Social Worker

NYC Bar Association•New York, NY

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

The City Bar Justice Center (CBJC) seeks a New York-licensed social worker for full-time support of its Social Work Program, an interdisciplinary, trauma-informed client support structure for CBJC’s dozen civil legal aid projects, including in particular CBJC’s Federal Pro Se Legal Assistance Project operating in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (FedPro-SDNY). In collaboration with CBJC’s Senior Social Worker and senior leadership team, this role helps to ensure the Social Work Program provides holistic support for clients’ non-legal needs as well as interdisciplinary assistance to CBJC legal teams. The City Bar Justice Center annually provides high-quality, free civil civil legal services benefiting over 27,000 New Yorkers who lack the resources to hire private counsel. CBJC also relies on partnerships with our affiliate, the New York City Bar Association, as well as with law firms, corporate legal departments, solo practitioners, law schools, the courts, and other stakeholders. In the past year, over 3,000 pro bono attorneys donated services to support clinics and client matter work drawn from CBJC’s dozen civil legal services projects. Half of this role’s responsibility will focus on one of those projects – FedPro-SDNY, which is an innovative initiative providing free, limited-scope legal assistance to individuals representing themselves in litigating civil cases in the SDNY in areas such as employment discrimination, civil and prisoner rights, and a broad range of other claims touching on core individual rights. The FedPro-SDNY team provides limited scope legal assistance at various stages of federal litigation, from service of a complaint up to trial.

Requirements

Minimum two years as a New York-licensed LMSW or LCSW.
Completed Seminar Training Field Instruction (SIFI), or ability to complete SIFI concurrently while supervising MSW students participating in CBJC’s social work practicum.
Minimum of two years of client advocacy experience, including especially experience in crisis management and intervention and experience working with individuals with an array of mental health needs; and experience facilitating linkages to other providers and navigating local, state and federal systems, benefits and agencies for those of limited means (NYC/NYS experience strongly preferred).
Strong clinical and case management skills, including ability to demonstrate an understanding of self-represented litigants’ physical, emotional, psychological, social, structural, and/or environmental risks; and ability to effectively assist staff with crisis intervention, conflict resolution, and de-escalation.
Sound knowledge of victimization dynamics and varied treatment modalities.
Confidence and capacity to navigate medical, legal, and social service systems.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills; workshop facilitation and groupwork skills a plus.
Strong interpersonal skills, and ability to work both independently and collaboratively with a team.
Strong interest in supporting legal services within a courthouse setting.
Strong computer skills across multiple platforms, databases, and applications.
Demonstrated enthusiasm for public interest work, serving those with a lack of resources, and helping historically under-resourced communities and clients that have experienced complex trauma.
Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States. We are not able to sponsor visas for this position.

Nice To Haves

Experience working in a legal or other interdisciplinary setting is a plus, but not a requirement.
Bilingual English/Spanish highly preferred.

Responsibilities

Support the CBJC Social Work Program’s (“SWP”) delivery of holistic and trauma-informed client services while providing interdisciplinary assistance to CBJC’s legal function.
Maintain an appropriate and sustainable caseload of CBJC legal services clients, coordinating and collaborating with legal teams to provide clients with crisis intervention, appropriate human and social services referrals (e.g., for shelter, medical and mental health care, public assistance), short-term counseling, and service plans and safety and risk management assessments where needed.
Help advocate on behalf of clients for public entitlements and other resources with systems and agencies where applicable, and facilitate linkages for clients to access care and other services.
Occasionally facilitate psychosocial education for clients to learn to assess/attend to their needs.
As program resources permit, provide short-term counseling, crisis intervention, and safety and risk management assessments to litigants exhibiting the greatest immediate support needs.
In support of FedPro-SDNY in particular (15-20 hours weekly of this full-time position), collaborate with attorneys and paralegals to provide direct support for intake/interview, case narration, and case management when necessary, including by assisting staff with crisis intervention, conflict resolution, and de-escalation as necessary.
Collaborate with legal teams where appropriate to assess client management and placement practices (including with pro bono volunteers); support challenging client intake/interview and case narration needs; help legal teams reflect on and further develop trauma-informed client interaction skills; and, where applicable, create affidavits and provide other support for clients’ legal cases.
Collaborate with the senior social worker and CBJC leadership to sustain a best-practices program:
Track, manage, and assign client referrals and oversee SWP data management and reporting.
Develop, manage, and maintain SWP community and educational partnerships and the SWP’s student practicum program to further support client and case management needs, including by interviewing students for practicum placement; developing and providing new practicum participants’ onboarding and training; and co-supporting practicum students’ supervision program and need, including by helping to oversee CBJC social work practicum students’ process recordings, learning plans, evaluations, and site visits with field advisors.
Facilitate holistic client services best practices, including by providing trainings to legal team staff and volunteers and individual and small group support to promote informed responses to mental health needs and dynamics of trauma, abuse, sexual assault, and other related topics.
Participate in and occasionally facilitate staff meetings, as well as external community and partnership meetings and relevant trainings and seminars.
Various other duties and projects to be determined in collaboration with supervisor.

Benefits

generous paid time off (vacation, personal, sick time, holidays including office closure during the last week of the calendar year through New Year’s Day, day off each year for volunteer work, extra time off in the summer)
choice of medical plans
dental
vision
401K when employment begins (with discretionary employer match up to 3% after 1 year)
life insurance
commuter benefits program
Employee Assistance Program
short-term/long-term disability insurance
employee discounts
complimentary City Bar membership
access to free City Bar CLE programs and City Bar events
reimbursement of OCA registration fees