Program Associate

New York, NY
Full Time
Midtown Community Justice Center
Entry Level

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, $130 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 1993, the award-winning Midtown Community Justice Center is one of the country’s first problem-solving courts. Seeking to reduce crime and incarceration and increase public trust in justice, the Midtown Community Justice Center works with neighborhood stakeholders to improve Midtown Manhattan. The court responds creatively to low-level offending, seeking alternatives that are restorative to the community. In keeping with that goal, Midtown also operates upstream programming to divert adults and young people from prosecution. 

The Center for Justice Innovation operates Project Reset, New York City's pre-arraignment diversion program, city-wide. Operating in collaboration with the New York Police Department, District Attorney’s Offices, and the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, Project Reset seeks to create a proportionate response to low-level crime by avoiding the use of incarceration and the potential harms associated with the traditional criminal justice process. Traditionally, Project Reset participants complete programming in advance of their court date in lieu of prosecution. Recently, the Midtown Community Justice Center began offering Rapid Reset, which offers the same diversion opportunity to Project Reset-eligible people who show up to court. 

Midtown Community Justice Center is seeking a Program Associate to join the Project Reset team. Reporting to the Project Reset Program Coordinator, the Program Associate will be staffed on the Midtown Community Justice Center’s Diversion team. The Program Associate will support the engagement of Project Reset-eligible individuals by conducting initial outreach, preliminary intakes, schedule programming, update compliance and lead completion protocols, facilitate off-ramps from programming, connect participants to resources and referrals, manage case files and records, and build awareness of the program among potential participants and legal and court stakeholders. The Program Associate will also support the Project Reset team with regular operations, as needed, including leading intakes for Rapid Reset clients, liaising with court-based partners, and co-coordinating Rapid Reset processes with Justice Center colleagues. While supporting Project Reset programming at the Midtown Community Justice Center, the Program Associate will also work closely with Midtown’s Community Justice's Alternatives team. The Program Associate may also be called upon to support other programs and initiatives at Midtown Community Justice Center as needed.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:  
  • Contact potential Project Reset participants and describe the diversion option, conduct an initial intake and screening, and schedule them for programming;  
  • Conduct comprehensive needs-based intakes and assessments, case management, and service linking for Midtown’s Project Reset clients; 
  • Follow-up with participants to remind them of upcoming programming and encourage compliance;  
  • Contribute to front desk coverage in Midtown’s intake area as needed; 
  • Help manage court room data collection, ensure programmatic outcomes are updated in real time and communicated to Reset and DANY staff; 
  • Support the Resource Coordinator, CJA Program Associate, and Project Reset Rapid Engagement Specialist with liaising in the courtroom with prosecutors, defense attorneys, and other court staff and make recommendations about Midtown’s services; 
  • Determine whether a potential participant is suitable for group-based work or merits additional screening and/or individual counseling with a licensed social worker;  
  • Provide comprehensive, strengths-based case management to help participants address issues such as substance use, mental health, trauma, domestic violence, housing, and vocational goals;  
  • Conduct intakes and screenings, updating compliance, and facilitate group workshops as needed; 
  • Maintain organized records of outreach attempts, daily attendance sheets, completion, and other project details;  
  • Maintain accurate computer records in both the Center’s internal case management tool and a database that is shared with project partners;  
  • Prepare and circulate outreach materials and certificates of program completion;  
  • Connect with Project Reset-eligible individuals who appear at arraignments and describe the diversion option, conduct an initial intake and screening, and connect them to same-day programming; 
  • Liaise with court stakeholders, including defense attorneys, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, court officers and clerks at Midtown to support the Rapid Reset project;
  • Work with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office (DANY), defense agencies, and court partners, staff to identify eligible Project Reset participants; 
  • Liaise with partner providers and subcontractors to update attendance and participant compliance; 
  • Work with the clinical team to refer participants to voluntary social services;  
  • Facilitate and co-facilitate group-based programming; 
  • Research, identify and develop potential referral sources for program participants;  
  • Participate in staff meetings, team-building exercises, trainings, and site visits;  
  • Participate in limited evening and weekend community meetings, events, and programming, as needed;  
  • Perform other relevant duties, including coverage and support, as needed to support the Midtown Community Justice Center and Center for Justice Innovation; and 
  • Additional tasks as necessary.

Qualifications: Bachelor's degree and preferably 1-2 years of related experience or a high school diploma or equivalent and at least 5-6 years of relevant experience. Additional qualifications include:  

  • Bilingual (Spanish-English) preferred;  
  • Experience in a court or criminal justice setting preferred;  
  • Experience and/or comfort working with both adolescents and adults required;  
  • Knowledge and/or lived experience related to the criminal justice system and its impacts strongly preferred;  
  • Highly organized, with a strong commitment to systems, process and data collection;  
  • Excellent communication skills, with the ability to collaborate with multiple agencies and organizations including court personnel; 
  • Knowledge of community-based resources throughout New York City is helpful;  
  • Candidates must be willing and able to work collaboratively with colleagues and a variety of court personnel and partner agencies in a high-pressure/fast paced work environment 
  • Ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds in a culturally responsive manner; 
  • Openness to effective engagement with other professionals in the court setting who have differing and, at times, competing perspectives; 
  • Must be self-motivated and able to complete responsibilities independently; and
  • Experience and commitment to creating, promoting, and maintaining a respectful, inclusive, and anti-racist work environment.  

Position Type: Full-time, Monday- Friday 9:00am - 5:00pm, occasionally working from 8:30am- 4:30pm.
 
Position Location: Manhattan, NY, specifically the Midtown Community Justice Center (314 W 54th Street, New York, NY 10019). 

Compensation: The compensation range for this position is $52,000 - $58,000 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 committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. We do not discriminate based on 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 LGBTQ+ community, and individuals with prior contact with the criminal justice system. Our goal is to create a supportive and respectful environment where everyone, regardless of background or identity, feels valued and included.

At this time, the Center is unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa. All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States at the time of application and throughout the duration of employment.

Candidates are expected to provide accurate and truthful information throughout the hiring process. Any misrepresentation, falsification, or omission of material facts may result in disqualification from consideration, withdrawal of an offer, or termination of employment, regardless of when discovered.

As of February 10, 2023, New York City Executive Order 25 rescinded the COVID-19 vaccination requirement for City workers, new hires, and contracted employees. While the Center does not require vaccination, we strongly recommend that all staff, interns, and volunteers stay up to date.

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

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