Program Associate

For nearly 40 years, the Center for Effective Public Policy has helped justice system professionals and their partners collaboratively identify and implement effective, evidence-based strategies that reduce harm and improve justice system outcomes. The Center’s staff and network of expert consultants have diverse qualifications and backgrounds in criminal justice planning, policy, and practice, particularly in pretrial justice, sentencing, probation, parole, and corrections. The Center’s main office is in Kensington, Maryland; the majority of Center staff and consultants work from their home-based locations around the country.

The Center’s projects are diverse and nationwide. The Center’s existing projects address, among other topics, evidence-based decision making, parole release decisions, campus sexual assault, dosage probation, and work supporting justice-involved women. In 2019, the Center will launch a multi-year national criminal justice project focused on pretrial reform. Pretrial reform is receiving broad, national attention. State legislatures are passing bail reform laws at an unprecedented pace; state and federal court rulings are requiring justice systems to reconsider and change practices that result in the pretrial detention of low-risk persons with limited economic means; and, at the same time, important research and reform efforts are influencing state and local pretrial practices.

Through this project, the Center will provide training and technical assistance to communities across the country to support pretrial risk assessment implementation and research as well as other pretrial reform initiatives. The project has the potential to change the face of pretrial justice by providing intensive in-person assistance to a select number of jurisdictions throughout the nation, making innovative online resources and services available to interested communities, training a broad network of experts from pertinent disciplines as peer supporters and active champions for local pretrial reform, and engaging in and shaping the national dialogue around matters critical to pretrial reform in the U.S. justice system.

The Center seeks to hire a Program Associate to work full-time on this exciting project. This is a new position that can be home-based or based in the Center’s Kensington, Maryland office.

Job Responsibilities

The Program Associate reports to the Project Manager and provides programmatic and administrative support to the project and Center staff. Specifically, the Program Associate will:

• Support Center staff and partners in providing training and technical assistance to jurisdictions undertaking pretrial reform initiatives.
• Work closely with the Project Manager to oversee the planning of meetings and training events, including:
  • Helping to develop and oversee the production of training materials
  • Assisting with the planning and execution of project meetings and trainings
  • Helping to coordinate training and technical assistance faculty and subcontractors.
• Coordinate activities within one or more project sites.
• Conduct research and develop tools and resources to support project work.
• Contribute to, edit, and proofread original written products.
• Support the project management team by developing progress reports, attending project planning meetings, and helping to manage project information and data.

• Bachelor’s degree required; a degree in criminal justice or similar area of expertise strongly preferred.
• A minimum of three years of experience serving as a Program Assistant/Associate, or similar position, with experience in criminal justice preferred.
• Familiarity with research, policy and practice pertinent to pretrial justice a plus.
• Excellent organizational and interpersonal skills.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and as a part of a team.
• Ability to work under pressure with competing priorities and deadlines.
• Creative thinker, analyst and problem-solver who exhibits good judgment and common sense.
• Self-starter who enjoys working as part of a fast-paced team.
• Ability to flourish and work independently in a virtual work environment.
• Highly collegial attitude and desire to work in a collaborative environment.

The Center is a nonprofit organization first incorporated in Pennsylvania in 1981 with its main office in Kensington, Maryland, and satellite offices in California, Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, South Carolina and Wisconsin. The Center’s staff and network of expert consultants are configured into project teams that have diverse qualifications and backgrounds in corrections, organizational development, nonprofit management, training, criminal justice, human services research, agency administration, and policy development. In our work with clients, the Center:

• Strives to understand the world in which you work and the difficulties that you confront.
• Explores opportunities that will allow you to implement successful change.
• Places at your disposal a wealth of experience, knowledge of evidence-based practices and current trends, and its practical application to your work.
• Opens lines of communication across organizational and political boundaries and facilitates candid discussions to overcome barriers to change.
• Works closely with you to ask the appropriate questions and search for the right answers.