Court Liaison: Brooklyn Pre-trial Supervised Release Program

The Center for Court Innovation, a project of the Fund for the City of New York, is a unique public-private partnership that promotes new thinking about how courts and criminal justice agencies can aid victims, change the behavior of offenders, and strengthen communities. The Center creates demonstration projects that test new approaches to problems that have resisted conventional solutions. The Center's problem-solving courts include the nation's first community court (Midtown Community Court), as well as drug courts, domestic violence courts, youth courts, mental health courts, and others. Nationally and internationally, the Center performs original research on topics of justice reform and provides consulting services to criminal justice innovators.

The Center for Court Innovation is seeking a Court Liaison for a new pretrial supervised release program operated out of Brooklyn Criminal Court. The pretrial supervised release program will provide regular monitoring and service referral services to approximately 250 misdemeanor defendants per year whose cases are pending in the Brooklyn Criminal Court. The goal of the program is provide community-based supervision for individuals who would otherwise be detained pretrial on low bail amounts. The Court Liaison will be responsible for facilitating the program referral process shortly before or after a defendant is arraigned. The court liaison will review all available information about each potentially eligible defendant to determine whether they are a candidate for the program. Once participants are enrolled in the program, the court liaison will also be responsible for providing written and verbal updates to the court and other court staff (including prosecutors and defense attorneys) on a regular basis.

The anticipated start date for this position is June 3, 2013. The Court Liaison's responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Serve as a program liaison in the Brooklyn arraignment court parts and adjournment court parts, as needed;
• In accordance with program protocols, review available defendant information (e.g. charge type, warrant history, and release recommendation) to determine eligibility for the program;
• Communicate with prosecutors, defense attorneys, staff at the Criminal Justice Agency, and other court staff about eligible defendants' suitability for the program;
• Ensure that all defendants who are referred into the program are connected with their assigned case manager upon their release;
• Provide written and verbal case updates to the court and other court staff as required;
• Document all participant activities using the program's customized database;
• Work with other program staff to address participants' non-compliance in a timely and appropriate manner;
• Participate in regularly scheduled staff meetings to ensure proper referrals and case management;
• Under the direction of the Program Manager, work with the program researcher(s) to effectively track, manage, and analyze all program data;
• Help prepare grant progress reports and other program reports as needed;
• Attend all required staff meetings and trainings; and
• Participate in regular reviews of program progress.

Qualifications

• BA required; MA or JD preferred
• At least two years of experience working in a human services field or equivalent;
• Experience working in a criminal court setting preferred
• Some familiarity with criminal court procedures and terminology required
• Ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds in a culturally-competent manner
• Professional demeanor and ability to communicate appropriately with judges and other court personnel
• Excellent organizational and interpersonal skills