Community and Justice Services – Field Placement Information

Introduction

Welcome to the Field Guide for the Community and Justice Services program. The instructions below will walk you through the process of preparing for fieldwork.

We advise all students to bookmark this page so you always have access to the most current placement information.

Please note: it is the student’s responsibility to ensure that the field placement requirements, including documentation submission, ParaMed, and academic clearance are met within the stated deadline. The deadlines do not change year to year and are always available to students. No extensions will be granted.

If your documentation is not complete and/or you are not cleared for placement by the program deadline, you will have to wait for the following term before you can register again. There are no exceptions. This can delay the completion of your program and may result in you incurring additional fees.

Program Overview

There is one placement required in the final semester of the CJS program. This placement will prepare students for a career in the field with a community or justice based agency. Students will be required to complete levels 01, 02, and 03 with a minimum grade point average of 2.0 in order to be academically eligible to participate in the placement.

Placement runs for 12 weeks and students will be required to complete 32-36 hours per week with the agency they are placed with. The schedule is determined directly by the agency and students should be prepared to be available for the time requirement of the placement course; exceptions will not be made for childcare, employment, or other personal obligations.

Placement Deadlines

Students are required to verify that their documentation is up to date prior to the placement deadline. All documentation must be valid for the duration of the placement and must not expire before the final placement day.

Completing the documentation can be a complicated process and students should start the preparations early. It may take 8-12 weeks to complete all placement requirements. If your documentation is not complete and/or you are not cleared for placement by the program deadline, you will have to wait for the following term before you can register again. There are no exceptions. This can delay your progression in completing your program and may result in you incurring additional fees.

Placement Eligibility

In order to be eligible for field placements, students must meet the following requirements prior to the placement deadline:

1. 1. Academic Clearance: students will be required to complete levels 01, 02, and 03 with a minimum grade point average of 2.0 in order to be academically eligible to participate in the placement. This will be confirmed by the Student Advisor after the placement deadline, ineligible students will receive notification by email.
   2. CJS Placement Request Form and Resume Submission: this form must be submitted prior to the placement deadline to ensure students are added to the master placement list. While this form is completed entirely online in just a few minutes, you must be prepared to upload a current version of your resume in order to complete the submission process.
   3. ParaMed Clearance: the CJS program requires students to meet the following medical and non-medical requirements. Upon completion, these requirements must be confirmed through ParaMed, our partner organization. Please get started on the ParaMed Clearance process as early as possible to ensure you are able to meet your placement deadlines.
      1. Immunization Records
      2. Standard First Aid/CPR Level C: students must provide current certification from a Red Cross, St. John’s Ambulance or equivalent First Aid course. This is a two day course. It may be completed either two days in person or the blended one day online and one day in person.
   4. CJS Police Records Check Submission Form: a Level 3 Police Records Check for Service with the Vulnerable Sector (PRCSVS) is required for placements in the CJS program due to the position of authority and trust required for this field of study. This is not collected by ParaMed, it must be submitted through the online form prior to the placement start date.
      1. If you reside in Ottawa, the Ottawa Police will not issue a Level 3 PRCSVS without the name of the agency where you are doing your placement. Therefore you will not be able to complete this requirement until you receive confirmation of your placement location.
      2. If you reside outside the Ottawa region, you should be able to request the level 3 PRCSVS when you begin the placement and ParaMed clearance process. If your local police station requires a letter from the college, please complete the online request form.

Registration

Full-time Students
Eligible full-time students will be registered for placement by their Student Advisor automatically. Please confirm your registration in ACSIS and connect with your Student Advisor if you have any concerns regarding your course load.

Part-time Students
Online registration is not available for part-time placement courses. Part-time students will be provided with the next steps to register after the placement deadline has passed if they have submitted the CJS Placement Request Form and both academic and ParaMed clearance are confirmed.

Please note registration does not guarantee placement; part-time students must have Field Placement Officer permission to register for all placement and seminar courses. Students will be withdrawn if placement requirements are not met by the placement deadline.