Clinical Director

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

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.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Launched in 1993, the award-winning Midtown Community Justice Center is one of the country’s first problem-solving courts. Seeking to reduce crime and incarceration and increase public trust in justice, the Midtown Community Justice Center works with neighborhood stakeholders to improve Midtown Manhattan. The court responds creatively to low-level offending, seeking alternatives that are restorative to the community. Midtown operates three Manhattan Criminal Court Parts: Misdemeanor Mental Health Court, which serves people with behavioral health issues including serious mental illness and substance use disorders; Emerging Adult Court, which serves 18-25-year-olds arrested on misdemeanors; and Community Court, which hears cases from Midtown’s six precinct catchment area as well as select borough-wide summonses. In keeping with that goal, Midtown also operates upstream programming to divert adults and young people from prosecution.

The Midtown Community Justice Center is seeking a Clinical Director. Reporting to the Project Director, the Clinical Director is responsible for overseeing the clinical and administrative operations of the Midtown Community Justice Center’s Community Justice Alternatives team (formerly Alternatives to Incarceration), including providing supervision to the Clinical Supervisor, Social Workers, Court Operations Coordinator, Group Work Coordinator, and MSW interns; managing a small caseload, as needed. As a member of the Midtown senior management team, the Clinical Director will be responsible for supporting all clinical practices on-site and actively collaborating with other programs and departments at Midtown, as well as the Judge and legal stakeholders, community-based providers, and community members.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Lead all clinical practices at Midtown Community Justice Center including, but not limited to, assessments, social service recommendations to the court, court-mandated programming and voluntary programming, compliance monitoring, and group curricula.
• Supervise the Community Justice Alternatives team, which includes the Court Operations and Social Work teams, a Group Work Coordinator, and MSW interns.
• Directly provide and oversee staff provision of individual and group counseling, trauma-informed case management, and psychosocial assessments and recommendations for court-mandated and voluntary programming.
• Oversee and review assessments, social service recommendations to the court, and the development of group curricula and trainings.
• Design and support social services programming based on current research and trauma-informed practice.
• Participate in the Center's working groups and other initiatives around cutting edge clinical practice, interventions, and treatment modalities, and incorporate findings into clinic and court practices.
• Ensure thorough and accurate progress reporting for mandated clients to court stakeholders (including judges, defense, and prosecutors).
• Work with Judges and Center staff to develop new social service programming and policies and procedures.
• Participate in regular interdisciplinary case conferences and meetings with court stakeholders.
• Troubleshoot clinical issues as they arise, including providing crisis intervention.
• Provide clinical guidance for all programs across all of Midtown, including Community First, a street outreach program in Times Square; Project Reset, the City’s pre-arraignment diversion program; and Youth PACT, a restorative-justice based diversion program for teens arrested on gun possession charges.
• Supervise staff who hold an LMSW and sign off on clinical hours accruing towards their “C” credential.
• Support uniform onboarding practices for social workers and all staff and interns who provide direct services.
• Refine Midtown’s documentation and safety protocol practices.
• Work with staff to develop and organize trainings and professional growth opportunities.
• Develop, strengthen, and manage relationships with court stakeholders, community residents, businesses, community organizations, police, and other criminal justice agencies, representing Midtown Community Justice Center.
• Develop, strengthen, and manage relationships with a network of community-based social service providers, including developing Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) and policies for referrals and reporting.
• Provide ongoing oversight and quality assurance for both onsite programming and services offered by community-based referral partners.
• Collaborate with Midtown’s senior management team on developing and implementing new initiatives.
• Represent the court and the Center at conferences, community meetings, site visits, and other events.
• Support Midtown Community Justice Center in developing funding applications, grant reporting, and managing budgets for the Community Justice Alternatives department.
• Participate in, and at times facilitate, staff meetings, trainings, and on- and off-site visits.
• Participate in evening and weekend meetings, events, and programming, as needed.
• Perform other relevant duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• LCSW, SIFI certification, and a minimum of 5-6 years of relevant experience in the criminal justice field required.
• A minimum of 2 years supervisory experience required.
• Commitment to creating, promoting, and maintaining a respectful, inclusive, and anti-racist work environment.
• Ability to manage and support a diverse workforce.
• Strong management, interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills required.
• Experience with drug/alcohol treatment, mental health, co-occurring disorders, and trauma-informed approaches and knowledge of community-based resources throughout New York City required.
• Experience and/or comfort working with both adolescents and adults required.
• Commitment to and experience using, holistic and strengths-based approaches, as well as the ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds in a culturally-competent manner required.
• Court-based social work is a unique and demanding area of practice, and candidates must be open to constructive engagement with differing and, at times, competing perspectives.
• Strong organizational and excellent time management skills required.
• A creative self-starter, who is comfortable working in a fast-paced, multidisciplinary environment required.
• Bilingual (English-Spanish) preferred.

Position Type: Full-time.

Position Location: Midtown, Manhattan.

Compensation: The compensation range for this position is $89,250 - $115,580 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.