Rosa Jaffe-Geffner

Rosa Jaffe-Geffner (she/her/mx.) is an experienced licensed social worker with 10 years of experience in public defender offices throughout New York City. She has worked in Family Court, Criminal Court, and Housing Court. Rosa started her work as a social worker in public defender offices at the Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Rights Practice, working on child welfare and juvenile justice cases. She then transitioned into the role of Director of Social Work at Urban Justice Center’s Mental Health Project, where she oversaw their social services and community education courses. Currently, Rosa holds the position of Bronx Defenders’ first Civil Action Practice Director of Social Work. In this role, she conducts program development and provides training, supervision, and direct service. Rosa is a systems advocate, combating inequity and inequality in the work that she does.

Rosa was previously a faculty partner at John Jay’s Pinkerton Fellowship for Forensic Psychology and Mental Health, counseling graduate students doing their externship in the criminal legal system. Today, she provides annual training on trauma-informed interviewing with NYU Law School’s Unemployment Action Center. Rosa received her M.S. in Social Work at Columbia University and her B.A. in Sociology at SUNY Purchase College.