Education and Employment Specialist, Supervised Release Program

THE OPPORTUNITY

Brooklyn Justice Initiatives (BJI), the largest operating project of the Center, seeks to re-engineer the experience of criminal court in Brooklyn, New York, by providing judges and attorneys meaningful alternatives to bail, fines, and jail sentences.

Operating out of Kings County Criminal Court along with community-based offices, BJI is a team of social service providers, court-based resource coordinators, mental health practitioners, compliance specialists, and others who seek to improve the quality of justice.

Supervised Release offers an alternative to jail by providing pretrial supervision, case management, and voluntary social services to people charged with misdemeanor and felony offenses, and in doing so, uses an arrest as a window of opportunity to change the direction of a participant’s life, avoiding the harmful effects of incarceration.

Program participants are monitored to ensure their appearance at court dates and mandatory programming, and receive referrals to services like job training, drug treatment, and mental health counseling.

BJI seeks an Education and Employment Specialist for the borough’s Supervised Release Program (SRP). Reporting to the Community Engagement Coordinator, the Education and Employment Specialist will assist participants who are interested in furthering their careers by helping them to identify and access educational and professional development opportunities.

This position will leverage considerable knowledge of the public university system; certificate programs; state licensure requirements;

resume, cover letter, and interview fundamentals, and expertise in understanding systemic barriers to career advancement for people involved in the criminal legal system to help participants create action plans aligned with their educational and employment goals.

Additionally, Education and Employment Specialists will design and facilitate workshops in relevant topics and coordinate referrals to local service providers to maximize participant access to information and services.

The Center for Justice Innovation strongly encourage and seek applications from women, people of color, LGBTQIA community members, as well as individuals with lived experience with the criminal legal system.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to :

• Work with participants and their case managers to understand participants’ employment and education needs and goals, including any relevant factors such as mental health, conviction history, and other special circumstances to best leverage supports offered by other relevant community-based service providers;
• Provide accurate, up-to-date information, guidance, and support to people interested in exploring career opportunities and options;
• Provide guidance and support to participants seeking to prepare resumes, cover letters, and prepare for interviews in one-on-one and group formats;
• Provide information, guidance, and support to participants seeking information or applying for professional licensure, or certification or undergraduate college programs;
• Assist participants in obtaining identification and vital documents needed to access higher education or complete job applications;
• Develop, organize, and facilitate workshops for participants on the following : Strengthening resumes and cover letters;
• Skill-building for completing interviews;Overcoming barriers to employment due to conviction history;Applying to college;
• Conviction history-based college access myths; and Other relevant topics;
• Provide training to direct practice staff (including Community Engagement and Case Management staff) on supporting participants' attainment of employment and education needs and goals, including training on how to facilitate employment and education workshops;
• Develop and maintain relationships with local college access service providers, particularly those that focus on working with people with accessibility and mental health needs and that serve people with involvement in the criminal legal system;
• Develop and maintain relationships with local colleges to build knowledge about college access programs and to facilitate warm hand-offs;
• Provide referrals and facilitate warm handoffs to community-based agencies who can provide participants with individualized support to help them work towards their educational and career goals, such as Workforce 1, SUNY EOCs, College and Community Fellowship, Howie the Harp, and similar agencies;
• Facilitate information sessions for the direct practice teams to help build knowledge of opportunities and challenges related to accessing employment and education;
• Coordinate onsite workshops and presentations for partners to connect directly with direct practice staff and with participants at BJI sites;
• Work collaboratively with the case management team to effectively maintain accurate and timely data entry and case documentation aligned with the program model, court reporting obligations, and best practices;
• Consistently case conference with participants’ Case Managers; Ensure that meetings with participants also fulfill the obligations of check-ins and are recorded in the program database;
• Responsible for consistent and effective cross-team communication and collaboration to proactively identify successes, challenges, and opportunities to strengthen programming, create opportunities for meaningful collaboration, maximize internal and external resources and expertise, and substantive and comprehensive services to participants;
• Collect and maintain secure storage of hard copy and electronic documents containing sensitive participant information;
• Required to participate in designated trainings upon hire;
• Attend project events, community events, and meetings after hours, as needed;
• Please note that this role will not hold a standard SRP caseload; and
• Additional relevant tasks, as necessary.

Qualifications : The ideal candidate will :

• Bachelor’s degree required;
• Two years experience helping people to access employment and / or higher education required;
• Knowledgeable about how to navigating the individual, institutional, and systemic barriers presented by background checks strongly preferred;
• Comprehensive expertise related to accessing higher education opportunities required, including knowledge about how to overcome access challenges and awareness of access myths;
• Knowledgeable about the state’s professional licensure system, particularly as it relates to conviction history preferred;
• Knowledgeable about professional certification programs and affordability preferred;
• Experience working as a college academic counselor or career counselor strongly preferred;
• Knowledge of CUNY and local college and universities academic and financial aid programs, policies, and admissions and enrollment processes strongly preferred;
• Comprehensive knowledge of and / or experience with the criminal legal, child welfare, housing, and / or mental health systems preferred;
• Must be detail-oriented with strong organizational and time management skills;
• Must be able to work effectively and independently and as part of a highly interdependent, multi-disciplinary team within a fast-paced and dynamic work environment;
• Ability to work collaboratively and effectively with a variety of program stakeholders, including judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, court staff, and site partner agencies; and
• Bilingual (English-Spanish) strongly preferred.

Position Type : Full-time

Position Location : Brooklyn, NY

Compensation : The compensation range for this position is $55,000 - $65,000 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%.