Case Manager, Pretrial Services

Job DescriptionJob Description

THE ORGANIZATION

The Center for Justice Innovation is a community justice organization that centers safety and racial justice. Since our founding in 1996, the Center has partnered with community members, courts, and the people most impacted to create stronger, healthier, more just communities. Our decades of experience in courts and communities, coupled with our field-leading research and practitioner expertise, help us drive justice nationwide in innovative, powerful, and durable ways. For more information on how and where we work, please visit www.innovatingjustice.org.  

The Center is a 900-employee, $100 million nonprofit that accomplishes its vision through three pillars of work: creating and scaling operating programs to test new ideas and solve problems, performing original research to determine what works (and what doesn’t), and providing expert assistance and policy guidance to justice reformers around the world.

Operating Programs

The Center’s operating programs, including the award-winning Red Hook Community Justice Center and Midtown Community Justice Center, test new ideas, solve difficult problems, and attempt to achieve systemic change within the justice system. Our projects include community-based violence prevention programs, alternatives to incarceration, reentry initiatives, and court-based initiatives that reduce the use of unnecessary incarceration and promote positive individual and family change. Through this programming, we have produced tangible results like safer streets, reduced incarceration, and improved neighborhood perceptions of justice.

Research

The Center's research teams are staffed with social scientists, data analysts, and lawyers who are academically-trained or have lived experience and who conduct research in the U.S. and globally on diverse criminal-legal system and justice issues. Their work includes evaluating programs and policies; conducting exploratory, community-based studies; and providing research translation and strategic planning for system actors. The Center has published studies on topics including court and jail reform, intimate partner violence, restorative justice, gun violence, reentry, sixth amendment rights, and progressive prosecution. The research teams strive to make their work meaningful and actionable to the communities they work with, policymakers, and practitioners.

Policy & Expert Assistance

The Center provides hands-on, planning and implementation assistance to a wide range of jurisdictions in areas of reform such as problem-solving courts (e.g., community courts, treatment courts, domestic violence courts), tribal justice, reducing incarceration and the use of fines/fees and reducing crime and violence. Our current expert assistance takes many forms, including help with analyzing data, strategic planning and consultation, policy guidance, and hosting site visits to its operating programs in the New York City area. 

Center Support

A dedicated support team within the Center ensures the smooth functioning of operations across various domains, including finance, legal, technology, human resources, fundraising, real estate, and communications. Comprising 15% of the organization's staff, these teams provide essential infrastructure support and innovative solutions aligned with the Center's mission and values. 

THE OPPORTUNITY

Newark Community Solutions seeks to re-engineer how justice is achieved in Newark, New Jersey, and the surrounding Essex County area. Headquartered in the Newark Municipal Courthouse, Newark Community Solutions is a team of social workers and criminal justice professionals who work to improve the quality of life in the communities they service in partnership with the Newark Municipal Court, the Essex Vicinage, and numerous community-based service organizations. The diverse range of services offered through Newark Community Solutions all share the core goal of treating people with dignity and respect and improving relationships across systems and communities.

Newark Community Solutions seeks a Part-Time Case Manager as part of its Pretrial Services program. Reporting to the Program Coordinator of Pretrial Services, the Case Manager will be responsible for providing intake, assessment, case management, referral services, and case coordination for individuals released pretrial in Essex County, NJ. The Case Manager will engage with individuals both prior to their release from custody and while they are in the community pending trial. 

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Work collaboratively with staff at both the Essex County Correctional Facility and Office of the Public Defender to identify, interview, and enroll program participants;
• Conduct assessments and complete full intake packets (including program consents) for individuals identified at the Essex County Correctional Facility;
• Maintain data records to track daily volume, interview rates, acceptance rates, and enrollment rates;
• Provide comprehensive case management services, including participant outreach, formulation of service plans and treatment recommendations, referrals to community-based care, education about the justice system, and assistance with navigating the social service system;
• Facilitate psycho-educational groups on a range of topics, including treatment readiness and co-occurring needs;
• Develop and maintain new referral and placement resources based on the participants’ needs;
• Connect participants with existing criminal justice diversion programming when applicable;
• Enter all assessment and service data into the NCS web-based system and maintain client records and files;
• Provide case updates to participants’ public defender and/or private attorney through written and oral communications; 
• Represent Newark Community Solutions at meetings and events in the community on a rotating basis; and
• Additional tasks as necessary. 

Qualifications: The ideal candidate will have a Bachelor’s degree or a minimum of 3-4 years of experience working in a social service setting with experience working with individuals with legal-involvement, behavioral health and/or substance abuse needs. Excellent communication and technology skills (i.e. MS Office, electronic case management systems) required. Fluency in Spanish is strongly preferred. Excellent written skills are a must. Candidate must be skilled communicator able to work in multi-disciplinary setting and maintain strong relationships with multiple agencies and organizations both onsite and in the community.

Position Type: Part-time, 3 days a week.

Position Location: Newark, NJ. 

Compensation: The compensation range for this position is $28.57 - $29.67 per hour based on a 35-hour work week and is commensurate with experience. The Center for Justice Innovation offers an excellent benefits package including comprehensive healthcare with a national network, free basic dental coverage, vision insurance, short-term and long-term disability, life insurance, and flexible spending accounts including commuter FSA. We prioritize mental health care for our staff and offer services like Talkspace and Ginger through our healthcare plans. We offer a 403(b) retirement plan with a two-to-one employer contribution up to 5%.

The Center for Justice Innovation is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace, and as such, we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, national origin, age, military service eligibility, veteran status, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or any other category protected by law. We strongly encourage and welcome applications from women, people of color, members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities, as well as individuals with prior contact with the criminal justice system. Our aim is to create a supportive and respectful environment where every individual, irrespective of their background or identity, feels valued and included.

As of February 10, 2023, New York City Executive Order 25 rescinded the requirement of the COVID-19 vaccination for City workers, new hires, and contracted employees. Accordingly, the Center does not require all new hires be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus; however, the Center recommends all staff, interns, and volunteers stay up-to-date on the vaccination.

In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete an employment eligibility verification document form upon hire. Kindly refer to the job posting for the relevant contact information. If the contact details are not provided, we kindly ask that you refrain from making inquiries via phone or email, as only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

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