Research Assistant

Job Description

Job Description

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

The Research Department at the Center for Justice Innovation explores diverse justice issues, drawing on quantitative and qualitative methods to conduct impact evaluations, implementation assessments, and exploratory, community-based research using innovative approaches.

The Research Department is seeking to hire two research assistants. Reporting to the Principal Research Associate, the research assistants will assist with the development of a literature review identifying best practices in firearms violence prevention in urban community settings.

The candidates will also assist the research team in implementing a multisite process evaluation. The ideal candidate will have prior experience conducting literature reviews and / or best practices scans, interviews, taking fieldnotes, and coding and analyzing data.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to :

• Assist with the development of a best practices scan on firearms violence, and more specifically, prevention and intervention models (e.
• g., Cure Violence, hospital-based interventions) in communities challenged by gun violence;
• Assist with a multi-site process evaluation, including the following :
• Development of interview instruments;
• Data collection (e.g., conducting interviews);
• Typing up notes from site visits;
• Data management;
• Qualitative data analysis;
• Additional tasks as necessary.

Qualifications : The ideal candidate should be in possession of an advanced degree (e.g., Master’s degree or Ph.D.) or in pursuit of such a degree plus a minimum of one year of work experience in a related field or equivalent experience conducting similar research in related fields, such as social work, psychology, criminal justice, and public health.

The ideal candidate must also be a skilled communicator, able to interact with a range of community stakeholders, be organized and detail oriented, an independent worker and problem solver, and have the ability to multi-task.

Position Type : Temporary, part-time, 10-15 hours per week.

Position Location : Baltimore, MD, with travel required throughout Maryland.

Compensation : The compensation range for this position is $27.50 - $30.00 per hour based on a 35-hour work week and is commensurate with experience.

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.

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