Forensic Social Worker, Bronx Trial Office

thelegalaidsociety; New York (NY); On-site; USD 84,000 - 126,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Paid vacation

Disability insurance

Life insurance

Job summary

The Legal Aid Society's Criminal Defense Practice in the Bronx seeks a Forensic Social Worker (FSW) to interview clients, assess needs, and develop mitigation packages to advocate for better outcomes.

Working with attorneys and an interdisciplinary team, the FSW identifies treatment options, connects to community resources, conducts crisis intervention, and helps prepare reports and presentations for courts to support alternatives to detention or incarceration.

Qualifications

• MSW degree with NYS LMSW/LCSW licensure or ability to obtain within 6 months.
• Strong diagnostic skills and experience with mental health, substance use, trauma.
• Ability to liaise with judges, prosecutors, and correctional staff.

Responsibilities

• Interview clients and collateral sources to build life histories.
• Review records (school, medical, psychiatric) for mitigation arguments.
• Develop casework/alternative sentencing plans with attorneys.
• Refer to treatment services and advocate for appropriate care.
• Prepare oral/written presentations for stakeholders in court.

Skills

Oral communication

Written communication

Organization

Team collaboration

Interagency liaison

Case management

Persuasive writing

Education

MSW degree and NYS LMSW/LCSW license

Tools

Microsoft 365

Job description

The Criminal Defense Practice has an opening for a Forensic Social Worker (FSW) in its Bronx office to provide client services. The Forensic Social Worker plays a vital role in the legal team. While working collaboratively with the Criminal Defense attorney and other members on the interdisciplinary team, the Forensic Social Worker develops a comprehensive mitigation package to advocate for best client outcomes. The Forensic Social Worker’s primary role is to interview clients, and any collateral contacts, with the goal of gathering a life history to highlight mitigating factors such as mental illness, cognitive functioning, substance use, trauma, medical condition, and/or chronic poverty leading to a client’s involvement in the criminal justice system.

The FSW evaluates clients, identify their underlying needs, and make connections to community resources as needed. They educate clients about treatment options, offer crisis intervention, and short-term counseling. The FSW will fill out necessary paperwork and provide supporting documents to facilitate a client’s interview with a program and/or to assure a client’s acceptance into a program. The FSW will make an oral and/or written presentation to stakeholders of the criminal justice system with a recommendation for an alternative to detention, an alternative to incarceration, or lesser sentence.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

• Interview the client, performing a thorough bio-psycho-social assessment. During this process, crisis intervention, brief treatment, or short-term counseling may also be performed
• Identify and interview collateral sources of information. Collateral interviews are done with family members, friends, teachers, social workers, community members, and others connected to the client
• Request, review, and analyze life history records (i.e., school, medical, psychiatric) to document specific arguments within written reports
• Develop casework plans with the attorneys, develop alternative sentencing plans, and provide advocacy in court.
• Assess a client’s readiness for treatment and make referrals to substance abuse treatment, domestic violence, mental health counseling, shelters, etc
• Other duties as assigned

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 a background emphasis in working with clients with the following special needs: MICA, physical illnesses and disabilities, mental health, intellectual disabilities and developmental delays, and histories of substance use
• Ability to interface with Judges, District Attorneys and Correctional Personnel
• Ability to negotiate with community-based treatment centers
• Ability to write persuasively
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Excellent organizational skills
• Proficient in Microsoft 365
• Ability to work within a team model

SALARY AND BENEFITS

The salary range represents a good faith estimate of the range we expect to pay for this role. The actual salary offered may vary depending on many factors, including but not limited to job-related knowledge, skills, and experience, as well as collectively bargained salary steps for unionized roles.

Salary Range: $83,631 - $125,627

The Legal Aid Society offers a generous benefits package including health insurance, paid vacation, disability, and life insurance, and more.

Higher Education and Loan Forgiveness

The Legal Aid Society is a qualified employer for the purposes of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness. This position allows an employee to take advantage of PSLF and other State and Federal loan forgiveness programs. Additionally, employees who are New York residents may be eligible for assistance from New York state to assist with loan repayments, depending on years of practice. To learn more, click the links below.

studentaid.gov

hesc.ny.gov/loan-forgiveness-programs

WORK AUTHORIZATION

All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States for any employer without sponsorship for a work visa or permit. We are currently unable to sponsor employment visas or permits. (However, for citizens of Canada and Mexico, LAS will provide a letter documenting employment status that is needed to obtain a TN visa.)

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

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.

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

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 (people), to understanding their diverse circumstances, and to meeting their needs. Our ability to achieve these goals depends on the efforts of all of us and our ability to build strong relationships with our colleagues. Every member of our community is expected to continuously learn about the dynamic, evolving, and emerging field of knowledge of identity, bias, and systemic forms of oppression and participatein productive efforts to dismantling bias in all forms.