INCLUSIVE WORKFORCE
One of the most persistent and challenging obstacles to transforming the criminal justice system lies in implementing large-scale workplace culture change in prosecutors’ offices. To overcome this obstacle, Lucy will build an office workforce that reflects, at all levels, the communities the office serves; make office policy implementation more transparent; reconfigure the legal training curriculum to feature the best practices of progressive prosecution and anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-transphobic and anti-homophobic principles; encourage and reward participation in and interaction with affinity groups; implement clear, transparent, and equitable performance metrics; make mental health and wellness services available to all staff; and demand that all staff be treated with dignity and respect by their colleagues and representatives of agencies interacting with the District Attorney's Office, including the NYPD.
To accomplish these goals, Lucy will:
Prioritize Diversity and Inclusion in Hiring and Improve Retention:
Lucy and senior hiring staff will build relationships with a broad cross-section of colleges and law schools, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Hiring staff will specifically recruit legal and other staff who identify as members of all of Manhattan’s rich racial, cultural and gender identity groups.
Lucy and senior leadership will work closely with staff throughout the office to implement changes, including those identified below, to improve retention of staff from historically marginalized groups.
Improve Office Training and Communication:
Training for all staff will be mission-aligned, with an emphasis on implicit bias and anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-transphobic and anti-homophobic principles, and express identification of the goal of ending mass incarceration.
Make participation in Inside Criminal Justice a mandatory part of all legal training.
Inform District Attorney’s Office staff of all policy changes prior to informing the public and the press, and ensure that no policy changes will be publicized unless there are explicit plans in place to achieve those changes.
Create an Inclusive Workplace Culture:
Encourage the creation and continuation of independent internal affinity groups for staff who identify with particular racial, cultural, gender identity or other historically marginalized groups; offer support and resources to these groups without conditions; and offer to meet regularly with these groups to receive feedback on office policy and culture to better understand their experiences.
Overhaul Evaluations and Promotions:
Lucy will completely overhaul the District Attorney’s Office’s performance metrics, as outlined here.
All staff, including the District Attorney herself and senior leadership, will be subject to 360 reviews.
Internal positions will be posted, and will include explicit job descriptions and a transparent application process.
Emphasize Mental Health Support for Staff:
Informed by the best practices of the social work profession, all staff will be given small groups of fellow practitioners with whom to discuss job-related stress and secondary trauma.
All staff will be encouraged to access New York City’s employee resources for free, confidential mental health support.
Require that All Staff Are Treated with Dignity and Respect, Including by Representatives of Outside Agencies:
Develop a safe and anonymous system for sharing experiences of microaggressions and implicit and explicit bias.
Enact a policy for staff to report instances of bias by NYPD, court, and defense bar personnel, including appropriate responses to such instances when necessary.