Restorative Justice Program Associate III – Impact Justice – Oakland, CA

ORGANIZATION

Impact Justice is a non-profit innovation and research center committed to reducing the number of people involved in our criminal justice system, improving conditions for those who remain incarcerated, providing meaningful opportunities for successful re-entry, and attending to crime victims’ needs. Home to some of the foremost leaders in juvenile justice, violence prevention, research and evaluation, restorative justice, and youth development, Impact Justice provides an array of technical assistance to criminal justice and community stakeholders.

The Restorative Justice Project at Impact Justice works within counties throughout California and across the country to support communities in developing processes to meet victim-identified needs while reducing incarceration, recidivism, racial and ethnic disparities, and related social and fiscal costs. To that end, the Restorative Justice Project offers training and technical assistance in the facilitation and implementation of two restorative justice approaches: Restorative Community Conferencing (RCC) and Circle Process.

In 2008, sujatha baliga, director of the Restorative Justice Project, began building the necessary relationships with community and criminal justice system partners in Alameda County in order to establish a pre-charge restorative juvenile diversion program. Today, Alameda’s RCC program keeps approximately 95 youth out of the juvenile justice system each year. In addition to providing ongoing consultation and support to the Oakland-based nonprofit organization facilitating the RCCs, the Restorative Justice Project has been working with other California sites such as San Francisco, Long Beach, Santa Ana, Richmond, and San Diego to replicate this pre-charge restorative diversion model.

Along with assisting communities in establishing RCC programs, the Restorative Justice Project collects and evaluates data on these models in order to develop reliable evidence supporting the effectiveness of restorative diversion programs. Moreover, the Restorative Justice Project is developing a toolkit to provide jurisdictions with a step-by-step guide to creating community-based restorative diversion programs. The Restorative Justice Project’s is also working in Miami and Oakland to explore the feasibility of community-based, pre-booking restorative diversion programs. Finally, the Restorative Justice Project is working to establish restorative justice models geared towards addressing child sexual abuse.

Please see our website at www.impactjustice.org for more information.

Summary Description:

This position involves extensive legal and policy work on a variety of projects related to restorative justice. The ideal candidate will have either a law degree and training in and/or significant experience with restorative justice, including training and technical assistance.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

Supports new and existing restorative justice projects through remote and onsite work. Assists jurisdictions throughout California and out-of-state in customizing restorative juvenile diversion models to meet local/community/jurisdictional needs. This includes, but is not limited to, meeting with systems partners and community-based organizations, providing training on the specific models utilized, negotiating types of cases that will be referred to restorative processes, ongoing consultation with restorative community conferencing facilitators, and assisting with creating data collection methodologies.

Identifies and collaborates with relevant experts, including those in the legal field, to discuss potential impact of restorative justice processes. Assists with research about legal implications of restorative processes.

Assists in developing materials related to restorative juvenile diversion, including policy and procedures manuals, reports, training curricula, presentations, literature reviews, law review articles, reports, and other materials.

Assists in drafting grant proposals according to the standards and timelines established by supervisor. Assists in determining the most cost-effective methods for completing project tasks. Tailor proposals to the unique requirements of each funder, which may include foundations and local and federal governmental agencies. Review and edit proposals.

Imagines and creates new ways to incorporate restorative processes for both community building, celebration, and harm. Works to turn these ideas into reality.

Consults on unique individual cases, potentially facilitating restorative processes for people affected by harm.

Public speaking about restorative juvenile diversion programs and restorative justice generally for communities, academic scholars, students, researchers, and other interested parties. Identifies and proposes presentations for conferences and gatherings.

Other project-related tasks as assigned by supervisor.

Problem Solving/Critical Thinking:

High level of critical/analytical/interpretive thinking and problem-solving required.

Demonstrates the ability to work/think independently and execute assignments that reflect understanding of project task objectives.

Budgets time efficiently to work on multiple projects simultaneously.

Requests direction from supervisor as needed and reports back in a timely manner on problems encountered and assistance needed.

Checks regularly with supervisor to ensure project tasks are completed within the given time frames and meet conceptual objectives.

Level of Authority:

Requires a high level of decision making, autonomy, and accountability but still requires general supervision/oversight for major project-related decisions. Formulates recommendations on project-related assignments and development strategies and presents recommendations to supervisor/project manager for review. Keeps project manager(s) regularly informed of work progress, schedule, and other relevant information.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

None

Knowledge/Skill Requirements:

At least two years prior professional practice experience in juvenile and/or adult criminal legal field or in restorative justice. Training in and/or significant life experience with restorative justice. Experience working to bring about change within the criminal justice system highly desirable. Strong facilitation and team building skills as well as advanced written and verbal communication and organizational skills are required. Must demonstrate strong attention to detail. Persuasive writing skills and a keen eye for editing written materials.

Education Requirements:

Minimum 4-year degree, J.D. or Masters preferred, or 4 years commensurate experience in restorative justice.

Technical Skills:

Proficiency in MS Office applications desired, including MS Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Proficiency in Google Docs, Gmail, Google Calendar.

Use of web-meeting technologies not required, but a plus.

How to apply

Please submit the following to: rjassociate@impactjustice.org.

Resume

Cover letter

Writing sample

Salary requirements

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