Careers Job Description
General Description
The Prisoner Reentry Institute
The Prisoner Reentry Institute (PRI) is a center of research and action at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. PRI has a diverse portfolio of projects that focus on identifying what it takes for people to live successfully in the community after justice involvement and on increasing the effectiveness of the professionals and systems working with them. Capitalizing on its position within a large public university and recognizing the transformational power of education, PRI focuses much of its work on increasing access to higher education for people with criminal histories. PRI’s comprehensive and strategic approach includes direct service, research, technical assistance, and policy advocacy.
Job Description
The Director of Career Pathways Initiatives will be responsible for a suite of programs and services for people with lived experience in the justice system that increase their access to employment and professional advancement, with a particular focus on human services jobs and careers. The Director will develop and deliver trainings and certificate programs for individuals with lived experience in the justice system to increase their employability (soft skills) and foundational job skills (hard skills), partnering as appropriate with consultants who are subject matter experts, John Jay faculty, and other PRI staff. As a mentor and skilled, trauma-informed adult education practitioner incorporating MI and cognitive behavioral strategies, the Director will build capacity for individuals with lived experience in the justice system to draw on that experience in the service of helping other people change their lives. The Director will also develop content and resource materials and deliver trainings for practitioners in the criminal justice field and workforce development professionals. Through these activities and other opportunities that arise over time, the Director will build capacity and effectiveness of those providing employment services for people with justice system involvement. The Director will take a dynamic, collaborative approach to the creation of new training programs and resources, thus ensuring buy-in from an array of internal and external stakeholders.
About Career Pathways Initiatives
The Career Pathways unit will advance PRI’s mission by increasing access to employment and career pathways for people who have been involved in the criminal justice system. CPI will have a special focus on the field of human services jobs and careers for people with lived experience in the justice system through a scaffold approach to professional development for individuals and their supervisors. Career Pathways Initiatives will offer services directly to participants within PRI as well as to workforce professionals seeking to be more effective with people with criminal histories. CPI staff will partner with other PRI staff to improve workforce outcomes for students pursuing higher education who have had contact with the justice system.
CPI will support PRI’s efforts to bridge the worlds of workforce development, higher education, and criminal justice reform:
- bringing the best practices of workforce development to PRI and other practitioners working in criminal justice organizations, and incorporating evidence-based risk reduction strategies into workforce development
- teaching workforce development policymakers and practitioners about the particular concerns of justice-involved individuals seeking employment/advancement
- assisting institutions of higher education as they seek to provide career services for their students who have been involved in the justice system.
Serving students and participants across all of PRI, Career Pathways will foster the beliefs and behaviors that lead to workforce success for individuals whose lives have been impacted by the justice system. From the work of direct service to individuals, CPI will surface the policy issues that, when resolved, will mean greater workforce access and success. CPI work will therefore inform PRI policy advocacy, and CPI staff will partner with other PRI staff on a range of policy, educational, and other efforts.
Other Duties
Reporting to the Director of Collaborative Learning, the CPI Director will
- Develop and launch new certificate training programs. In FY2019 launch training for people with lived experience in the justice system who are preparing for navigator and other roles in the human services field, introductory technology training, technology for human services training, and training for supervisors of people with lived experience in the justice system. Responsibilities include curriculum design (aligned with input from funders, employer partners, and other stakeholders; curriculum design to be completed in some cases in partnership with other PRI staff or consultants), recruitment and enrollment of training participants, participant support and retention services, and post-training placement/promotion. Achieve quantitative and qualitative goals, including 150 trainees in FY 19, and training completion and job placement/promotion targets identified by PRI leadership and funders. Anticipate increasing numbers of trainees in future years. Develop workforce training that supports on-ramp to higher education.
- Job readiness, job development, and job placement services for PRI students and participants, directly and/or through the training of other staff to provide these services.
- Develop content and deliver training for workforce development professionals and other practitioners who provide employment services for justice involved individuals. Responsibilities include developing content for online modules and in-person training, as well as overseeing training delivered by other consultants. Deliver training on existing PRI resources such as the Guides to NYS Occupational Licenses and develop new resources as needed to meet demand. Pilot trainings for parole in Bronx and Brooklyn in FY 19 and create sustainable plan for ongoing trainings.
- Work closely with multiple stakeholders to achieve program goals, including John Jay administrators and faculty, CUNY colleagues, expert trainers and other consultants.
- With guidance from the PRI Director of Program Monitoring and Evaluation, develop data collection and reporting mechanisms for all Career Pathways Initiatives. Develop and implement Excel spreadsheets for immediate data collection and reporting. Contribute to the creation of agency-wide Salesforce database. Collect participant demographics, training attendance data and other quantitative and qualitative data. Manage student data collection and prepare reports and contribute to the to support quality assurance and program improvement.
- Recruit and supervise staff for the CPI team in accord with PRI policies and culture. Conduct onboarding and teambuilding in support of program goals. Over time, develop internship/supported work opportunities within the CPI team to support the work of staff and provide workforce experience to training graduates.
- Increase coordination and partnerships across the ecosystem of “peer” training and employment. Responsibilities include supporting the work of an advisory committee and partnering with CUNY LMIS and other stakeholders to articulate industry standards for “peer” positions and “peer” career pathways.
- Prepare brief monthly written summary of program activities and contribute to funder reports and proposals. Participate in funder calls and meetings.
- Represent PRI at relevant networks and conferences (e.g. NYCETC, REAP, Jobs First NYC, Jobs for the Future, Reentry Task Forces, MOCJ Reentry Subcommittee, etc.)
- Maintain self-education and increase knowledge across PRI in the core competencies of workforce development best practices, evidence-based practices such as MI/CBT, adult education.
- Contribute to growth of CPI and PRI by identifying training needs across the field of practice and opportunities for additional partnerships.
Qualifications
- Experience working in and/or managing peer counseling, peer education, peer mentoring programs
- Leadership and/or training/teaching experience
- Workforce development experience
- Bachelor’s degree/Social Work degree or equivalent experience
- Strong written and oral communication skills; comfort speaking in public forums
RFCUNY Benefits
RFCUNY Employee Benefits and AccrualsAbout the Research Foundation
The Research Foundation of The City University of New York (RFCUNY) is a nonprofit educational corporation founded in 1963 to provide post-award fiscal and administrative support for CUNY’s research and sponsored programs. RFCUNY’s services allow CUNY researchers, faculty, and staff to focus on their intellectual curiosity and scientific discoveries, on projects and programs that serve our local and global communities, proposing concrete solutions to society’s most pressing challenges.
RFCUNY serves as a fiscal agent and works closely with all the CUNY campus Grants Offices to perform the core functions of post-award financial management for CUNY research projects and sponsored programs. These functions include legal assessment and signing of agreements where RFCUNY is named as a fiscal agent; setting up award accounts; preparing sub-awards and assisting PIs in monitoring the work of the recipients of sub-awards; supporting project directors with hiring and managing research project and sponsored program staff; supporting the purchasing and paying for goods and services with grant and program funds; managing financial aspects of projects including accounts receivable, financial reporting, invoicing, budget monitoring, and cost compliance with uniform guidance; ensuring that sponsor financial requirements are met; monitoring compliance with applicable project and financial management rules and laws; supporting the management of independent and external audits and financial reviews; and providing data, information, management expertise, and other supports to CUNY’s research and sponsored programs.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
Key Features
John Jay College Prisoner Reentry Instit
Full Time
Depends on Qualifications
Dec 17, 2018 (Or Until Filled)