POSITION SUMMARY
The Alliance for Children’s Rights is seeking a dedicated individual to join our Education Program as an Advocate and Trainer. This is a non-exempt, full-time paid position.
ABOUT THE ALLIANCE
The Alliance for Children’s Rights is a nonprofit organization that provides free holistic legal services and advocacy to youth and families impacted by child welfare and juvenile justice systems in Los Angeles County, and works to enact policy changes statewide. Our lawyers, advocates, and social workers, together with hundreds of pro bono attorneys and community volunteers, work to ensure that those we serve have the tools to overcome barriers to stability and success, and access to the education, healthcare, and financial supports that they need. Since 1992, we have helped over 150,000 children.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
The Advocate and Trainer will work with youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice system,
focusing on enforcing their general education rights to help them access a quality education,
remain stable in school, and work towards high school graduation. Advocacy will include
working with transition age youth, education rights holders, and schools to enforce education
rights including collecting and analyzing education records and conducting oral and written
advocacy with school districts and the state department of education. The advocate will also
work directly with youth, training them on their education rights and empowering them to be their
own advocates. In addition to the above the Advocate and Trainer will provide the following
services:
• Maintain general education caseload, under supervision of Program Director, including oral
and written advocacy for school stability, immediate enrollment, partial credit, and
graduation exemption rights for youth involved in the foster care and probation systems
• Conduct client interviews, maintain case files, gather documentation for case advocacy from
multiple sources, and communicating with education rights holders and youth regarding the
status of the case
• Requesting, compiling, and analyzing education records
• Provide community “Know Your Education Rights” trainings to systems involved youth,
working with and presenting alongside our Education Youth Cohort of 6 youth who are
formerly systems involved
• Administrative duties including data entry, electronic file management, and drafting letters
and complaints on behalf of your client
WHAT YOUR IMPACT WILL BE
The Education Program prides itself on providing its team members with the support and resources necessary to be successful. We believe that education (including early intervention) services are essential in creating opportunity for youth, especially those facing systemic barriers to success, including those who face multiple barriers such as children of color and children with disabilities – both of whom are disproportionately overrepresented in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. We ground our advocacy in our clients’ goals and our vision for creating education equity from an intersectional perspective.
THE IDEAL CANDIDATE WILL POSSESS
• BA Degree in a related field
• At least one-year relevant experience working with youth
• Experience working within the education, foster care, or juvenile justice system
• One-year of previous experience with public speaking and/or training
• One-year of previous experience in an office or other professional environment
• Bilingual Spanish language required
This job description is of a general nature and is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities and duties of the position.
EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS
• Excellent written and oral communication, active listening, and presentation skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to build rapport and communicate effectively with youth, attorneys, education and child welfare/probation professionals
• Excellent organizational skills, with the ability to work independently and manage competing tasks in a fast-paced environment
• A strong work ethic, dedication, and enthusiasm for taking on responsibility
• Demonstrated ability to work as a team member with a pleasant and collegial approach
• Commitment to social justice
• A desire to help people and give back to our community
• Experience with education, juvenile dependency or delinquency courts is helpful
• Proactive and flexible, with the ability to work in an environment with shifting priorities and demands.
COVID-19 CONSIDERATIONS:
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, this position worked full time from our Los Angeles office. However, since the pandemic, this position has worked remotely from home with travel into the office or to schools, group homes, or juvenile halls for advocacy meetings and trainings multiple times per month. This position may be asked to return to work in the office at any time and at the employer’s discretion.
Salary Range:
This is a non-exempt, full-time paid position, target starting salary range is $28.20 per hour up
to $30.76 per hour or an equivalent annual salary of $55,000-$60,000. Final starting salary
offered is contingent on years of relevant experience. Benefits include generous vacation and
paid holidays; comprehensive health plans covering 100% of the employee cost of medical,
dental and vision insurance; life insurance; flexible spending accounts for childcare and health
expenses; generous retirement savings plan with company contributions to your 403(b) after
one year of employment, and discounts on fitness memberships and other activities.
Vaccination Requirement
The Alliance is committed to prioritizing and safeguarding the health and wellbeing of our employees, their families, our clients, and members of our community against the COVID-19 coronavirus. In response to COVID-19 and the increased transmissibility with recent variants, and to support a safe environment for everyone, all new Alliance employees must provide original documentation confirming they are fully vaccinated, and or evidence of an approved qualifying medical exemption or religious held belief exemption at the time of hire.
TO APPLY
To be considered, please send a resume and a cover letter that outlines your interest in joining the Alliance, relevant work experience, and how you heard of the position to Education Program Director, Jill Rowland, at Jrowland@alliancecr.org. Responses will be sent only to individuals meeting the outlined qualifications of the position. Salary is commensurate with experience. Benefits include vacation and sick leave policies, and health, dental, vision, and life insurance plans.
The Alliance for Children’s Rights is committed to building and supporting a culturally diverse and inclusive environment that values all staff members’ backgrounds and perspectives in our work. We strongly encourage individuals from all traditionally underrepresented communities to apply. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. We are an Equal Employment Opportunity employer, and prohibit discrimination against employees or applicants because of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, veteran status, or any other unlawful basis.
