Research Program Specialist - School of Social Work

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign • Urbana, IL

8d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Research Program Specialist (RPS) for the Center for Prevention Research and Development (CPRD), within the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois, will lead a team that conducts data collection and analysis, data reporting, and evaluations targeting the juvenile and criminal justice systems. CPRD is a vibrant applied research center with over thirty years of experience. CPRD has a $3.9 million‐dollar portfolio of applied research projects in juvenile justice, substance use prevention, early childhood health, teen pregnancy prevention, and middle school education reform. They will work on the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission’s initiatives which currently involve tracking all juvenile detention admissions, reporting on juvenile transfers to adult court, and monitoring racial and ethnic disparities. The person in this position will also assist with providing technical assistance to detention centers, circuit clerks and State’s Attorney’s offices regarding data collection. The person in this position will also collaborate with stakeholders on the annual collection, analysis and reporting of R/ED data for the five decision making points required by the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency prevention (OJJDP). They will assist in developing and maintaining a jail removal monitoring universe consistent with the OJJDP requirements. They will also oversee the development, implementation, budgeting and evaluation of multiple work projects and work plans and write or contribute to policy briefs and publications on these efforts. Strong interpersonal and leadership skills are essential to this position.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, social work, community psychology, sociology, education, public health, or related field.
• Experience with qualitative data collection and analysis.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in criminal justice, social work, community psychology, sociology, education, public health, or related field.
• Experience with or understanding of the roles of the Juvenile Justice Councils and the State Advisory Group (i.e., the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission.
• Excellent interpersonal, time management, organization, and solution‐focused skills.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to work in a team environment.
• Ability to draft high‐quality reports for public dissemination.
• Good judgment (e.g., working within contracted role, responding appropriately to requests, verifying information) when representing CPRD externally via trainings, presentations, and site visits.
• Knowledgeable about Illinois’ juvenile justice system in the following areas including: racial/ethnic disparities at the five points of contact: diversion, arrest, detention, secure confinement, and transfer to adult court,
• Ability to apply a racial equity lens to juvenile justice reform.
• Knowledge of evidence‐based practices, policies, and practices in juvenile justice.
• Knowledge of criminal and juvenile justice, racial and ethnic disparities, and early intervention/prevention needs.

Responsibilities

• Serves as primary liaison between CPRD and funders.
• Forms mutually beneficial partnerships with funders, state‐level data administrators and foundations regarding issues related to applied research, evaluation design, database development, data collection, interpretation and utilization of evaluation findings and developing a better understanding for how to use data.
• Serves in a project leadership role to ensure the project team delivers work products in a timely, complete and professional manner; and meets all short, intermediate and long‐term goals.
• Maintains responsibility for timelines, work products, and project completion.
• Advises the Director and CPRD leadership team on issues of pursuing new juvenile and criminal justice funding.
• Recommends resource allocation on annual budgets to Primary Investigator or Co‐Primary Investigator of CPRD projects.
• Author major reports such as the annual detention report, annual juvenile transfer report, jail removal report, and annual RED report.
• Conceptualize research questions to guide the development, management and implementation of applied research protocols, procedures and measures.
• Develop surveys and other data collection instruments and protocols.
• Data collection, interpretation and utilization of data findings.
• Provide consultation and technical assistance to funders, state or national agencies, or communities (e.g., provide trainings on database design and user support to JMIS users).
• Create and present presentations and/or trainings on various topics to juvenile justice councils, the IJJC, and other stakeholders.
• Provide leadership and expertise in criminal and juvenile justice research and practice for the development of research projects, scholarly work, reports, and products for publication and dissemination.
• Other duties as appropriate.

Benefits

• Health, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, a Retirement Plan, Paid time Off, and Tuition waivers for employees and dependents.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level