Staff Attorney (10+ years' experience)

Position Summary

The Youth Law Center (YLC) is excited to announce that we’re seeking a full-time staff attorney to help lead our work on behalf of youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Candidates for this position should have 10+ years’ experience as a practicing attorney, a background in leading impact litigation and advocacy efforts, and demonstrated ability as an advocate in juvenile justice, child welfare, or another closely-related field.

About YLC’s Advocacy

Attorneys at YLC utilize a variety of traditional and creative advocacy strategies, including policy advocacy; litigation; legislative and administrative/regulatory work; collaborative systems-reform campaigns; public education and media advocacy; legal and non-legal writing; training; and technical assistance. YLC’s advocacy approach is grounded in the belief that those most directly impacted by systems are best positioned to transform them. As advocates, we seek out the spaces and places where we can hear from those young people and their families and offer them the support they need to lift up the vision they have for change. We believe that change comes from deeply listening to young people and the organizations that support them, from helping them to translate their ideas into practice and policy change, and from working in partnership to move forward a new narrative about what’s needed to transform systems.

Our advocacy goals include:

• Ending incarceration of youth in juvenile justice and reimagining new approaches to youth justice
• Ending use of congregate care for youth in foster care and juvenile justice and ensuring youth receive excellent parenting
• Improving access to education, including postsecondary education, for system-involved youth
• Ensuring healthy transitions to adulthood for system-involved youth
• Advocating for improved conditions in foster care and juvenile justice

Attorneys on our legal team also engage in strategic collaboration with our non-attorney advocacy staff who work on a variety of systems-reform efforts, including YLC’s national Quality Parenting Initiative, Just Beginnings program, and California Juvenile Justice Higher Education Project.

Who We’re Looking For

We want to hear from seasoned attorneys with a strong commitment to justice for youth in foster care and juvenile justice, experience with foster care, juvenile justice or a related area, and excitement about a movement-based lawyering approach. More specifically, we’re looking for team members who are able to develop advocacy strategies, communicate effectively within and outside of the YLC team, build partnerships, create high-quality written products, and exercise their advocacy skills in areas including litigation, policy, and training.

People of color and individuals who have lived experience in the child welfare or juvenile justice system are strongly encouraged to apply.

Skills & Experience

The successful candidate for this position will have:            

• California bar licensure, or licensure in another state and willingness to obtain California licensure
• 10 or more years’ experience practicing law, utilizing a variety of advocacy strategies
• Demonstrated ability as an advocate in juvenile justice, child welfare, or a closely-related field
• Creativity, passion, and vision to challenge the status quo
• Ability to think strategically and analytically and identify policy issues
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to facilitate, write persuasively and clearly, communicate effectively with diverse populations, and to build strong partnerships and coalitions
• Strong listening skills
• Experience with and ability to work well with diverse groups of people including families and youth and a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace
• Deep commitment to elevating the voices of young people impacted by the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, and the voices of the organizations that work on their behalf
• Capacity to take initiative on identified goals, manage multiple tasks simultaneously, work independently, and meet deadlines
• Desire to be flexible, adapt to varied environments, and work as part of a team
• When public health orders and safety considerations permit, ability to travel regularly for a variety of meetings, events, and other activities

About the Youth Law Center

YLC’s mission is to transform foster care and juvenile justice systems across the nation so every child and youth can thrive. Our goal is to ensure that, whenever a system must intervene in the life of a child, that child will receive the supports, services, and excellent parenting they need to become a flourishing adult. YLC’s specific, actionable, and sustainable advocacy strategies are shaped by the voices of youth and families most impacted by these systems and are informed by research in child development, psychology, behavioral economics, marketing and branding, and adult learning. The YLC team reflects the diverse backgrounds, experiences, and skills needed to make our creative approach to advocacy successful. Find out more about us at ylc.org and qpi4kids.org.