Senior Counselor, Felony Alternatives to Incarceration

Center for Justice Innovation•New York, NY

39d•$68,500 - $91,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Center for Justice Innovation is seeking a Senior Counselor to join a team of staff—including social workers, mental health counselors, and case managers—who work with defendants participating in the Manhattan Felony Alternative to Incarceration (ATI) Court. The ATI Court, which is led by Administrative Judge Ellen Biben, seeks to forge a new response to individuals charged with felonies by linking them to community-based social services. The Court is the first of its kind, providing an innovative model for other jurisdictions seeking to develop and implement meaningful post-conviction sentencing options for individuals facing felony charges. Reporting to the Clinical Director, the Senior Counselor will be part of a team that provides neutral, third-party assessments and case management services to the ATI Court. The Senior Counselor will conduct independent clinical assessments, provide referrals to community-based services, offer comprehensive clinical case management, and monitor participant compliance. The Senior Counselor will be primarily responsible for supporting a caseload of high-risk need program participants and supervising a group of case managers. Additionally, in coordination with the Clinical Director, the Senior Counselor will help coordinate compliance updates on ATI Court calendar days, help identify gaps in services and forge new partnerships with community-based providers to fill those needs, serve as the team’s training liaison to identify internal training needs and coordinate trainings for staff, and coordinate with the Office Manager regarding participant supplies and other needs. An essential and dynamic feature of the Senior Counselor’s role will be in close collaboration with key stakeholders. The Senior Counselor will work regularly with the judge and court staff from New York County Supreme Court who oversee the Felony ATI Court, as well as with other stakeholders, including the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and New York City defense organizations. Court-based social work is an exciting, unique, and demanding area of practice, and the Senior Counselor role involves navigating and constructively engaging with differing and, at times, competing stakeholder perspectives.

Requirements

MHC or LMSW and a minimum of 5 years is required;
A minimum of 2 years’ experience working in a social justice or social services setting preferred;
Experience in a court or criminal justice setting preferred;
Willingness and ability to work collaboratively with a variety of court personnel and on-site partner agencies in a high-pressure/fast paced work environment;
Skill and openness to constructive engagement with differing and, at times, competing stakeholder perspectives;
Commitment to, and experience using, holistic and strengths-based approaches, meeting participants where they are, as well as the ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds in a culturally responsive manner;
Experience working with drug/alcohol treatment, mental health services, co-occurring disorders, trauma-informed and strengths-based approaches strongly preferred;
Experience working with and addressing the specific needs of young adults, LGBTQ+ people, and women strongly preferred;
Excellent organization and time management skills;
Strong writing and verbal communication skills;

Nice To Haves

Bilingual (English-Spanish) preferred.

Responsibilities

Conduct detailed clinical assessments for potential felony ATI Court participants;
Develop treatment recommendations for potential ATI participants to court stakeholders (judge, defense counsel, prosecutor, and court staff);
Provide comprehensive, clinically-informed case management services to a caseload of high-risk need pre-plea and court-mandated ATI participants to help address issues such as substance use, mental health, trauma, domestic violence, housing and vocational needs, and other challenges in a participant’s life (e.g. new arrests, family court cases, and other civil legal issues);
Make appropriate community-based referrals for a variety of social service needs;
Manage and monitor compliance with treatment mandates, including care coordination with providers, and provide written treatment updates for court stakeholders for all court-involved participants;
Supervise and provide support and guidance to case managers and interns, in coordination with the Clinical Director;
Support internship recruitment, placement, and supervision;
Participate in regular interdisciplinary case conferences with court stakeholders;
Coordinate with court stakeholders on any non-compliance issues and assist clients in getting back into compliance, including re-engaging clients, arranging returns on warrants, and implementing graduated responses to encourage future compliance;
Attend court as needed to help clients navigate the court, to support staff, and collaborate with court staff and stakeholders;
Collaborate and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders, including court resource coordinators, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and other court and programmatic staff;
Connect participants to toxicology testing and report on results, as needed;
Provide crisis intervention and de-escalation, as needed;
Provide voluntary referrals to community-based services, as needed;
Establish and maintain linkages with community partners who can support program work, and assist the Clinical Director in identifying gaps in services and forging new partnerships to fill those needs;
Assist the Clinical Director with the development and implementation of new initiatives, including best clinical practices and appropriate evidence-based interventions;
Identify internal training needs and coordinate the delivery of such trainings for staff, in coordination with the Clinical Director;
Enter and maintain appropriate up-to-date participant information, including assessment, case management, and case outcome data;
Provide clinical services as described above to program participants on a voluntary basis post-mandate;
Participate in clinical group supervision, staff meetings, and trainings;
Attend evening community-based meetings and events, as needed;
Coordinate with the Office Manager regarding participant supplies and other needs;
Assist with other programmatic and administrative tasks to support the Felony ATI Court’s activities; and;
Additional relevant tasks, as needed.