Employment Navigator

Description

JusticeLink, LLC: The nearly 16,000 Tulsans released from jail each year face critical barriers to accessing care, housing, work, and other services essential to getting back on their feet. Re-arrest and recidivism are common, as nearly 40% of all Tulsa County jail admissions represent people arrested multiple times in the year. Coordination and navigation challenges in Tulsa contribute to this problem as there are currently no standards for coordination between agencies and nonprofits.  

Tulsa has established a new diversion services center, JusticeLink, that acts as a collaborative, multi-agency network in a single location dedicated to providing coordinated, life-stabilizing services to justice-involved people navigating the criminal legal system.

Key features of JusticeLink would include:

• One-stop-shop under one roof for clients to access multiple service providers around employment, case management, education, housing, family services, mental health, substance abuse and public benefits.
• Personalized justice navigation for issues around fines & fees, court appearances and legal support, among other needs
• Service referrals to other high-quality providers.

Position Summary:

The Employment Navigator will play a key role in advancing the goals of JusticeLink and realizing the potential of justice-involved individuals. JusticeLink serves over 2,000 individuals in Tulsa per year and over 40% of them report a need for employment. Finding employment with a criminal record is an overwhelming prospect that frequently impedes JusticeLink clients from achieving economic stability. The Employment Navigator will guide and support JusticeLink clients as they pursue education and seek employment opportunities to support themselves and their families.

The Employment Navigator will manage a monthly caseload and will be primarily responsible for conducting job readiness assessments, triaging clients to education and employment service providers in the community and providing job coaching and rapid-job placement services to JusticeLink clients. The Employment Navigator will build relationships with education and employment service providers in Tulsa to ensure JusticeLink clients are referred to the right organization at the right time to meet their needs. The Employment Navigator will also engage companies to promote the benefits of hiring community members with past criminal convictions and assist in matching clients to available positions. 

Principle Duties/Responsibilities:

The following functions represent the majority of the duties performed by the position. The description is not meant to be all-inclusive or prevent other duties from being assigned when necessary: 

Essential Job Function:

1. Create a trusting, comfortable, and inclusive environment that fosters partnership and continual engagement with individuals involved in the criminal-legal system from all backgrounds.
2. Conduct job readiness assessments to identify the appropriate education and/or employment interventions.
3. Based on the desires and needs of the clients, triage community referrals by connecting clients to appropriate education/employment service provider partner agencies. Promote and ensure smooth connections, including follow-up to ensure that the services were a fit for the client.
4. Initiate and manage relationships with education/employment service provider partners. Attend and host regular partner meetings for networking and information sharing to optimize care management and navigation for clients.
5. Assist clients that are ready for rapid-job placement in identifying job leads, completing a resume, securing transportation and interview clothing, and preparing for job interviews. 
6. Identify and recruit employers to hire JusticeLink clients by following job leads, conducting site visits, and sending direct communication. Maintain an employer database to keep employer contact information current and track open positions. 
7. Keep current with best practices on accessing employment with a criminal record and strategies to engage employers in conversations about hiring applicants with a criminal record. 
8. Maintain complete and accurate documentation of all activities and reports through computerized entry in accordance with program standards and guidelines. 
9. Assist and collaborate with program leadership regarding evaluation and procedures for referral linkage. 
10. Attend required training in support of duties and responsibilities of this position. 
11. Other duties as assigned including those required to fulfill activities in support of JusticeLink operations. 

Requirements

QUALIFICATIONS/SPECIFICATIONS:

Education: High school diploma required. Associate degree preferred.  

Experience: Previous experience with criminal-legal system impacted clients and/or engaging culturally diverse populations in social services is preferred. Lived experience navigating criminal justice systems also qualifies and is highly valued in this role.

Skills and Knowledge:

• Knowledge of job development and job coaching strategies for hard-to-employ populations.
• Professional courtesy empathetic to the diverse situation and needs of individuals in the criminal legal system. 
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills in order to communicate effectively with peers and to maintain productive working relationships with agency partners. 
• Careful attention to detail
• Skill in operating a personal computer and smartphone applications.  

Physical Effort: 

• Communicate: Frequent phone communication with Tulsa residents; Must be able to exchange accurate information over the phone, email, use an enterprise SMS text messaging platform, and face to face.
• Operate: Constant operation of computer, phones, and other office productivity tools.
• Willingness and ability to travel between multiple locations of the diversion services center (community, Courthouse, jail) and service provider offices as required to meet client needs.

Hours & Location:

• Position will be in-person at the JusticeLink office located at 211 West Archer, Tulsa, Ok.
• Typical work hours are Monday – Friday from 8:00 to 5:00, but flexibility is required for various JusticeLink events or meetings that may occur evenings or weekends.

Supervision/Accountability: This position will have no direct reports. This position reports directly to the program manager or team lead. 

Compensation: Salary range for this position is between $52,000 - $56,000 annually.  

Salary : $52,000 - $56,000