Adoptions Legal Assistant

POSITION SUMMARY

The Alliance for Children’s Rights is seeking a dedicated individual to join our Adoption Program as a Legal Assistant 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. Our lawyers, advocates, and social workers, together with hundreds of pro bono attorneys and community volunteers, work to ensure young people in foster care and guardianships can overcome barriers to stability and success and access to the education, healthcare, and financial supports they need. Since 1992, we have helped over 170,000 children and young adults. For more information visit: www.allianceforchildrensrights.org.

To advance our mission of stability, equity, and justice for young people across the state, the Alliance also identifies systemic issues and barriers that impact our clients, and advocates for broad solutions and improvements through ground-breaking child welfare policy reform at the state and local levels.

WHAT YOUR IMPACT WILL BE

The Adoption Program provides legal advocacy to finalize adoptions for children and non-minor dependents in the foster care and probation systems. The program works in partnership with the Department of Children and Family Services, the Children’s Court, and the Children’s Law Center to complete foster care adoptions. As part of our adoption services, we also provide holistic assessments to ensure the children and families obtain the appropriate therapeutic services and monetary benefits to support the health, education and wellbeing of the child and the stability of the adoption. The Adoption Program also educates adoptive families about foster care adoption and their legal benefits and advocates to resolve administrative and systemic barriers to the finalization of adoptions.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

The legal assistant will support the program director and staff attorney with processing all aspects of the adoption cases from intake to finalization. The applicant must have the ability to handle a high volume of calls and interviews with clients and case load and data entry, work independently and handle multiple tasks simultaneously in a fast-paced environment, as well as be willing to become part of a small cohesive team working on behalf of vulnerable children throughout Los Angeles County.

The incumbent will work with, and under the direct supervision of the Adoption Program Director to provide the following:

• Support program director by completing data entry for adoption case referrals and client case intake, conducting detailed client intake interviews, participating in adoption program’s case review and staff meetings, preparing adoption case summaries, communicating with clients regarding status of their case, and regular updating of client records in our electronic database.
• Work with program director to open, maintain and close adoption electronic and physical case files.
• Participate in cross-programs advocacy with our Benefits, Education and Health Care Programs to facilitate a holistic approach to serving clients, including participation in crossover case review team meetings and preparation of inter-program transfers of cases.
• Support program director with communications and follow-up with clients, program staff, pro bono attorneys, DCFS social workers, Children’s Law Center attorneys, and service providers on case issues or status in connection with our completion of adoption cases.
• Support program director with preparing legal forms and related program materials, and supervising student interns or volunteers assisting with completing adoptive parent questionnaires, as needed.
• Participate in adoption program trainings and community outreach.
• Complete administrative duties, including copying, data entry, weekly in-office mail sorting, and filing.
• Provide program staff support and other agency staff support as needed, including attending and supporting Adoption Days at Children’s Court.

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE WILL POSSESS

• Must possess one of the following: Bachelor’s degree, Paralegal Certification, or equivalent work experience.
• Must be bilingual (Spanish/English).
• Proficient in Microsoft Word, Power Point, Teams, Adobe and Zoom.
• Experience with foster care or child welfare is helpful but not required.
• Ability to work some nights and weekends as required for Program events.

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

• Strong interpersonal skills and a desire to help people and serve the community, and ability to work well with a wide variety of people, personalities and circumstances.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively verbally and in writing with colleagues, supervisors, and groups, and particularly one-on-one with our adoption clients.

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. Preference may be given to candidates who live in (or plan to relocate to) Los Angeles County.

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 AND BENEFITS

This is a non-exempt, full-time paid position, with an hourly rate in the range of $28.20 – $30.76 DOE. 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; a retirement savings plan with company contributions to your 403(b) after one year of employment independent of employee contributions, and discounts on fitness memberships and other activities.

APPLYING

Email resume and cover letter to Nina Bailey, Human Resources Coordinator at nbailey@alliancecr.org. Due to a high volume of interest, we are not able to contact each interested applicant. No calls please. If selected for consideration, candidates will be contacted to discuss our recruitment process and next steps.

NON-DISCRIMINATION

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.

The Alliance for Children’s Rights will consider qualified applicants with a criminal history pursuant to the California Fair Chance Act. You do not need to disclose your criminal history or participate in a background check until a conditional job offer is made to you. After making a conditional offer and running a background check, if the Alliance is concerned about conviction that is directly related to the job, you will be given the chance to explain the circumstances surrounding the conviction, provide mitigating evidence, or challenge the accuracy of the background report. Find out more about the Fair Chance Act by visiting the Civil Right’s Department Fair Chance Act webpage.