My friend is on probation. She did her jail time and is currently doing the community service thing, pay them

Question

everything you earn thing, and reporting in to a probation officer once a month. Well this P.O. is very rude. She has made my friend cry on more than one occassion. My question is, what is the job of the probation officer? Is it to make sure that person doesn't do well? I have been trying to help my friend find a job but with a felony, it is hard. She didn't murder anyone and she is such a sweet person. I am just so concerned because she isn't seeing any hope in having a shot at a normal life. Where might she be able to go to find a job that will hire someone that has a felony? Please don't say she is a loser and doesn't deserve a seconed chance, because that is NOT the case. She made a mistake, a mistake that any one of us could be facing. Three drinks with dinner, hit someone, felony dwi. If you only have mean words to offer, please move on to the next question to where you might actually be able to help. Thank you.

By the way, we are in Houston, Texas.

Thank you for all your words of "wisdom", but I found a website on my own that will help my friend find a job. For those in Texas that are interested, here ya go... http://www.twc.state.tx.us/customers/jsemp/jsemp.html It lists on there they help people on food stamps/welfare and felons.

Answer 1

The job of a probation officer is to supervise those on probation. It really has nothing to do whether to "make sure that person doesn't do well" nor to be their friend, it is to protect society, and hold the probation "client" responsible for the terms of their probation.

Everyone makes mistakes, but society does judge us all on our past behavior, your friend does have an uphill battle.

Regarding getting her life back on track, can she volunteer somewhere in her free time? It'll look good on her resume, prove to her probation officer she's trying to do the right thing and perhaps open up opportunities for her.

Answer 2

She has a hard road ahead of her. As much as it sucks, how her PO treats her is pretty much irrelevant. To get a job, she first needs to own the problem by dealing with it and not by excusing it. Calling it a "mistake any one of us could be facing" is not helping the situation. Many, many people resist the urge to drink too much with dinner or chose to take a cab home when they do. If she is not seeking help for her alcohol problems she will forever live in the endless trap of drinking, driving and jail.

On the other side, if she is dealing with her problems, the best thing for her to do when job searching is to be honest with prospective employers. Some thing like "I made a stupid mistake and caused a drunk driving accident. I have learned from this and am now active in AA to deal with the problem."

It will be harder to find a job, but facing head on will cause more employers to be willing to take the risk.

Answer 3

Theres a charity that will allow you to pay off your community service
hours my brother and a friend used them how it works is if you have 80
hours it equals $80.00 you can make a donation threw there website and
they send you out your paperwork, we looked into this charity first before
making a donation to make sure they were legal and yes indeed they are a
501c3 nonprofit charity they are called Uplifting Kids they are a charity
my brother was soooo happy because it kept him from going to jail, the
courts was not trying to offer him an extention so he paid them off he
emailed and called them and someone got back to him right away he needed
this paper from the charity like asap and they charged him for the
overnight which between 40.00 and 45.00 dollars and an expedited charge of
$50.00 , they did a professional letterhead and sent it out to him, he was
toooo happy and he took the paper to the courts and everything was ok they
are also court approved all over the world I couldnt be more pleased with
this charity they saved my brothers and his friends freedom from going to
jail, they also have alot of other programs if you can't afford to pay the
hours off you can do a fundraise you can reach them by via email at
[e-mail] and also by phone at 1-855-581-9111 and there
website is www.upliftingkids.org call them they can help you and if you
need a professional letterhead urgent then let them know, I wouldn't try
theses other places online they are not legit this is the only one i could
find for my brother that is legit and not a scam and they followed threw
with a tracking number and we signed for the document so check them out
however you can't get no refunds if you decide not to go with them. They
are doing great things for people all over the world and kids. Check them
out they are even open late hours they help with court community service
and also school community service as well, you can also do a fundraise for
your hours they have alot of pretty cool programs they are great

Answer 4

I'm, not sure about your state, but most states offer a first offender program, so that it doesn't show on her record that shes a convicted felon. It is going to be very difficult for her to get a good job with something on her background check. She should speak to an attorney, after so many years she can possibly have it expunged from her record.

And not to defend her P.O but they have to put up with alot of crap, from some nasty criminals. It could be that this lady just puts up with so much, that she's a cranky pants lol

Good Luck to her, everyone deserves a 2nd chance, I just hope she has learned her lesson.

Answer 5

You are blinded by your friendship. The PO is probably making her cry because she is not meeting her requirements for probation, one being to be gaifully employed at a full time basis. if she does not get a job she goes back to jail. That would make most people cry.

Felony DUI means someone died or is crippled for life. She may be sweet, but she ruined somebody's life and that of their family. Mistake or not, this is her burden for the rest of her life.