Social Worker, Jail Diversion

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

Launched in early 2020, Manhattan Justice Opportunities (Manhattan Justice) seeks to rethink justice in Manhattan and to build a justice system that is more responsive to individuals’ and communities’ needs. Manhattan Justice is a centralized, court-based screening and referral hub that provides judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys at New York County Criminal Court and Supreme Court with a wide array of social service-based sentencing options in misdemeanor and felony cases. 

Manhattan Justice is seeking a Social Worker, Jail Diversion to work with defendants participating in the Manhattan Felony Alternative to Incarceration (ATI) Court. The ATI Court, which is led by Administrative Judge Ellen Biben, seeks to forge a new response to individuals charged with felonies by linking them to community-based social services. The Court is the first of its kind, providing an innovative model for other jurisdictions seeking to develop and implement meaningful post-conviction sentencing options for individuals facing felony charges. 

Reporting to the Clinical Director, the Social Worker, Jail Diversion will be responsible for conducting independent clinical assessments and drafting treatment recommendations for people who are eligible for the Felony ATI Court. The Social Worker will focus on referrals in which the potential participant is being held in pretrial detention, ensuring that these cases complete the assessment and treatment planning process as quickly as possible.  

An essential and dynamic feature of the Social Worker’s role will be close collaboration with key stakeholders. They will work regularly with the judge and court staff from New York Country Supreme Court who oversee the Felony ATI Court, as well as with other stakeholders, including the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor, New York City defense organizations, Department of Correction, Correctional Health Services, and an array of community-based alternative to incarceration and community-based providers. Court-based clinical work is an exciting, unique and demanding area of practice, and the Social Worker role involves navigating and constructively engaging with differing and, at times, competing stakeholder perspectives.  

• Conduct individualized clinical assessments for potential Felony ATI Court participants; 
• Develop treatment recommendations for potential ATI participants that address issues such as substance use, mental health, trauma, domestic violence, housing, education, and employment, among other needs; 
• Present treatment recommendations to legal stakeholders (judges, defense counsels, prosecutors, and court staff); 
• Make appropriate community-based referrals for a variety of social service needs, such as substance use, mental health, trauma, domestic violence, housing, and vocational needs; 
• Participate in regular interdisciplinary case conferences with court stakeholders while cases are pre-plea; 
• Attend court on calendar days, as needed, to help participants navigate court and to collaborate with court staff and stakeholders; 
• Conduct warm handoffs to case management staff prior to participants entering their plea; 
• Collaborate and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders, including prosecutors, defense attorneys, the Felony ATI Court’s resource coordinators, community-based service providers, Department of Correction, and Correctional Health Services staff; 
• Enter and maintain appropriate up-to-date participant data in the case management system, including all pre-plea screening and assessment information and case information; 
• Provide crisis intervention and de-escalation, as needed; 
• Assist the Clinical Director with the refinement of existing practice and the development and implementation of new processes, including improving assessment and treatment planning processes, and implementing clinical best practices; 
• Coordinate with the Center’s Jail Population Review team to ensure an efficient assessment process for potential participants held in pretrial detention, as necessary; 
• Participate in clinical group supervision, staff meetings, and trainings, as scheduled; 
• Attend evening community-based meetings and events, as needed;  and
• Assist with other programmatic and administrative tasks to support Manhattan Justice’s activities with the Felony ATI Court, as needed. 

Qualifications: 

• LMSW or LMHC required with at least five (5) years in criminal justice and/or a related field. Experience in a court or criminal justice setting preferred; 
• Candidates must have willingness and ability to work collaboratively with a variety of court personnel and on-site partner agencies in a high-pressure/fast paced work environment; 
• Experience working with individuals experiencing mental health issues, substance use, trauma histories, co-occurring disorders, and/or homelessness strongly preferred; 
• Candidates must have ability and openness to engage with differing and, at times, competing stakeholder perspectives; 
• Candidates must have a commitment to, and experience with, trauma-informed, holistic, and strengths-based approaches, and ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds in a culturally competent manner; 
• Knowledge and/or lived experience related to the criminal justice system and its impacts on communities preferred; 
• Excellent organization and time management skills;  
• Strong writing and verbal communication skills;  
• Knowledge of community-based resources throughout New York City, and 
• Bilingual (English-Spanish) preferred. 

Position Type: Full-time.

Position Location: Midtown, Manhattan.

Compensation: The compensation range for this position is $65,000 - $80,000 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.