Center for Justice Innovation is hiring: Social Worker in New York

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.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Launched in 1993, the award-winning Midtown Community Justice Center is one of the country’s first problem-solving courts. It provides alternatives to fines and jail as a response to low-level crime. 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, and to serve the vibrant Midtown community, specifically those in need of services. The Justice Center’s court responds creatively to low-level offending, seeking sentences that are restorative to the defendant and community. In 2023, Midtown Community Justice Center celebrated 30 years of operation and was renamed to Midtown Community Justice Center to reflect the work we do in the community.

The Midtown Community Justice Center is seeking a Social Worker for its court-based, community-based, and voluntary programs, which includes the Emerging Adult Court for 18-25-year-olds, Misdemeanor Mental Health Court, Community Court, and referrals from downtown Manhattan Center site, Manhattan Justice Opportunities. The Social Worker will be responsible for conducting assessments and intakes, making referrals to community-based service providers, offering comprehensive trauma-informed individual counseling and case management sessions, and facilitating psychoeducational groups.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Conduct individual counseling sessions, psychoeducational and therapeutic groups, and clinical assessments;
• Provide recommendations for services and monitor treatment for court-mandated clients;
• Provide comprehensive, trauma-informed, culturally-responsive, clinical and case management services to clients (and, where appropriate, their families) that address issues such as substance use, mental health issues, trauma, interpersonal violence, housing, and educational and vocational needs;
• Attend interdisciplinary case conferences to help clients navigate the court;
• Collaborate with court staff and stakeholders, including defense attorneys, prosecutors, judges, and court officers;
• Maintain appropriate client information in electronic databases and paper files;
• Report on client progress and compliance to court partners (judges, defense attorneys, and prosecutors);
• Establish and maintain linkages with community partners who can provide appropriate interventions and services to court-involved individuals;
• Provide ongoing crisis intervention and de-escalation, as needed;
• Collaborate with team members to design and participate in community events;
• Participate in, and at times facilitate, staff meetings, team-building exercises, trainings, and site visits;
• Participate in evening and weekend community meetings, events, and programming, as needed; and
• Perform other relevant duties, including coverage and support, as needed to support the Midtown Community Court and Center for Justice Innovation.

Qualifications:

• Be an LMSW or LMHC with a minimum of two years prior work in criminal justice and/or a related field required. Candidates with a MSW will be required to obtain their license within 90 days of employment;
• Experience working within a harm reduction framework and commitment to staying up to date on harm reduction best practices required;
• Experience conducting clinical assessments;
• Experience with drug/alcohol treatment, mental health services, co-occurring disorders, trauma-informed, and anti-oppressive practice required;
• 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. Court-based social work is a unique and demanding area of practice, and candidates must be open to constructive engagement with differing and, at times, competing perspectives;
• Experience with/or comfortability in learning to facilitate conversations related to identity, oppression, and privilege is a must;
• Experience and/or comfort working with ages 18 and over;
• Experience and commitment to creating, promoting, and maintaining a respectful, inclusive, and anti-racist work environment;
• SIFI certification preferred; and
• Bilingual (English-Spanish) preferred.

Position Type: Full-time.

Position Location: Midtown, Manhattan.

Compensation: The compensation range for this position is $57,500 - $73,500 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.