Client Navigator

Our Vision: A community that prioritizes love, compassion, and equity over judgment, shame, and division.

Client Navigator

Salary Range: $64,360 – $69,464

Kalamazoo Defender is an independent non-profit organization that provides legal representation to the adult indigent population charged with a crime within Kalamazoo County. We take a holistic approach, employing compassionate professionals who work with our clients to identify and address additional needs beyond their legal case. In collaboration with our robust network of area service providers, we aim to connect our clients to relevant support services.

We fight for justice in the courts, care in the community, and dignity in the world. Our mission is rooted in the conviction that poverty and various forms of discrimination put our clients on inequitable footing within and beyond our criminal justice system. Our job is to be their zealous defender in the face of these systemic barriers, fighting for them in court, organizing care for them in our community, and advocating for their inherent dignity in the broader world.

Kalamazoo Defender seeks a full-time Client Navigator, reporting to the Lead Client Navigator, to provide direct advocacy, resource navigation, and case support to clients as part of our multidisciplinary defense team. Working alongside attorneys, paralegals, investigators, mitigation specialists, and other members of the defense team, Client Navigators help identify and address barriers that may affect a client's stability, well-being, and ability to meaningfully participate in their defense.

Client Navigators spend significant time working directly with clients, including through scheduled appointments, walk-in services, phone communication, and meetings at court or correctional facilities. They work with clients to identify needs and goals, develop individualized action and release plans, connect clients with community-based services and treatment, coordinate assessments and evaluations, advocate with service providers, and support clients in accessing appropriate community resources and services.

The work requires proactive communication with clients, community partners, and the legal team so that social-service support and resource navigation complement the client's broader defense strategy.

The ideal candidate is compassionate, resourceful, organized, and solution-oriented and is comfortable working in a highly client-facing environment where needs and priorities may shift throughout the day. This position requires the ability to build trusting relationships with clients who may be experiencing trauma, housing instability, substance use, mental health concerns, disability, poverty, or other significant barriers while maintaining appropriate professional boundaries.

Strong communication, follow-through, judgment, initiative, and the ability to navigate complex community systems are essential.

• Conduct holistic assessments with clients to identify needs, strengths, barriers, available supports, and appropriate next steps for connection to services.
• Meet and communicate directly with clients in person, by phone, and through other appropriate communication methods to assess needs, provide support, navigate resources, and assist with connection to appropriate services.
• Participate in rotating Client Navigator walk-in coverage, providing responsive, face-to-face navigation services to eligible clients, including assessment of immediate needs, resource identification, referrals, and connection to community-based services.
• Work collaboratively with clients to identify goals and develop individualized action plans that reflect client priorities and circumstances.
• Provide resource navigation, advocacy, and practical support by identifying appropriate services, explaining available options, and assisting clients in accessing community-based resources.
• Coordinate assessments, evaluations, treatment, housing, benefits, and other services as appropriate to the client's needs and legal circumstances.
• Develop release plans, action plans, referral summaries, and other client-service documentation needed to support clients and the defense team.
• Collaborate with attorneys to identify opportunities for case‑specific support and ensure Client Navigator services are coordinated with the client's legal representation.
• Develop and maintain working knowledge of local community resources, programs, eligibility requirements, and referral processes.
• Proactively…