POSITION SUMMARY
The Alliance for Children’s Rights is seeking a dedicated individual to join our Education Program as a Staff or Senior Attorney. This is an 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 young people in the foster care and juvenile justice systems, and those living in guardianships or who have been adopted can overcome barriers to stability and success and access the education, healthcare, and financial supports they need. Since 1992, we have helped over 150,000 children and young adults. For more information visit: www.allianceforchildrensrights.org.
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.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
The Attorney will support children with disabilities and their families, within the education, early intervention, child welfare, and juvenile justice systems to secure the education services our clients have identified as necessary to their success in school and in life, by providing zealous advocacy in IFSP and IEP meetings, informal dispute resolution, and mediations. The position will include training and supervising pro bono attorneys, interns, and law clerks. The Attorney will also assist in the development and delivery of community trainings and tools to support clients, caregivers, and other stakeholders (e.g., CASA, social workers, probation officers) in understanding special education and/or early intervention rights.
THE IDEAL CANDIDATE WILL POSSESS
- JD degree required.
- 0-3 years of legal experience for the staff attorney position or 4-7 years of legal experience for the senior attorney position.
- California bar admission in good standing (applicants with pending bar results are welcome to apply).
- Personal, educational, or professional experience in: regional center early intervention advocacy, school district special education advocacy; child welfare, juvenile justice, and/or education systems (e.g., former teacher or social worker, CASA,); and/or working with diverse populations, towards goals of equity and racial justice.
- Bilingual Spanish language skills highly preferred.
Experience and skills
- Excellent advanced written and oral communication, active listening, and presentation skills
- Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with clients, attorneys, medical staff, child welfare and probation professionals, the judiciary, and members of the public
- 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
- Experience and comfort building rapport and working effectively with families, children, and young adults
- Experience with early education, education, juvenile dependency or delinquency courts is helpful
- Familiarity with law, legal procedures and protocols, and court system
- Proactive and flexible, with the ability to work in an environment with shifting priorities and demands.
This job description is of a general nature and is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities and duties of the position.
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 for advocacy meetings as needed. This position may be asked to return to work in the office at any time and at the employer’s discretion.
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.
Salary Range
This is an exempt, full-time paid position, target starting salary range for the staff attorney is $75,000 to $79,000, and the senior attorney position ranges from $83,000 to $93,000. 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)
TO APPLY
Email resume and cover letter to Jill Rowland at jrowland@alliancecr.org. Due to a high volume of interest, we are not able to contact each interested applicant. If selected for consideration, candidates will be contacted to discuss our recruitment process and next steps. No calls please.
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.
