Who we are

The Vera Institute of Justice, founded in 1961, is a nonprofit criminal justice organization that strives to build just government institutions and safe communities free from the scourge of racism, white supremacy, profit, and inequity that is pervasive in this country’s legal systems. We are an “inside” lane organization that drives change at scale with ambitious public sector leaders who share our commitment to building anti-racist, reparative systems that deliver justice. We leverage our access to government to transform these systems and work collaboratively with stakeholders across many movements—including advocacy, grassroots, and grassroots organizations. Our role is to pilot solutions that are transformative and achievable, harness the power of evidence to drive effective policy and practice, and use advocacy and communications to change narratives and norms.

Vera has a staff of almost 300 people and offices in New York City, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, and New Orleans. We are an equal opportunity employer with a commitment to diversity in the workplace. We expect our staff to embody respect, independence, collaboration, commitment, anti-racism, and equity—both in our outward-facing work and the internal culture of our workplace. We value a range of experiences in people’s educational backgrounds and encourage people who have been directly impacted by the criminal justice system to apply.

Who you are:

The Program Director is responsible for managing all aspects of the National Qualified Representative Program (NQRP), including the Counsel for Children (CC) initiative. The Program Director oversees the creation and negotiation of the NQRP budget and subcontractor budgets, monitors provider caseloads to ensure sufficient capacity for all assigned NQRP cases, identifies and negotiates subcontracts with potential new subcontractors, reviews and approves provider proposals and budgets, and executes subcontracts and amendments. The Program Director also oversees the development and training of the nationwide network of NQRP providers (Qualified Representatives, or QRs) to ensure they are able to provide zealous, competent, person-centered representation to all NQRP clients. Additionally, the Program Director works with Vera’s Legal Orientation Program (LOP) staff and LOP providers to expand the use of third-party notification for people with indicia of mental illness. The Program Director is responsible for ensuring systemic implementation of race equity principles across the NQRP’s work; overseeing hiring, supervision, evaluation, and professional development of NQRP staff; communicating with NQRP providers, the government, and external stakeholders; and research related to NQRP that includes improving the identification of people who may be eligible for NQRP services and evaluation of programs services. The Program Director supervises the NQRP Program Manager, Program Associate II and Program Analyst. The Program Director represents the NQRP within the Center for Immigration and Justice (CIJ) and Vera, including as a member of the CIJ management team, and is the primary representative of the NQRP to the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) and other government stakeholders.

In this role, you will:

1. Contract and Budget Management

• Develop annual budgets and caseloads and monitor case assignment volume and provider capacity.
• SOW and contract interpretation and responding to program questions from NQRP providers and other stakeholders; new subcontractor identification, proposal review.

2. Program Implementation and Management

• Oversee expansion of Nationwide Policy to all immigration courts serving detained respondents, which includes identifying providers to meet the increased need and monitoring proper implementation of the Nationwide Policy and adherence to the Franco Implementation order.
• Identify issues that impede zealous, person-centered, high quality representation and collaborate with Immigration Policy Director to shape policy solutions and move forward opportunities for expanding the NQRP model to new populations (e.g., released individuals with severe mental illness).
• Identify NQRP implementation failures and coordinate with the network to ensure timely notice of issues to EOIR and conduct site visits to new NQRP sites and those with persistent implementation failures.  
• Advocate with EOIR to make necessary programmatic changes and support provider-led advocacy in furtherance of delivering person-centered, zealous advocacy to every NQRP client.
• Promote the use of Third-Party Notification to identify detained immigrants with competency issues who should be appointed a QR through education, outreach, and creation and provision of templates

3. Training and Technical Support

• Supervise and contribute to the NQRP team’s provision of technical support, trainings, and advisories on substantive legal issues, trial skills, litigation strategies, and working with clients with mental health issues to ensure QRs provide zealous, person-centered representation.
• Provide consultations to QRs on avenues of post-conviction (PCR) relief for their clients, review and approve requests for PCR

4. Stakeholder Engagement

• Engage with EOIR through weekly emails, bi-weekly conference calls, and additional ad hoc communication to report on providers’ ability to continue providing NQRP representation during the pandemic and in the face of other government-created challenges and to seek interventions in situations where Franco implementation orders and nationwide policy is not adhered to by localities.

5. Promoting Representation

• Promote universal, zealous representation in collaboration with other CIJ staff, which includes the development, planning, and execution of the NQRP research project to evaluate the program; developing draft client bill of rights with input from system-impacted people clients; scaling up training and technical support resources for all immigration counsel programs; and overseeing the transition of the NQRP to a new community partner.

6. Other Duties as Assigned

What qualifications do you need?

Required:

• Advanced degree + 10-15 years of relevant experience. In lieu of degree requirement, applicable work or life experience defending detained people in removal proceedings, criminal defense proceedings, or a comparable adversarial litigation setting may be considered. A JD degree and current bar license preferred.
• Managerial/supervisory experience in legal services or comparable setting
• Experience providing ongoing supervision to co-workers, guiding and supporting overall job performance, and well as discreet projects
• Understanding the application of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act to immigration cases and detention
• Demonstrated commitment to immigrants’ rights, zealous representation of indigent people, the rights of people with mental illness, and race equity
• Demonstrated aptitude in legal training and mentorship, particularly for attorneys practicing in detained and other difficult settings, via current video and other remote training technology platforms
• Demonstrated ability to provide meaningful support for providers and attorneys nationwide with varying levels of resources, legal experience, and skill sets
• Ability to listen with patience and empathy, accept and apply constructive feedback, and work collaboratively and collegially with co-workers
• Ability to work constructively with governmental and non-governmental stakeholders, and to adjust approach and tone appropriately
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Proficiency with Zoom and Microsoft Office Suite, particularly Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Sharepoint
• Willingness to travel and current driver’s license

Preferred:

• Lived or affiliated experience with the immigration, criminal justice, and / or mental health system(s) is a strong plus
• Experience with research or research-adjacent tasks and research software
• Knowledge of or experience working with mental health and/or criminal law concepts
• Interest in pursuing projects aimed at enhancing and systematizing zealous, universal representation

List of required software applications:

• Microsoft Office, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Zoom

Applications may also be faxed to:

ATTN: Human Resources / Program Director, NQRP
Vera Institute of Justice
34 35th St, Suite 4-2A, Brooklyn, NY 11232
Fax: (212) 941-9407
Please use only one method (online, mail or fax) of submission.
No phone calls, please. Only applicants selected for interviews will be contacted.

As a federal contractor, and in order to ensure a healthy and safe work environment, Vera Institute of Justice is requiring all employees to be fully vaccinated and provide proof of their COVID-19 vaccine before their start date. Employees who cannot receive the vaccine because of a disability/medical contraindication or sincerely-held religious belief may request an accommodation (e.g., an exemption) to this requirement.

Vera is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without unlawful discrimination based on race, color, creed, national origin, sex, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, prior record of arrest or conviction, citizenship status, current employment status, or caregiver status.

Vera works to advance justice, particularly racial justice, in an increasingly multicultural country and globally connected world. We value diverse experiences, including with regard to educational background and justice system contact, and depend on a diverse staff to carry out our mission.

For more information about Vera, please visit www.vera.org