Supervising Case Manager, Community Site

THE ORGANIZATION

The Center for Justice Innovation is a community justice organization that centers safety and racial justice. Since our founding in 1996, the Center has partnered with community members, courts, and the people most impacted to create stronger, healthier, more just communities. Our decades of experience in courts and communities, coupled with our field-leading research and practitioner expertise, help us drive justice nationwide in innovative, powerful, and durable ways. For more information on how and where we work, please visit www.innovatingjustice.org.  

The Center is a 900-employee, $100 million nonprofit that accomplishes its vision through three pillars of work: creating and scaling operating programs to test new ideas and solve problems, performing original research to determine what works (and what doesn’t), and providing expert assistance and policy guidance to justice reformers around the world.

Operating Programs

The Center’s operating programs, including the award-winning Red Hook Community Justice Center and Midtown Community Justice Center, test new ideas, solve difficult problems, and attempt to achieve systemic change within the justice system. Our projects include community-based violence prevention programs, alternatives to incarceration, reentry initiatives, and court-based initiatives that reduce the use of unnecessary incarceration and promote positive individual and family change. Through this programming, we have produced tangible results like safer streets, reduced incarceration, and improved neighborhood perceptions of justice.

Research

The Center's research teams are staffed with social scientists, data analysts, and lawyers who are academically-trained or have lived experience and who conduct research in the U.S. and globally on diverse criminal-legal system and justice issues. Their work includes evaluating programs and policies; conducting exploratory, community-based studies; and providing research translation and strategic planning for system actors. The Center has published studies on topics including court and jail reform, intimate partner violence, restorative justice, gun violence, reentry, sixth amendment rights, and progressive prosecution. The research teams strive to make their work meaningful and actionable to the communities they work with, policymakers, and practitioners.

Policy & Expert Assistance

The Center provides hands-on, planning and implementation assistance to a wide range of jurisdictions in areas of reform such as problem-solving courts (e.g., community courts, treatment courts, domestic violence courts), tribal justice, reducing incarceration and the use of fines/fees and reducing crime and violence. Our current expert assistance takes many forms, including help with analyzing data, strategic planning and consultation, policy guidance, and hosting site visits to its operating programs in the New York City area. 

Center Support

A dedicated support team within the Center ensures the smooth functioning of operations across various domains, including finance, legal, technology, human resources, fundraising, real estate, and communications. Comprising 15% of the organization's staff, these teams provide essential infrastructure support and innovative solutions aligned with the Center's mission and values. 

THE OPPORTUNITY

Brooklyn Justice Initiatives (BJI), the largest operating project of the Center, seeks to re-engineer the experience of criminal court in Brooklyn, New York, by providing judges and attorneys meaningful alternatives to bail, fines, and jail sentences. Operating out of Kings County Criminal Court along with community-based offices, BJI is a team of social service providers, court-based resource coordinators, mental health practitioners, compliance specialists, and others who seek to improve the quality of justice. Supervised Release offers an alternative to jail by providing pretrial supervision, case management, and voluntary social services to people charged with misdemeanor and felony offenses, and in doing so, uses an arrest as a window of opportunity to change the direction of a participant’s life, avoiding the harmful effects of incarceration. Program participants are monitored to ensure their appearance at court dates and mandatory programming and receive referrals to services such as job training, drug treatment, and mental health counseling.

BJI is seeking a Supervising Case Manager for the borough’s Supervised Release Program (SRP) to supervise our case management and field engagement staff who are based in the community. Reporting to the Case Management Coordinator, the Supervising Case Manager will be responsible for providing substantive and consistent trauma-informed supervision to Case Managers, Senior Case Managers, and Community Navigators to ensure fidelity to the program model and quality service to participants in the community. Supervising Case Managers ensure that staff complete program-specific training, consistently apply policy, protocol, and best practices in alignment with that training, maintain routine and accurate data entry and court reporting, and collaborate effectively across SRP teams to build on successes and proactively address challenges. This position is also responsible for completing comprehensive and routine case audits in partnership with the compliance team to ensure consistent application of policies, protocols, and best practices. 

This in-person and on-site position leverages exemplary communication, data management, and supervisory skills to support their staff in the execution of their responsibilities. Though Supervising Case Managers will not carry a standard caseload, this position is responsible for supporting on-site de-escalation efforts in service of participants presenting with acute needs, covering on-site engagement with their staff’s participants when staff are out of the office or otherwise engaged, and responsible for ensuring quality service to all participants on their staff’s caseload.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:  

• Provide trauma-informed and in-person individual supervision to staff on a weekly basis; 
  • Use therapeutically-informed tools such as motivational interviewing, active listening, and thoughtful modeling to complement comprehensive auditing to ensure program policy, protocol, and strengths-based best practices are consistently applied; 
• Support staff in professional growth and development and ensure that staff are providing consistent, quality services to participants;
• Lead and conduct biweekly in-person team meetings and group supervision of supervisees in order to review, train, and implement and guide staff towards meeting program policy, procedure, and operational expectations;
• Provide on-site shadowing opportunities and hands-on training for staff; 
• Provide on-site crisis management and de-escalation support aligned with training, policy, and protocol as needed; 
• Assist with on-site check ins for high needs participants, as needed; 
• Assist with ensuring that participants on-site are attended to by case managers in a timely fashion; 
• Responsible for quality assurance, monitoring the team’s compliance with program requirements and court reporting obligations;
  • Oversee routine and accurate documentation to ensure best practices and court reporting obligations are consistently practiced; 
  • Responsible for effective collaboration with the compliance team to ensure that staff complete accurate and timely data entry and compliance reporting within designated deadlines; 
  • Responsible for convening staff in response to deviations from the program model or other unfilled responsibilities;
• Maintain accurate and timely data entry and case documentation aligned with the program model, court reporting obligations, and best practices; 
• Support policy and protocol implementation in collaboration with site leadership and the SRP Court Reform team, including co-facilitating training sessions; 
• Maintain effective collaboration with site leadership including the Directors of Practice, Director of Court Operations, and direct practice Coordinators to ensure comprehensive and aligned service delivery to participants and the program model; 
• Observe and support the delivery of intensive field-based engagement and support to participants;
• Support the recruitment and hiring of and onboarding and training for new staff; 
• Work closely with the Directors of Practice, SRP Court Reform Training Specialist, Training Institute, and site Training Liaison to ensure SRP staff are consistently trained as required; 
• Ensure regular and equitable access to program-related external professional development and training opportunities for direct reports; 
• Co-facilitate pro-social and psycho-educational groups, as needed; 
• Participate in individual, group supervision, and regular staff trainings to develop program expertise and related skill sets, including management training; 
• Provide on-site managerial coverage for staff who are out of office or unavailable, as needed;
• Please note that this role is conducted in-person, on-site, and in the field with staff as needed;
• This role is not eligible for clinical hours; and
• Additional relevant tasks, as necessary.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree required; 
• Minimum 4 years direct practice experience (e.g., therapeutic or case management) required;  
• Experience in pretrial, court-based, or criminal legal system strongly preferred; 
• Therapeutic intervention training and experience preferred, including but not limited to crisis intervention or de-escalation management; 
• Supervisory experience preferred, but not required; 
• Applicants with demonstrated clinical acumen and experience preferred; 
• Masters degree and license in a mental health field valued but not required;
• Bilingual (English-Spanish) strongly preferred.
• Able to travel to/within all BJI SRP offices/target neighborhoods in Brooklyn; transportation may involve the use of personal vehicles, BJI SRP transportation, public transportation, or may be on foot;
• Able to walk 20 blocks or more on a regular basis and climb stairs;
• Able to lift at least 20 pounds; and
• Valid Driver's license required.

Position Type:  Full-time in-person work required.

Position Location: Brooklyn, NY.

Compensation: The compensation range for this position is $64,800 - $74,500 and is commensurate with experience. The Center for Justice Innovation offers an excellent benefits package including comprehensive healthcare with a national network, free basic dental coverage, vision insurance, short-term and long-term disability, life insurance, and flexible spending accounts including commuter FSA. We prioritize mental health care for our staff and offer services like Talkspace and Ginger through our healthcare plans. We offer a 403(b) retirement plan with a two-to-one employer contribution up to 5%.

The Center for Justice Innovation is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace, and as such, we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, national origin, age, military service eligibility, veteran status, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or any other category protected by law. We strongly encourage and welcome applications from women, people of color, members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities, as well as individuals with prior contact with the criminal justice system. Our aim is to create a supportive and respectful environment where every individual, irrespective of their background or identity, feels valued and included.

As of February 10, 2023, New York City Executive Order 25 rescinded the requirement of the COVID-19 vaccination for City workers, new hires, and contracted employees. Accordingly, the Center does not require all new hires be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus; however, the Center recommends all staff, interns, and volunteers stay up-to-date on the vaccination.

In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete an employment eligibility verification document form upon hire. Kindly refer to the job posting for the relevant contact information. If the contact details are not provided, we kindly ask that you refrain from making inquiries via phone or email, as only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.