Senior Social Worker, Felony Alternatives to Incarceration

THE ORGANIZATION

The Center for Justice Innovation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing community safety and racial justice. Since 1996, we’re worked alongside communities, courts, and those most directly affected by the justice system to build stronger, healthier, and more equitable neighborhoods. With a team of over 900 staff and an annual budget of $130 million, the Center carries out its mission through three core strategies:

Backed by decades of on-the-ground experience and nationally recognized expertise, we bring innovative, practical, and lasting solutions to justice systems nationwide.
Learn more about our work ovatingjustice.org.

The Center for Justice Innovation is seeking a Senior Social Worker to join a team of staff—including social workers and case managers—who 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 Senior Social Worker will be part of a team that provides neutral, third-party assessments and case management services to the ATI Court. The Senior Social Worker will conduct independent clinical assessments, provide referrals to community-based services, offer comprehensive clinical case management, and monitor participant compliance. The Senior Social Worker will be primarily responsible for supporting a caseload of high-risk need program participants and supervising a group of case managers and/or social workers.

Additionally, in coordination with the Clinical Director, the Senior Social Worker will help coordinate compliance updates on ATI Court calendar days, help identify gaps in services and forge new partnerships with community-based providers to fill those needs, serve as the team’s training liaison to identify internal training needs and coordinate trainings for staff, and coordinate with the Office Manager regarding participant supplies and other needs.

An essential and dynamic feature of the Senior Social Worker’s role will be in close collaboration with key stakeholders. The Senior Social Worker will work regularly with the judge and court staff from New York County Supreme Court who oversee the Felony ATI Court, as well as with other stakeholders, including the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and New York City defense organizations.

Court-based social work is an exciting, unique, and demanding area of practice, and the Senior Social Worker role involves navigating and constructively engaging with differing and, at times, competing stakeholder perspectives.

• Conduct detailed clinical assessments for potential felony ATI Court participants;
• Develop treatment recommendations for potential ATI participants to court stakeholders (judge, defense counsel, prosecutor, and court staff);
• Provide comprehensive, clinically-informed case management services to a caseload of high-risk need pre-plea and court-mandated ATI participants to help address issues such as substance use, mental health, trauma, domestic violence, housing and vocational needs, and other challenges in a participant’s life (e.g. new arrests, family court cases, and other civil legal issues);
• Make appropriate community-based referrals for a variety of social service needs;
• Manage and monitor compliance with treatment mandates, including care coordination with providers, and provide written treatment updates for court stakeholders for all court-involved participants;
• Supervise and provide support and guidance to case managers,…