Standards Specialist

City of New York•East Elmhurst, NY

10d

About The Position

About the New York City Board of Correction The New York City Board of Correction (“BOC” or “the Board”) is a nine-person, non-judicial oversight board, which regulates, monitors, and inspects the correctional facilities of the City. Established in 1957, BOC is one of the earliest independent oversight boards of custodial and detention settings in the United States. The Mayor, City Council and presiding justices of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court for the First and Second Judicial Departments (in joint nomination with the Mayor) appoint its members. The City Charter mandates the Board’s five functions: - Establish and ensure compliance with minimum standards for the care, custody, correction, treatment, supervision, and discipline of all persons held or confined under the jurisdiction of the Department of Correction (“DOC” or “the Department”); - Investigate serious incidents; - Review grievances from people in custody and staff; - Evaluate the performance of DOC; and - Make recommendations on areas of key correctional planning. The Board established the Minimum Standards on conditions of confinement in 1979, mental health care in 1985, and health care in 1991. In 2007, BOC finished a comprehensive review of the Minimum Standards and adopted a series of amendments. Since 2014, the Board has engaged in rulemaking five times, including rules related to the prevention of sexual violence, reporting on serious injuries, and the elimination of punitive segregation or solitary confinement. With offices in lower Manhattan and Rikers Island, BOC works regularly with DOC and Health + Hospitals, and often with other partners, on a wide range of criminal justice issues germane to its oversight responsibilities. BOC is a key municipal partner in the movement for safer, smaller, fairer, more humane jails, which minimize negative consequences, such as violence to persons in custody and staff. The Board brings to this work a strong emphasis on public reporting. With new staff leadership, funding, and Board members, along with increased public attention and jail reform efforts underway, BOC is in a period of growth and change. JOB DESCRIPTION The Board seeks a Standards Specialist (“Monitor”) with a passion for justice, fairness, and human rights, and the ability to collaborate with administration, monitoring, legal and research staff to leverage the powers of the Board. This is an opportunity to work under the supervision of experienced directors, and collaboration with monitors who have spent years working inside of jails and enforcing the Minimum Standards. We are a nationally unique institution with broad powers of access and oversight under the New York City Charter. The Standards Specialists are critical to the work of the Board. They serve as the Board’s and the City’s “eyes and ears” in the jails on Rikers Island, as well as the court pens and hospital prison wards. To promote compliance with the Board’s Minimum Standards, monitoring staff have unfettered access to the jails. The Monitor will report to their assigned Director.

Requirements

A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university and two years of full-time paid experience in correction, social work, psychology, law, public administration or related field providing direct services to an inmate or detention population within a correctional or related facility; or
A four-year high school diploma or its educational equivalent approved by a State’s Department of Education or a recognized accrediting organization and four years of full-time paid experience as described in “1” above; or
Education and/or experience equivalent to "1" or "2" above.
Service as an inmate in a correctional or related facility may be substituted for a portion of the required experience up to a maximum of two years on a year for year basis.
A graduate degree from an accredited college or university with a major in social work, psychology, law, criminal justice or public administration which includes a field placement performing duties as described above may be substituted for up to one year of full-time paid experience as described above. However, all candidates must have at least one year of full-time paid experience as described in "1" above.

Nice To Haves

Collegial approach to teamwork across disciplines
Master’s degree in a social science discipline, public policy or related field
At least three years of government, nonprofit, or comparable experience
Experience at a regulatory agency or advocating before a regulatory agency
Service as an inmate in a correctional or related facility may be substituted for a portion of the full-time, paid, preferred experience up to a maximum of two years on a year-for-year basis
Interest in and experience with criminal justice and correctional policy, human rights, or social justice
Experience conducting qualitative and quantitative research and expressing findings in report form
Proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint
Knowledge of and experience with statistical analysis
Strong ability to write clear and concisely
Working knowledge of New York City jails and corrections
Excellent organizational and time management skills, and attention to detail
Strong interpersonal skills with proven ability to collaborate with diverse colleagues and partners
Ability to work well independently and on a team
Ability to handle sensitive information in a professional manner, and with discretion and integrity
Bilingual such as Spanish
Tenacious fact finder with excellent organizational and writing skills
Ability to thrive in a fast-paced and changing environment
Commitment to the mission of the New York City Board of Correction

Responsibilities

Conducting regular tours of assigned jails, court pens, hospital prison wards
Providing written and oral reporting on conditions and minimum standards of assigned jails, courts, or hospital wards
Enforcing the Minimum Standards by visiting jails, taking and resolving complaints from staff and people in custody
Examining DOC’s compliance with the Minimum Standards, consent decrees, and other legal mandates and Departmental policies, procedures, orders and directives
Analyzing compliance by the Correctional Health Services (CHS) with the Health and Mental Health Care Minimum Standards
Preparing written reports on all investigations, surveys, and analyses
Providing technical assistance to DOC administrators to achieve compliance and improve working and living conditions for staff and people in custody
Conducting fact-finding and investigations of unusual incident such as deaths, disturbances, and escapes, and preparing reports, studies, surveys, and correspondence regarding such incidents
Helping review and analyze requests from DOC and CHS for variances from the Minimum Standards
Assisting in processing, evaluating and preparing responses to appeals from people in custody concerning the Minimum Standards

Benefits

As a current or prospective employee of the City of New York, you may be eligible for federal loan forgiveness programs and state repayment assistance programs. You may check the eligibility for programs and how to apply at nyc.gov/studentloans.

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