Overview

THE ORGANIZATION
The Center for Court Innovation is committed to reducing crime and incarceration, addressing violence, supporting survivors, and building communities while strengthening public trust in justice. The Center seeks justice for marginalized groups, bringing an equity lens – particularly a racial and gender equity lens – to its work. For 25 years, the Center has worked to foster justice and equity to create safe, healthy, and thriving communities and, ultimately, to transform the justice system.

The Center is an 800-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 Court, 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
Researchers at the Center conduct independent evaluations, documenting how government systems work, how neighborhoods function, and how reform efforts change things. We believe in the “action research” model; accordingly, our researchers provide regular feedback on the results of the Center’s own operating programs. The Center has published studies on topics including youth in the sex trade, reentry, gun violence, and drug treatment as an alternative to incarceration. Our researchers have been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals.

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.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Midtown Community Court is one of the country’s first problem-solving courts. It provides alternatives to fines and jail. Midtown is one of three program providers to offer diversion opportunities to eligible adults in Manhattan beginning in 2018 through Project Reset. This collaboration with the New York Police Department and Manhattan District Attorney’s Office seeks to create a proportionate response to low-level crime by avoiding the use of incarceration and the potential harms associated with the traditional criminal justice process. 

The Diversion and Transformative Initiatives team at Midtown Community Court also runs a newer pre-court diversion program for youth ages 14-18 primarily arrested for weapons possession charges. The youth diversion program offers effective, restorative, client-centered, and trauma-informed support connecting participants to resources and services as an alternative to traditional prosecution.

Midtown Community Court is seeking a Case Manager to work on Project Reset, the youth diversion program, and other future early diversion programs. The Case Manager is the first and primary point of contact for potential Project Reset clients and youth diversion participants along with their parents/guardians. The Case Manager will conduct initial outreach, preliminary intakes, scheduling, and completion protocols, as well as manage case files and records and connect participants to resources and referrals. The Case Manager will maintain a regular client caseload for youth diversion which includes conducting weekly check-ins as well as facilitating goal-setting sessions and restorative workshops with participants.

Reporting to the Director of Diversion and Transformative Initiatives, the Case Manager will work closely with the social workers and staff on the Diversion team, and may also be called upon to support other programs and initiatives at Midtown Community Court as needed. 

Responsibilities include but are not limited to: 

  • Contact potential participants to frame programming, conduct an initial intake and screening, and schedule them for programming; 
  • Follow-up with participants to remind them of upcoming programming and encourage compliance; 
  • Determine whether a potential participant is suitable for group-based work or merits additional screening and/or individual counseling with a clinical social worker; 
  • Provide comprehensive, strengths-based, case management services to clients to help address issues such as substance use, mental health, trauma, domestic violence, housing, and vocational needs; 
  • Maintain organized records of outreach attempts, daily attendance sheets, completion, and other project details; Maintain accurate computer records in both the Center’s internal case management tool and a database that is shared with project partners; 
  • Prepare and circulate outreach materials and certificates of program completion; 
  • Work with the clinical team to refer participants to voluntary social services; 
  • Facilitate and co-facilitate youth diversion programming;
  • Research, identify and develop potential referral sources for program participants; 
  • Participate in staff meetings, team-building exercises, trainings, and site visits; 
  • Participate in limited evening and weekend community meetings, events, and programming, as needed; 
  • Perform other relevant duties, including coverage and support, as needed to support the Midtown Community Court and Center for Court Innovation. 

Qualifications: The ideal candidate will have a Bachelor’s degree and 2 years of experience working in a social service setting OR 3-4 years of experience working in a social service setting. Other qualifications include: 

  • Bilingual (Spanish-English) strongly preferred. 
  • Experience in a court or criminal justice setting preferred; 
  • Experience and/or comfort working with both adolescents and adults required; 
  • Knowledge and/or lived experience related to the criminal justice system and its impacts strongly preferred; 
  • Highly organized, with a strong commitment to systems and process; 
  • Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written; 
  • Human services or customer service experience preferred;
  • Knowledge of community-based resources throughout New York City is helpful; 
  • 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; must also be self-motivated and able to complete responsibilities independently.
  • Experience and commitment to creating, promoting, and maintaining a respectful, inclusive, and anti-racist work environment. 

Position Type: Temporary through June 2023. Full-time, 35 hours/week. Limited evening and weekend hours may be required. Currently operating 3 days/week on-site and 2 days remote, but this may change at any time. 

Compensation: Hourly rate starts at $26.18 per hour (equivalent of $47,647 annually) and is commensurate with experience. This position is eligible for overtime at 1.5x the hourly rate above 40 hours per week. The Center for Court 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 Court Innovation is an equal opportunity employer. The Center does 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 seek 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.

As of September 9, 2021, all new hires are required to be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus, unless they have been granted a reasonable accommodation for medical, disability or religious reasons by the Center’s Human Resources Department.

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. Only applicants under consideration will be contacted. No phone calls please.

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