Job 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   

The Center is a 900-employee, $130 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

Bronx Community Solutions (BCS), aims to provide community-based alternatives to jail, restore community relationships, and center the needs and dignity of participants while helping them avoid further criminal legal involvement. With programming in the Bronx’s centralized criminal courthouse and the South Bronx community, BCS offers meaningful alternatives to the traditional criminal legal system, providing a variety of services including pre-arraignment diversion and alternative to incarceration programming.

BCS has developed several court diversion initiatives centering restorative justice philosophy, providing opportunities for healing, relationship building and repair, and genuine expressions of accountability in lieu of isolation and punishment. These initiatives utilize “circles”, a unique form of communication inspired by indigenous justice and community building practices. Project Reset, a pre-court early diversion program, offers adults who receive desk appearance tickets for low-level misdemeanors the opportunity to participate in one-time community building circle to resolve their arrest and avoid a criminal record. BCS also offers same-day at-arraignment programming for eligible individuals to resolve their case through a restorative circle on the day of their court appearance in the courthouse. Finally, BCS provides a more intensive restorative justice diversion and alternative-to-incarceration process for misdemeanor and felony cases involving harm or conflict. This programming brings together the person impacted by the harm, the person responsible, and their community members to discuss the impact of the harm, take accountability, explore underlying issues, and agree upon a pathway forward.

BCS is seeking a Restorative Justice Facilitator. Reporting to the Senior Program Manager of Restorative Justice, the Facilitator is responsible for conducting participant outreach and facilitating a variety of restorative circles designed to build community, offer support, or respond to harm and conflict. The Facilitator will support the breadth of BCS’s restorative justice offerings by assisting with the pre-court diversion programming of the Project Reset Bronx program, same-day at-arraignment programming in Bronx Criminal Court, and the restorative justice diversion and alternative-to-incarceration programming for misdemeanor and felony-level cases involving interpersonal harm, among other tasks. The Facilitator will work on cases ranging from low-level misdemeanor shoplifting arrests, neighbor and family disputes, up to instances of serious harm, such as assaults, robberies, or attempted murder cases. As part of this portfolio of programming, the Facilitator will also provide a restorative process to cases involving car crashes that have resulted in a fatality or serious injury.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Direct Service and Facilitation :

• Facilitate restorative processes for misdemeanor and felony cases from Bronx Criminal and Supreme Court, including circles designed to respond to instances of interpersonal harm or conflict, offer healing and support, or build community;
• Facilitate restorative circles for participants that take place in both the Bronx criminal courthouse and various community locations;
• Facilitate a range of restorative justice processes and trainings for community members, stakeholders, and staff as needed;
• Conduct phone outreach, scheduling, and intake interviews of program participants, supporters, and other necessary parties;
• Assess referred participants and their supporters for a restorative process, and conduct needs-based screenings;
• Facilitate individual sessions with program participants to prepare them for restorative justice dialogue, and support them throughout the process;
• Provide referrals and comprehensive case management services to participants to address a variety of social service needs;
• Monitor compliance of court-mandated services and provide written and/or verbal compliance reports to court stakeholders;
• Collaborate with and support restorative programming at other Center for Justice Innovation sites;
• Assist with identifying eligible cases, including conferencing cases with judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys;
• Participate in relationship building, recruitment, and trainings of Bronx community members who volunteer to participate in restorative programming; and
• Assist with the planning of community engagement events and attending external community events, including occasional evenings and weekends as needed.

Program Development and Planning :

• Develop new circle curriculums and assist with other program development activities including the creation of new program materials and trainings, and updating protocols and materials based on staff and participant feedback;
• Participate in strategic planning and implementation efforts to address systemic issues impacting program participants, and;
• Attend ongoing training in restorative justice and circle practice provided by the program.

Administrative :

• Participate in administrative responsibilities, such as tracking outreach efforts, program compliance, and progress notes;
• Communicate with defense agencies and the prosecutor’s office to ensure appropriate case outcomes for program participants;
• Assist with data collection, regular data cleaning, and reporting;
• Utilize case management and volunteer management databases, and;
• Additional relevant tasks, as needed.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or three years of relevant lived, educational, and/or professional experience;
• Previous knowledge of and experience with restorative or transformative justice practices strongly preferred;
• Experience and passion for group facilitation and group-based work required;
• Bilingual English/Spanish language fluency strongly preferred;
• Experience managing complex conversations around a diverse set of issues including but not limited to violence, conflict, relationships, and healing;
• Willingness to express vulnerability and share stories from their own experience as part of group facilitation;
• A deep listener and skilled communicator who easily connects with people and views conflict as an opportunity for transformation;
• Comfort conducting a variety of forms of outreach, including making cold calls;
• Collaborative working style and flexibility and openness to working on a variety of projects in various locations in a multifaceted role;
• Willingness and ability to work with a variety of different stakeholders and members of the community including residents, judges, the District Attorney’s office, NYPD, etc.; and
• Ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds and identities, and demonstrate a commitment to an anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and social justice-centered practice.

Preferred Qualifications :

• Meaningful connections to the Bronx community;
• Knowledge and/or lived experience related to the criminal legal system and its impacts on communities;
• Experience working with individuals impacted by violence or trauma and a familiarity with trauma-informed practices;
• Candidates who are formerly incarcerated or who have otherwise been impacted by the criminal legal system are strongly encouraged to apply; and
• Candidates who have been impacted by interpersonal violence or harm are encouraged to apply.

Position Type: Full-time, Monday - Friday, 9:00am - 5:00pm, with the potential for occasional evening and weekend hours with advanced notice.

Position Location: Bronx, NY.

Compensation: The compensation range for this position is $52,000 - $60,000 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 committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. We do not discriminate based on 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 LGBTQ+ community, and individuals with prior contact with the criminal justice system. Our goal is to create a supportive and respectful environment where everyone, regardless of background or identity, feels valued and included.

At this time, the Center does not sponsor or support any immigration status, which includes supporting or completing any foreign student training plan. All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States at the time of application and throughout the duration of employment.

Candidates are expected to provide accurate and truthful information throughout the hiring process. Any misrepresentation, falsification, or omission of material facts may result in disqualification from consideration, withdrawal of an offer, or termination of employment, regardless of when discovered.

As of February 10, 2023, New York City Executive Order 25 rescinded the COVID-19 vaccination requirement for City workers, new hires, and contracted employees. While the Center does not require vaccination, we strongly recommend that all staff, interns, and volunteers stay up to date.

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

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