Parole Success Advocate (Women's Prisons)
About The Position
The Parole Success Advocate is a core driver of Home After Harm, an energetic and interdisciplinary team at UnCommon Law. The Parole Success Advocate works to create a therapeutic community inside prisons by facilitating group spaces and one on one support for people inside who are preparing for parole and life success. The Parole Success Advocate will lead weekly groups with participants inside the prison and participate in workshops, legal visits, or other training inside the prisons as needed. In the event that in-person programming is delayed or canceled, the Parole Success Advocate will support Home After Harm participants through written letters, correspondence lessons, phone calls, and/or video conferencing. UnCommon Law’s Pathways to Parole Success (Home After Harm) is currently a pilot program that helps people prepare for the discretionary parole process. Informed by people who have been through the parole process themselves, this program will support participants in taking accountability for past actions, while healing from past trauma. Home After Harm also provides limited legal support with a team of attorneys who will provide individual case feedback. This program currently runs cohorts in two men’s prisons in which participants are led through a written curriculum in small group, large group, and individual settings, and will be expanding to two women’s prisons. This position will work with the Director of In-Prison Programs, other PSAs, UnCommon Law’s Clinical Team, as well as outside experts when necessary, to create HAH lessons that are responsive to the particular experiences and concerns of female-identifying parole candidates.
Requirements
- Experience living in a California women’s correctional setting (Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF), California Institute for Women (CIW), Folsom Women’s Facility) and personal experience navigating California’s discretionary parole process from one of these prisons
- Experience facilitating group settings, with a focus on person-centered and trauma-informed approaches
- Experience with and willingness to continue to develop proficiency in technology and writing
- Passionate about the mission of UnCommon Law
- Excellent facilitation and leadership skills that include kindness, non-judgment, and sensitivity to confidential matters
- Compassionate and culturally sensitive
- Self-reflective and attentive to vicarious trauma
- Organized, prepared, and able to operate under pressure
- Strong writing skills
- Ability to use technology platforms such as Zoom and Google Suites (Gmail) and ability to get up to speed on new technologies (including online participant record management system)
Nice To Haves
- Candidates who live near CCWF are strongly encouraged to apply.
Responsibilities
- Prepare for and facilitate weekly in-person groups, and complete related documentation and case notes
- Contribute to and participate in legal workshops
- Conduct one-on-one meetings with program participants, including reviewing relevant documents to prepare for individual meetings, taking notes, and entering relevant information into a database
- Contribute to and participate in weekly collaborative interdisciplinary participant support meetings that involve regular case discussions, including creating agendas, notetaking, and facilitation
- Conduct Peer Mentor (inside facilitator) training and provide ongoing support through a collaborative working relationship with peer mentors
- Create and give trainings to UCL on facilitation techniques, delivering services inside prisons, and trauma-informed practices
- Conduct phone or video calls with program participants and peer mentors
- Draft and respond to participant correspondence, including individual letters and reviewing and providing feedback on participant writings
- Schedule phone/video calls and obtain access to prison files as needed
- Maintain participant record management system
- Assist in development and modification of program materials and calendar management.
- Collaborate with UCL staff (and external consultants, when necessary) to write and update gender-responsive HAH curriculum and materials for women’s prisons, including continued review and adaptation to ensure relevance
- Communicate with prison/parole officials, and other service providers in the community
- Frequent travel to in-prison and other settings throughout the state
- Learn and use UCL’s technology platforms and tools
- Participate in regular staff meetings, including required in-person staff meetings
- Participate in in-person team building activities and retreats as needed
- Participate in UCL events in the community or inside prisons to educate or train attendees on parole hearing preparation or on trauma experiences or responses
- Assist in cross-team collaborative opportunities, such as reception, non-client mail, and fundraising as needed
Benefits
- 100% paid Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance for employees
- Covers 75% for dependents for Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance
- Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) of $200/month in reimbursable funds for therapeutic expenses
- Flexible time off policy
- Full organizational closure for two weeks from late December to early January each year
- Generous family leave policy
- Flexible hours
- FSA
- Retirement plans
- Regular access to training and clinical support
- Generous sick leave
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
Education Level
No Education Listed
