Position Information

The Legal Aid Society’s  Criminal Practice has an opening for a social work Mitigation Specialist in the Bronx Office. The Mitigation Specialist will be part of the Pre-Arraignment Project Team, along with paralegal casehandler and community escort operating in the New York County criminal courthouse. The Pre-Arraignment Project Mitigation Specialist in this role, collaborates with court and legal staff to identify, assess, and represent individuals with mental illness facing criminal charges. The Mitigation Specialist works closely with the arraignment attorneys, PPT members, judges, and court staff to screen, assess and address the needs of selected clients while securing the least restrictive legal status for them. Supportive services are identified, referrals and connections are made to provide clients with stability in the community during their legal case. The work mitigation specialist also assists in the development of bail applications for individuals who may be eligible.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

The Pre-Arraignment Project Social Work Mitigation Specialist is responsible for direct service provision to clients of LAS who are being arraigned in court. Tasks include client screening and assessment, court advocacy, program linkage for clients who are released, assisting in the gathering of information, and drafting of bail applications. The Mitigation Specialist will spend most of their time in the courthouse working with the Criminal Practice arraignment attorneys and supervising attorneys. Other tasks include:

• Supporting on-going data collection
• Coordinating and fostering collaborative working relationships with community service providers
• Assisting with training and development of Project documents and protocols
• Participating in Project advocacy by serving on local committees and with stakeholder groups
• Other duties as assigned

Please submit these documents as a single combined PDF when you apply via the LAS (Legal Aid Society) Recruitment Portal.

• Cover Letter
• Resume

SALARY TRANSPARENCY

The posting reflects the range of potential salaries for the role. The specific salary offers will be dependent on candidate qualifications, including collectively bargained salary steps for unionized roles.

Salary Range/ Salary: $72,964 to $101,161

SALARY AND BENEFITS

The leadership of The Legal Aid Society believes in attracting and retaining exceptional talent committed to serving our clients. We offer a generous benefits package including health insurance, paid vacation, disability, and life insurance, and more. Salaries for our unionized jobs are governed by our Collective Bargaining Agreement. Please visit our Careers page for additional information. Salary and benefits information will be available to applicants, when and if, an offer is made.

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

The leadership of The Legal Aid Society is committed to a work culture of zealous advocacy, respect, diversity and inclusion, client-oriented defense, access to justice and excellent representation. We are dedicated to building a strong professional relationship with each of our clients, to understanding their diverse circumstances, and to meeting their needs. Our ability to achieve these goals depends on the efforts of all of us.

HOW TO APPLY

All applications must be completed online. We do not accept paper submissions. Please visit our Careers Page to review all current job postings, and instructions on the application process. For technical difficulties or questions regarding this posting, please email jobpostquestions@legal-aid.org.

As an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer, The Legal Aid Society prohibits discriminatory employment actions against and treatment of its employees and applicants for employment based on actual or perceived race or color, size (including bone structure, body size, height, shape, and weight), religion or creed, alienage or citizenship status, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity (one’s internal deeply-held sense of one’s gender which may be the same or different from one’s sex assigned at birth); gender expression (the representation of gender as expressed through, for example, one’s name, choice of pronouns, clothing, haircut, behavior, voice, or body characteristics; gender expression may not conform to traditional gender-based stereotypes assigned to specific gender identities), disability, marital status, relationship and family structure (including domestic partnerships, polyamorous families and individuals, chosen family, platonic co-parents, and multigenerational families), genetic information or predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, domestic violence victim status, arrest or pre-employment conviction record, credit history, unemployment status, caregiver status, salary history, or any other characteristic protected by law.