Parole Success Advocate

Parole Success Advocate

Application deadline is Friday, January 9th at 5pm PST

About UnCommon Law

UnCommon Law fights to ensure that all people incarcerated for violent crime have access to healing, justice, and effective legal representation.

Through our unique, trauma-informed model of advocacy, we provide the space currently missing in the system for healing, accountability, and safe pathways home from prison. In developing new self-narratives, the people we serve are able to more effectively disrupt violence inside and outside prison and become leaders who change negative societal narratives about those incarcerated for violent crime. Our groundbreaking approach is changing policy and outcomes, driven by the voices and experiences of system-impacted communities.

About the Role

The Parole Success Advocate is a core driver of Home After Harm, an energetic and interdisciplinary team at UnCommon Law. The Parole Success Advocate works to create a therapeutic community inside prisons by facilitating group spaces and one-on-one support for people inside who are preparing for parole and life success. The Parole Success Advocate will lead weekly groups with participants inside the prison and participate in workshops, legal visits, or other training inside the prisons as needed. In the event that in-person programming is halted, the Parole Success Advocate will support Home After Harm participants through written letters, phone calls, and/or video conferencing.

Home After Harm: UnCommon Law’s Pathways to Parole Success (Home After Harm) is currently a pilot program that helps people prepare for the discretionary parole process. Informed by people who have been through the parole process themselves, this program will support participants in taking accountability for past actions while healing from past trauma. Home After Harm also provides limited legal support with a team of attorneys who will provide individual case feedback. This program focuses on two prisons in which participants will be led through a written curriculum in small group, large group, and individual settings.

This exempt position reports directly to the Supervising Parole Success Advocate and offers an annual salary range of $69,000 to $79,833. As a mission-driven organization, we strive to balance competitive pay with our values. New hires are typically placed between the minimum and midpoint range. Final salary offers are determined based on the candidate’s job-related skills, experience, and expertise, as assessed during the interview process and aligned with our structured salary schedule.

Our office is based in Oakland, CA. This role requires in-office attendance for up to three days per week and frequent weekly travel to California State Prison Solano (SOL) and other prisons as needed.

Who Should Apply

All individuals who have experience living in a correctional setting, personal experience navigating California’s discretionary parole process, strong facilitation skills with trauma-informed and person-centered approaches, and a willingness to work collaboratively with teams.

We are looking for someone who is highly relational, organized, and possesses strong facilitation, written, and verbal communication skills. Creativity and a proven capacity for collaboration are also a must.

Our ideal candidate has direct, personal experience with California’s discretionary parole process. 

We do not require candidates to have a college degree and we welcome candidates with non-traditional backgrounds and experience. The strongest candidates will let us know how their experiences and abilities relate to this role. We greatly value lived and related experience, and transferable skills. Applicants who submit cover letters that are not tailored to the position or the organization will not be considered.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Facilitate Group Meetings and Trainings (in-person or remotely as needed)


• Prepare for and facilitate weekly in-person groups, and complete related documentation and case notes


• Frequent collaboration with other Parole Success Advocates and team members


• Contribute and participate in legal visits


• Contribute to and participate in legal workshops


• Conduct one-on-one meetings with program participants, including reviewing relevant documents to prepare for individual meetings, taking notes, and entering relevant information into a database


• Contribute to and participate in weekly collaborative interdisciplinary participant support meetings that involve regular case discussions, including creating agendas and facilitation


• Conduct Peer Mentor (inside facilitator) training and provide ongoing support through a collaborative working relationship


• Assist in reviewing hearing transcripts and drafting assessments


• Conduct phone or video calls with program participants


• Draft and respond to participant correspondence, including individual letters and reviewing and providing feedback on participant writings

Administration and Logistics

• Schedule phone/video calls and obtain access to prison files as needed


• Maintain participant record management system


• Assist in development and modification of program materials and calendar management


• Communicate with prison/parole officials, and other service providers in the community


• Frequent travel to in-prison and other settings throughout the state

Organization-Wide

• Perform and develop technological proficiency with UCL’s online platforms


• Participate in regular staff meetings


• Occasionally participate in in-person team building activities and retreats


• Occasionally participate in UCL events in the community or inside prisons to educate or train attendees on parole hearing preparation or on trauma experiences or responses


• Assist in cross-team collaborative opportunities, such as policy, non-client mail, phones/reception, and fundraising

Experience

• Experience living in a correctional setting, and personal experience navigating California’s discretionary parole process


• Experience facilitating group settings, with a focus on person-centered and trauma-informed approaches


• Experience with and willingness to continue to develop proficiency in writing

Abilities and Attributes

• Passionate about the mission of UnCommon Law


• Excellent facilitation and leadership skills that include kindness, non-judgment, and sensitivity to confidential matters


• Compassionate and culturally sensitive


• Self-reflective and attentive to vicarious trauma


• Organized, prepared, and able to operate under pressure


• Ability to use technology platforms such as Zoom and Google Suites (Gmail) and ability to get up to speed on new technologies (including online participant record management system)

Benefits and Support:

Currently, UnCommon Law offers 100% paid Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance for employees and covers 75% for dependents. To support our team’s mental well-being, we also provide a Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) of $200/month in reimbursable funds for therapeutic expenses. We have a flexible time off policy and a full organizational closure for two weeks from late December to early January each year. We offer a generous family leave policy, flexible hours, FSA and Retirement plans, regular access to training and clinical support, and generous sick leave. In addition to the formal benefits, we are committed to building and maintaining an equitable culture that is sustainable and joyful, and where each team member can thrive. You’ll see this in the acknowledgements in weekly staff meetings, in-office lunches, and community gatherings.

COVID Protocol:

UnCommon Law currently requires COVID vaccination (we consider exceptions for religious or medical purposes). A complete list of UCL’s COVID protocols can be provided upon request.

Application instructions:

Please submit a resume and a cover letter describing your interest and relevant experience for the role, along with contact information for two professional, academic or other relevant references to our hiring portal (https://uncommonlaw.bamboohr.com/jobs/). Applicants who submit cover letters that are not tailored to the position or the organization will not be considered. 

Please note that all correspondence in the hiring process will be through the BambooHR portal. Following the submission of your application, you should receive an automatic response (via email) thanking you for your application. If you do not receive this, please check your spam folder.

As part of our hiring process, we may request references. UnCommon Law staff will let a candidate know when to provide references, and we will reach out to references ourselves. While we appreciate the wonderful support many of our community members wish to provide for one another during the hiring process, unsolicited references via social media or other unofficial channels will not be considered in a candidate's application.

UCL is committed to providing an inclusive, welcoming, and culturally responsive environment for all members of our staff, volunteers, subcontractors, vendors, and clients. UCL does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, or prior contact with the criminal justice system. We strongly encourage applications from people impacted by incarceration as well as from traditionally underrepresented communities.