Court Liaison

Esperanza is seeking energetic, enthusiastic court liaison staff.

Esperanza is a community-based alternative-to-incarceration program working with young people who have cases in family and/or adult (Criminal/Supreme) court. We provide direct therapeutic services to youth and their families in their own homes and communities across the five boroughs of New York City. Building on our participants’ strengths, we help them work toward achieving their goals. Court Liaisons perform all aspects of our intake process as well as appearing in court for participant updates.

Responsibilities
Esperanza is seeking energetic, enthusiastic court liaison staff. Staff conduct interviews, appear in court, and must be comfortable speaking to a wide variety of people under many different and sometimes challenging circumstances. Court liaison staff conduct interviews with adolescents and parents/caregivers as part of the program’s intake process to determine whether someone is an appropriate candidate for Esperanza. Court liaisons have to quickly think on their feet in the fast-paced environment of court. For youth charged in adult court, court liaisons also help identify potentially appropriate program candidates and reach out to defense lawyers and other relevant parties to describe our services. Court liaisons facilitate enrollment of appropriate youth in court and also appear at court updates.

The ideal candidate will be outgoing and friendly, as introducing Esperanza’s services is an important part of the position. This also includes facilitating positive ongoing relationships with judges, defense lawyers, prosecutors, probation officers, and detention staff. In family court, court liaisons also write acceptance letters for court on behalf of potential clients and provide testimony in court hearings when necessary. All the services of Esperanza are provided almost exclusively in the participants' homes at times convenient for to youth and their families. As such, court liaisons are expected to travel throughout the city and need to be able to accommodate varying schedules. As courts begin to reopen travel to courts and detention facilities throughout New York City is also needed.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic the role of court liaison has temporarily changed. While there are periodic in-person court appearances and we do some in-person interviews, a large number of tasks are done remotely. These are done at home or from the office on occasional office days. As before, the job requires lots of flexibility and quick-responses to the various needs of the organization and the clients we serve. Day to day tasks include interviewing clients and families virtually or in-person, setting up virtual intake interviews with incarcerated clients when they can’t be seen in person, helping families use technology to appear in courtrooms virtually, reaching out to attorneys and court staff via phone and email, appearing virtually for court dates or on some occasions in person depending on whether courts are open for program staff, and obtaining consent forms from families both virtually and in-person as needed. It is important to note that some visits to clients' homes or to detention centers are needed, following current safety protocols. As the city begins to re-open we will periodically revisit protocols and adjust accordingly.