Facilitator, Restorative Circles

THE ORGANIZATION
The Center for Court Innovation is committed to reducing crime and incarceration, addressing violence, supporting survivors, and building communities while strengthening public trust in justice. The Center seeks justice for marginalized groups, bringing an equity lens – particularly a racial and gender equity lens – to its work. For 25 years, the Center has worked to foster justice and equity to create safe, healthy, and thriving communities and, ultimately, to transform the justice system.

The Center is an 800-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.

Operating Programs
The Center’s operating programs, including the award-winning Red Hook Community Justice Center and Midtown Community Court, 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
Researchers at the Center conduct independent evaluations, documenting how government systems work, how neighborhoods function, and how reform efforts change things. We believe in the “action research” model; accordingly, our researchers provide regular feedback on the results of the Center’s own operating programs. The Center has published studies on topics including youth in the sex trade, reentry, gun violence, and drug treatment as an alternative to incarceration. Our researchers have been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals.

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.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Bronx Community Solutions, a program of the Center for Court Innovation, 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, Bronx Community Solutions offers meaningful alternatives to the traditional criminal legal system, providing a variety of services including pre-arraignment diversion and alternative to incarceration programming.

Bronx Community Solutions has developed several 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. One such initiative, Project Reset, offers adults arrested for low-level charges the opportunity to engage in a restorative circle instead of the traditional court process. Participants join volunteers from the community to discuss the underlying circumstances that led to their arrest, the impact of the incident, and how to move forward and avoid future contact with the legal system.

Bronx Community Solutions is seeking a Facilitator for Restorative Circles. Reporting to the Restorative Justice Manager, the Facilitator is responsible for running a variety of restorative circles designed to build community, offer support, or respond to harm. The Facilitator will assist with the ongoing pre-court diversion programming of Project Reset and support the development of the site’s growing restorative justice offerings, including the creation and launch of restorative justice alternative-to-incarceration programming for misdemeanor and felony-level cases involving interpersonal harm, including cases involving vehicular crimes, serious injury, or death.

The facilitator will take a lead role in facilitating Project Reset’s community building circles, conducting outreach to potential participants, and building relationships with Bronx community members and local organizations. In addition, the Facilitator will support the Senior Restorative Justice Facilitator in the development and facilitation of a restorative justice process for cases involving interpersonal harm between individuals.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Direct Service and Facilitation:

• Facilitate community building restorative circles with Project Reset program participants, community volunteers, court and community stakeholders, and staff;
• Support the Senior Restorative Justice Facilitator and other restorative justice staff in facilitating a restorative justice process for cases involving interpersonal harm;
• Collaborate with and support restorative programming at other Center for Court Innovation sites;
• Participate in relationship building, recruitment, and trainings of Bronx community members who volunteer to participate in restorative programming;
• Engage in outreach, scheduling, and intake interviews of program participants, community volunteers, and other necessary parties;
• Participate in preparatory sessions with program participants to prepare them for a restorative process;
• Provide participants with documentation of program completion, exit materials, and other relevant resources;
• Participate in community events, including occasional evenings and weekends as needed.

Program Development and Planning:

• Develop new circle curriculums and assist with other program development activities for the Project Reset program, including the creation of new program materials and trainings, and updating protocols and materials based on staff and participant feedback;
• Assist the Senior Facilitator, Restorative Justice with the design and creation of new restorative justice diversion programming for cases involving interpersonal harm, including a variety of start-up activities such as assisting with the creation of program materials, protocols, and resources;
• Assist with staff training and program oversight, as needed;
• Participate in strategic planning and implementation efforts to address systemic issues impacting program participants;
• 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 participates;
• Assist with data collection, and regular data cleaning and reporting;
• Utilize case management and volunteer management databases;
• Additional relevant tasks, as needed.

Qualifications: The ideal candidate will have at least three years of relevant lived, educational, and/or professional experience. Experience and passion for group facilitation and group-based work required. The ideal candidate will be willing to express vulnerability and share stories from their own lived experience as part of group facilitation. The candidate should be a deep listener and skilled communicator who easily connects with people and views conflict as an opportunity for transformation. Candidate must have a collaborative working style as well as flexibility and openness to working on a variety of projects in a multifaceted role. Position requires a 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. Candidate must be able to work with people from diverse backgrounds and identities, and demonstrate a commitment to an anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and social justice-centered practice.

Additional preferred qualifications include:

• Bilingual (English-Spanish) is strongly preferred;
• Previous knowledge of and experience with restorative or transformative justice practices strongly preferred;
• Meaningful connections to the Bronx community;
• Experience in a court or criminal legal setting or with community-based work;
• Experience working with individuals impacted by violence or trauma;
• People who are formerly incarcerated or who have otherwise been impacted by the criminal legal system are strongly encouraged to apply;
• People who have been impacted by interpersonal violence or harm are encouraged to apply.

Position Type: Full-time; flexible schedule with potential for evening and weekend hours with advanced planning.

Compensation: The compensation range for this position is $27.42 - $32.31 per hour based on a 35-hour work week and is commensurate with experience. This position is eligible for overtime at 1.5x the hourly rate above 40 hours per week. The Center for Court 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%.