Clinical Criminal Legal Specialist
About the role
Are you a licensed clinician looking to improve your skills in serving and advocating for individuals with mental illness? Are you interested in contributing to social justice for people impacted by the criminal legal system? If so, we need your clinical skills on the new Nathaniel Community Success (NCS) team at CASES! NCS is a new alternatives-to-detention/incarceration (ATD/ATI) that serves individuals of all genders, aged 16 and older, with mental illness (including substance use problems); this program will directly help reduce the utilization of jails and prisons. Come join our team’s efforts to reduce the City's reliance on correctional institutions, promote justice, and help NYC achieve its goal to close Rikers Island in 2026. At CASES, we offer clinical supervision (which can be used toward licensure), free continuing education credits for LMSW/LCSWs and LMHCs, as well as a comprehensive training curriculum available to all employees. We are a diverse team at CASES, and we welcome candidates of all genders, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and disabilities to apply. The position is located at 2090 Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvd, New York, NY 10027, easily accessible by public transportation.
Responsibilities
- Engage potential participants and their legal representation in and around the courtroom.
- Ensure participants understand the conditions of their mandate and engagement in CASES.
- Accompany participants to all court appearances and advocate to judges, verbally and through written court reports, for participants to be enrolled or maintained in the CASES diversion services.
- Effectively manage crises to ensure participant safety and well-being.
- Write professional and formal evaluation reports, in compliance with ATI requirements and quality standards, including court-ready reports in advance of scheduled court dates and in response to emergency or expedited situations.
- Collect and track information on participants’ intake and re-arrest cases, as well as warrants.
- Notify the court when participants are not in compliance, have gone missing (absconded), failed to report as required, or have been rearrested.
- Maintain excellent professional relationships with judges, district attorneys, defense counsel, probation, and other court partners to facilitate program participation and maintain the credibility of CASES in court.
- Collaborate with NCS teammates to ensure the court’s community supervision conditions are being met.
- Participate in team case reviews, including review of assessments, verbal, and written advocacy, as well as work with NCS teammates to develop ongoing supervision and treatment plans.
- Mentor less experienced teammates in the intricacies of Court procedures.
- Participate in clinical supervision, staff meetings, and in-service training programs.
- Participate in relevant quality improvement, staff training, coaching, and planning activities.
- Complete all necessary documentation, including entering participant information into the Salesforce databases.
- Provide culturally competent oversight, supervision, and management in accordance with the CASES policies and the delivery of excellent court services to address the needs of youth, young adults, adults, individuals with behavioral health needs, and the race and ethnicity, sexuality, gender, and criminal justice history of defendants and program participants.
- Required to be in court, office or field 5 days per week.
- Perform other related duties assigned by Team Leader.