Criminal justice degree leads to counseling career

Kaitlynn Harford graduated from Iowa State only two years ago, but she is already positively impacting the lives of youth and young adults right here in central Iowa.

Harford (’23 criminal justice and psychology) is a residential certified counselor at Ember Recovery, a residential addiction treatment center for youth and young adults in Cambridge, Iowa. Ember is an extension of Youth and Shelter Services (YSS), a youth-centered non-profit organization headquartered in Ames.

As a residential certified counselor, Harford works one-on-one with her clients, usually six teens at a time. She meets with them individually each week to discuss their substance abuse journey – triggers, coping skills, cravings, or just a “check in.” She also leads two group therapy sessions.

“Being the counselor, I’m the main point of contact for parents, juvenile court officers (JCOs), and the health and human services workers for each of my clients,” Harford said.

Harford said that frequent and clear communication between the Ember team and the clients’ guardians and representatives is critical for a positive outcome.

In addition to counseling meetings, Harford is responsible for a significant amount of paperwork, including documenting meetings, sessions, progress reports, and group notes. She also participates in petitions for each client.

Petitions are weekly meetings comprised of counselors and the Ember leadership team. Together, they discuss each client’s progress to determine whether they should move up in the program or remain where they are.

“This is because it is important to help a client recognize their positives and areas that they can improve in that week, so they are able to feel more in control of their own recovery,” Harford said.

Ember’s program has six petitions. The first five are two weeks long each, and the sixth is three weeks. Clients must meet certain criteria before they are allowed to advance to the next phase. Harford says each phase comes with different assignments, increased responsibilities, and privileges to help the client prepare to return home and maintain their sobriety.

Prepared to handle tough situations

No two days are the same in Harford’s line of work.

“A typical day doesn’t exist,” she said. “My sessions are consistent every week. My groups are consistent. Petitions are weekly. I’m always contacting parents or JCOs every day, updating documentation. But things happen. Kids run, bring contraband in somehow, get in fights.”

While some days are more challenging than others, Harford said her criminal justice and psychology majors, as well as her sociology minor, prepared her well to deal with those difficulties. Specifically, criminal justice equipped her with the tools and skills she needs to work with attorneys, juvenile correction officers, and guardians.

“I learned a lot about why kids do what they do, how they get into trouble, behaviors, and juvenile institutions. Having all that information has been really helpful,” Harford said. “I learned a lot about charges, the legal side of stuff. If you don’t understand the legal things and you come into a place like this and you’re trying to talk to a kid, but you have no idea what they’re talking about, it’s useless.”

Harford also leans heavily on the knowledge she gained through her sociology minor, especially as she tries to understand her clients’ interactions with friends and family.

“With sociology, I learned about peer interaction and support – how it can lead to negative behaviors. I also better understand family interactions and family involvement in the criminal justice system,” Harford said.

Destined for criminal justice

Like many students, Harford’s decision to major in criminal justice at Iowa State was influenced by her love of crime television shows. That led her to job shadow a police officer and an FBI special agent in high school, which she loved.

“Those were the coolest things I’ve ever done,” she recalled.

As she pursued her criminal justice degree, Harford discovered something even cooler – a passion for helping others.

“I found out I have a passion for juvenile delinquency. Specifically, I find it really interesting learning about these behaviors, what goes into them, the patterns,” she said,

It was Harford’s desire to help others that led her to Ember, a job she loves despite its challenges.

“Being in this job has shown me that it takes a special type of person to work in a field like this, especially with kids who are going to call you every single name, threaten you, hit you. I’m one of those people,” Harford said. “Not to brag, but I do feel like I’m a really good fit for this role.”

While Harford is content with her current position, she would someday consider pursuing a counseling role in either a juvenile detention center or prison.

“That’s something I learned in my criminal justice major is the lack of resources for prisoners,” she said. “So many people end up in institutions and they just needed some help, and they didn’t have access to it. I’d like to be able to work with those people.”

Be open to options

For future and current criminal justice and sociology students, Harford recommends taking chances and seeking out new opportunities. For example, Harford’s job at Ember was initiated by an assignment for a criminal justice course about a year before she accepted the offer for her current job.  The class assignment asked students to interview someone in a career they wanted to pursue. Unsure what to pursue, Harford searched online for “juvenile detention,” which led her to YSS in Ames.

“I ended up reaching out to YSS and they connected me with Sarah Zollar, who is now my supervisor. I interviewed her as a student in May 2023 … That interview stuck with me,” Harford said.

YSS hired Harford as direct care staff while she finished her Iowa State degree. Once she graduated, she was offered her current position at Ember and happily accepted.

“My biggest piece of advice [to students] is just look into things that you might not have considered. I would have had no clue [about YSS] if I didn’t have to do that assignment for a class,” she said. “Go to career fairs, reach out to people, make connections. Even if you hate it, at least you tried.”