their life back together. Many of the parents of these families have legal issues they need to address and could benefit from your knowledge and your willingness to accompany them as they deal with the Criminal Justice System. Contact Sara Jones, Internship Coordinator, at 707-579-3630 or sara.thefamilyconnection@cots-homeless.org. See their web site at www.thefamilyconnection.org.


• Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety, 500 City Hall Dr. Rohnert Park. For further information call Sergeant Joe Ferronato at 584-2630. Here is the flyer for the position.


• Rohnert Park Youth & Family Services
  Phone Kathy Vander Vennet at 584-2672 or email her at kvandervennct@rpcity.org. This mostly involves supervising juveniles who have been diverted.


• The Marin County Sheriff's Office needs interns for a variety of intern positions, including jail operations, evidence processing and technical positions. Contact Barbie Sorensen, Internship Coordinator.


• Death Penalty Focus is a nonprofit advocacy group that seeks to abolish the death penalty. The volunteer and internship application form is available.


• Willow Creek Treatment Center. Non-profit organization with seven residential homes in the Santa Rosa area. Has paid full-time, part-time and internship positions working with SED children and adolescents with a history of abuse, neglect, and multiple placement failures. Excellent training and experience. Go to www.victor.org. Send resume and cover letter to: Gwen Piscenti , HR Mgr. (SSU alum) at gpiscenti@victor.org.


• Americorps at www.americorps.org.


• The Santa Rosa Recreation and Parks Department's boy's action team. See their flyer here and call 543-3457.


• Law firms sometimes provide internships, e.g., Brayton & Purcell, at 1.800.765.7778.


• Project Intercept in the past has had paid internships. Call Stephanie at 523-2242 to see if there are any available or when openings will occur.


• The CCJS Department is a supporter of the Boys and Girls Club Valley of the Moon, which needs interns.

• SSU Career Center web site, including their page on internship and volunteer opportunities.
  
• use a search engine with Job Connection or Jobsearch to find internship opportunities. There is a link there for adding your personal information so that agencies needing interns can contact you.
  

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Internship (CCJS 499) Course Requirements

1. The hours of service required to receive credit (CR/NC grading only): 4 units (x 45 hrs. per unit) = 180 hours.
2. If you have previously registered for an internship and took an incomplete, you do not need to register again. However, you must submit a signed Internship Agreement Form before you begin your internship hours
3. All students must provide their CCJS Internship Supervisor with the standard Internship Agreement Form, which must be signed by the student and their on-site supervisor near the bottom of the form.
4. The Internship Agreement Form must be submitted to the CCJS Department Chair for signatures. This signed form will then be used to add CCJS 499 to your class schedule. NOTE: The CCJS Department will add the internship to your class schedule. It is your responsibility to see that the units have been added to your courseload.
5. You may not take more than 20 units, including the internship, unless you petition to take more than 20 units using the appropriate form. These requirements can change so go to the SSU Admissions and Records website to make sure.
6. Students must maintain an internship journal. See the discussion below on "Writing in Your Internship Journal."
7. You must also maintain an Internship Time Log (in pdf), also available in Word, which should be provided to your CCJS faculty supervisor along with the summary paper discussed below (see #6).
8. In addition, you must complete a 3-4 page typed and double spaced summary paper about the internship. The paper should summarily describe the experiences you have gained through the internship and your evaluation of it. The following information should be included in your summary paper:
• what you did (briefly)
• the goal(s) of the agency or sub unit within the agency where you worked
• your assessment of how well the agency met or meets its goal(s)
• your assessment of how the internship helped you with your career goals
• your assessment of how your "real world" experiences compared to what you have learned at the University. To what extent do the two worlds "match"?
• your assessment of the on-site supervision of your internship--that is, how well did the supervision provided fit with your ideas of what makes for good supervision?
• Talk to the instructor if it is not feasible or appropriate for you to complete these.
• DUE DATE: Turn in your journal, time log, and summary paper by the last day of regular classes; you may also take an Incomplete if you can't complete the hours. If you wish to take an incomplete please let the instructor know. If you do take an incomplete you do not need to register for the internship in a later semester; you merely make up the incomplete. Incompletes should be made up within a year.
• Please fill out an Internship Evaluation Form (in pdf) or in Word format. A copy of this form is placed in a binder so other students can read about your experiences.

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These are topics, issues and questions that may help you to think and write about your your internship experience. Don't feel limited to these. Think and write about your internship experience every day you work. Write about them after you are done for the day or early in the next day. Once you've established an internship journal, writing your summary paper will be much easier.

• What are the goals of your internship? Writing these down will help you evaluate whether you are successful later. Take note of any changes over time.
• What is, or what do you believe is, the formal purpose or role of the agency in which you are doing your internship? How does your role relate to that overall purpose? Again, note changes over time.
• Did you have any new experiences today or this week? What did you learn about yourself and your ability to do this internship?
• Write about whether and/or how your internship experience is related to ideas that you have learned in your major coursework. If you can't think of any, where do you think your experiences would fit into a course?
• Identify what ideas you have about your work that may differ from others in your workplace. How do you explain or understand these differences?
• What kind of communication skills does your internship require? How are these similar to and/or different from what is required in school or from other jobs that you have had?
• Write about your satisfaction with your supervisor(s). What, if anything, would you change about your relationship with him/her? Have you learned what type of supervision that you best learn from?
• How do you respond to feedback on the job, both positive and negative?
• In your experiences with your supervisor(s) or peers, have you ever felt that you were put in a position that compromised your values? How did you resolve it?
• Have your experiences helped you to think about possible careers in this field or other fields? What are the pluses and minuses of this job? How have your experiences helped you to decide on what career you will pursue?
• How do you feel about your contribution to your job? Have you done a lot or a little? Do you feel your work has been appreciated or not?
• Are your actual experiences consistent with the goals of your internship?

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