Mitigation Specialist, Early Intervention Team (Bronx)

The Early Intervention Team of the Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Defense Practice is seeking to hire two (2) Mitigation Specialists. The staff will collaborate with the Decarceration Project’s attorneys to connect clients with community resources and promote policies and practices that reduce incarceration rates. The Early Intervention Mitigation Specialists will provide advocacy, support, and case management to cis and transgender [male identifying] clients that are represented by the Decarceration attorneys. The Mitigation Specialists will also work closely with correctional facilities, community organizations, legal entities, and families to facilitate successful release, during and after Supreme Court arraignments.  The Mitigation Specialists will also support CDP’s policy advocacy by providing social work expertise and providing other technical social work support and expertise to Law Reform as needed. 

The Decarceration Project secures the release of clients who are detained via bail or other pretrial detention methods in New York City and connects them to alternatives to detention/incarceration. The Decarceration Project offers early intervention, trial and appellate bail advocacy, structuralized social services, and comprehensive support. Service connections include mental health services, substance abuse services, housing and employment resources, and a host of other community support services. The Decarceration Project fights to make pre-trial detention the exception, not the rule, by working alongside CDP attorneys and social workers in all five boroughs to provide litigation support on bail applications and appeals.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

• Complete treatment plans and bail packages to advocate for the release of individuals who are being detained pretrial in New York City jails
• Interview clients, performing a thorough bio-psycho-social assessment. During this process, crisis intervention, brief treatment, or short-term counseling may also be performed. These interviews will take place both in person and through video conferences on Rikers Island or other locations where clients are incarcerated, as well as in the office or other community settings
• Identify and review collateral sources of information, including interviewing family members, friends, teachers, social workers, community members, and others; and requesting and reviewing client records (i.e. educational, medical, psychiatric) to document specific arguments in court
• Advocate in court on behalf of clients to judges and court personnel
• Provide technical assistance and advice to support the unit’s strategic law reform initiatives, including policy advocacy and client-centered strategic litigation initiatives
• Provide ongoing supportive services to clients of the Decarceration Project, both incarcerated and in the community, including but not limited to supportive counseling, crisis intervention, and case management, as related to the client’s engagement with the legal process and any court mandates
• Other duties as assigned. The position will at times be providing support and coverage for the social workers in the various borough offices whose work includes referrals from the respective Decarceration attorneys

QUALIFICATIONS

Required qualifications:

• MSW degree and New York State (NYS) license in social work (LMSW or LCSW) preferred OR the ability to obtain LMSW licensure within 6 months of hire.
• Strong diagnostic skills with experience working with clients with the following special needs: Clients with dual diagnoses, clients with physical illnesses and physical disabilities, clients with mental health diagnoses, developmental delays, intellectual disabilities, and clients with histories of substance use
• Ability to interface with judges, assistant district attorneys and correctional personnel
• Ability to negotiate with community-based treatment providers
• Ability to develop extensive treatment plans
• Strong persuasive writing skills
• Strong organizational and court advocacy skills
• Strong computer skills
• Ability to work within a team model and an interest in research

SALARY AND BENEFITS

The salary range represents a good faith estimate of the range we expec