Justice Research Intern
Organization: National Association of Counties
Job Location: 660 N. Capitol St. NW, Ste. 400, Washington, DC 20001
The National Association of Counties Research Foundation (NACoRF) in Washington, D.C., announces an opening for a Justice Research Intern. This position sits within NACoRF’s Counties Futures Lab, which provides county leaders with educational programming and resources that help counties more effectively and efficiently provide services to their residents. The Justice Research Intern duties include a variety of professional assignments aimed at informing, educating and assisting county officials across the United States who are working to build fairer and more effective justice systems.
This position requires an individual who is a self-starter, organized, detail-oriented and can manage multiple tasks and projects simultaneously. Applicants must have experience with and knowledge of local criminal justice policies and issues and familiarity with local governance structures. Understanding of local justice systems (e.g., jails, courts), behavioral health and/or probation strongly preferred.
Responsibilities and Duties
Under guidance of the Associate Program Director of Behavioral Health and Justice, the intern’s primary duties and responsibilities include:
- Assist with the day-to-day quality, conduct and completion of project deliverables and ongoing relations with foundation partners, other NACo departments and members, as an active part of a team
- Conduct research on effective and innovative practices in counties across the country and distill information into written publications
- Conduct research (specifically, landscape analyses) on the extent of the county role in various aspects of the U.S. justice system, particularly adult probation and community supervision
- Develop distribution lists of county officials working in justice-related fields or interested in justice-related topics
- Conduct interviews with county officials on justice policies and issues
- Draft blogs and edit reports on justice-relevant issues on a regular basis, including developing content ideas, writing, editing, and posting articles on NACo’s website
- Complete administrative tasks as necessary, including scheduling meetings, making phone calls, reserving conference rooms, setting up meeting rooms, responding to member requests, preparing internal and external correspondence, maintaining, and updating mailing lists, and other tasks as assigned
- Assist with planning and facilitating webinars, news articles and social media campaigns to support relevant project deliverables
- Assist with planning and implementing workshops, forums, presentations, and meetings for NACo conferences and providing support for these events;
- Learn and manage various software used by the department for communications needs
- Respond to routine inquiries when possible and refer other inquiries to appropriate sources
- Represent NACo and the Counties Futures Lab in NACo-wide activities, including conference planning and implementation, membership recruitment and retention, marketing, website updates and maintenance, County News articles and contributions, and internal and external meetings
- Assist in “overflow” work as requested by the supervisor; and
- Performing various other duties that may be assigned from time to time based on the needs of the Counties Futures Lab team.
Qualifications and Skills
Experience required, prefer some education and/or experience in criminal justice or related areas.
- Must possess the following:
- Excellent oral and written communications skills
- Ability to manage multiple projects.
- Ability and willingness to work as part of a team.
- Ability to meet deadlines and work well under pressure.
- Ability to work well in a political environment.
- Ability to work well with external partners, and
- Knowledge of local governments and relevant organizations.
Hours/Salary
Interns typically work at least 3 full days, up to 24-29 hours per week, depending on the Department’s needs and the intern’s availability. This internship pays $17 per hour.
Duration
January 2023 – Spring 2023
Application Procedures
To apply for an internship, please send a cover letter highlighting relevant experience and work with diverse communities with a current resume to Miranda Morvay (mmorvay@naco.org). In your email, indicate your availability (approximate number of hours per week available to work and approximate start and end dates). Applications are processed on a rolling basis until all available positions are filled, so applying early is encouraged.
