Careers in Education and Program Services

Enjoy a career that will change lives – including yours.

Program professionals with CCA are academic teachers, vocational and life skills instructors, addictions treatment counselors, faith-based facilitators and chaplains. More than anything, they are caring professionals, committed to inspiring hope and supporting the rehabilitation of more than 75,000 offenders in our correctional centers, from coast to coast.

Program professionals help offenders overcome obstacles, improve their lives and re-join society as respectable, contributing citizens. In fact, being such a professional is as much a calling as it is a career.

Here are the many ways in which our program professionals address the physical, mental, emotional and intellectual needs of the total person.

Addictions Treatment Professionals

CCA’s addictions treatment counselors, coordinators and managers work to rehabilitate inmates struggling with substance abuse and other related issues. These professionals help offenders develop skills in rational thinking and living with others, while providing the strategies and resources to achieve lifestyle balance, successful transition into the community and life-long sobriety. They also lead group therapy, conduct one-on-one counseling, develop treatment plans, and recommend pre- and post-release services.

Faith-Based Services Professionals

Chaplains and faith-based program facilitators work closely with volunteers, organizations and fellow staff, as they address the spiritual and religious needs of offenders.

Our faith-based program professionals lead and oversee worship services, develop relationships with nonprofit, volunteer organizations and provide pastoral counseling. They may also help serve offenders housed in “faith pods,” a living community in correctional facilities designed to foster integrity, personal responsibility and teamwork.

Education Professionals

Academic Educators

Principals, instructor supervisors, academic instructors, educational counselors and others form a core team of professionals that makes a difference in the lives of engaged learners. With each skill a student develops and every talent a student refines, our educators feel increasingly rewarded by the large and small accomplishments offenders achieve.

Academic educators may teach reading, writing, math, English as a Second Language (ESL) and special education. They develop lesson plans, lead class discussions and grade assignments. With CCA, teachers work with highly motivated adults, who appreciate an opportunity learn and, in many ways, begin anew.

Life Skills Instructors

Life skills instructors may have experience as an academic educator, vocational instructor or other career in which leadership skills combine with a deep commitment to positively change lives.

Life skills instructors provide students the tools offenders need to succeed in society, such as skills in job interviewing, problem solving, budgeting, communication, parenting, decision making, independent living and anger management.

Vocational Instructors

Many vocational instructors never considered working in the classroom, but have discovered the gratification of teaching skilled trades to people who use their abilities to build a new life.

CCA’s vocational instructors teach carpentry, electrical and small engine repair, plumbing, painting, masonry, building trades, food service, commercial maintenance, horticulture and computer applications, including training in Microsoft Office. All vocational programs are competency-based, with many offering nationally recognized certifications that lay the foundation for offenders to rebuild their lives with confidence upon release.