Community Navigator

Location: Lincoln, NE

Position Description

The Community Navigator will guide and support RISE program graduates returning to the community from prison. Reporting to the Reentry Manager, the Community Navigator will work with individuals both pre-and post-release to remove reentry barriers and help them navigate community resources and services.

The Community Navigator will administer needs assessments, review reentry and personal action plans, help individuals set short- and long-term goals, provide employment and housing search assistance, make community referrals to wrap-around services, conduct wellness check-ins, facilitate classes, conducting employment verifications, and managing other case management needs. The Community Navigator will work closely with the entire RISE Team to encourage and empower program participants to become successful members of their families and communities.

Please note that this position requires reimbursable travel and a reliable source of transportation.

About RISE

RISE is the largest nonprofit organization in Nebraska focused solely on habilitative programming in prisons and reentry support. At RISE, transformation starts pre-release and continues post-release. Our inside/out model bridges incarceration to the community and considers all the critical steps in that journey. We prepare and train people for each phase through intensive character development, employment readiness, job creation through entrepreneurship, family programming and case management. We transform people in the community by building awareness and empathy that leads to support and opportunity. These connections heal families, create employment pathways and lower recidivism. The mission of RISE is to break generational cycles of incarceration.

Responsibilities

• Utilize both peer support and case management skills to support RISE program graduates in their transition from prison to the community.
• Build and nurture supportive relationships with people on their caseload.
• Maintain and build healthy relationships with Prison Program staff members, working closely with the program staff at the facility the Community Navigator is serving.
• If someone on the Community Navigator’s caseload is still incarcerated, make regular contact with them through in-prison tabling sessions and/or letter writing.
• Administer post-release needs assessments to determine services and programmatic needs of reentering individuals. Identify and refer participants to community resources including housing, wrap-around services for mental health and substance use treatment, public benefits, healthcare, etc.
• Review reentry plans to develop realistic goals and personal action plans to ensure successful reintegration and address the five keys to reentry well-being: healthy thinking patterns, meaningful work trajectories, effective coping strategies, positive social engagement, and positive relationships.
• Assist individuals with obtaining and completing forms and documents necessary for transition (i.e. transcripts, birth certificate, state identification, social security cards) and navigate challenges that having a criminal background will present (i.e. employment, housing, transportation).
• Serve as a liaison between individuals, community organizations (e.g., transitional living facilities, parole officer), and family to ensure networks of support. Coordination will provide the best opportunity for success and lower the chance of recidivism.
• Build partnerships, utilize existing partnerships, and liaise with other organizations that are working on reentry efforts.
• Maintain a positive working relationship with Nebraska Department of Corrections and their staff
• Communicate with program participants to do wellness check-ins and progress updates on reentry and personal action plans.
• Notify caseloads of RISE Community Events where they are welcome, and encouraged, to attend.
• Collect and maintain accurate records in the database to monitor the progress of individuals. These records include case notes on well-being check-ins, reentry and personal action plans, milestone achievements, attendance records, class progress, and employment verification.
• Participate in staff meetings to coordinate information on participants’ release/parole dates, needs, and updates to the progress and well-being of participants.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or GED required, associate degree preferred with coursework in Social Sciences, Human Services, Criminal Justice, Psychology or a related field.
• Certified peer support specialist preferred.
• Combination of training, education, or lived experience working/participating in a program or organization serving individuals who are system-impacted.
• Knowledge and/or experience of the jail/prison environment and knowledge of the criminal justice system preferred.
• Basic computer skills.
• Ability to work effectively in collaboration with diverse groups of people.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Scrappy, adaptable, entrepreneurial, and innovative.
• Ability to work some evenings and weekends.
• Reliable transportation (reimbursement provided).
• Ability to enter the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services as a cleared volunteer.

Other

• Must be willing to work flexible hours, occasionally working evenings and weekends.
• Travel is required for this role. Must possess a valid driver’s license and proof of insurance.
• RISE is a background friendly employer and seeks to employ those who have lived experience within the system we serve; background checks may be run on final candidates as a compliance measure.