Education Staff Attorney

POSITION SUMMARY

The Alliance for Children’s Rights is seeking a dedicated individual to join our Education Program as a Staff 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. Our lawyers, advocates, and social workers, together with hundreds of pro bono attorneys and community volunteers, work to ensure young people in foster care, the juvenile justice system, and/or guardianships or in adoptive placements 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.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Assist children with disabilities in the child welfare and juvenile justice system, and their families, to secure the early intervention and special education services they have identified as necessary to their success in school by providing zealous advocacy in IFSP and IEP meetings, informal dispute resolution, mediations, and by filing compliance complaints with the California Department of Education
• Train and supervise pro bono attorneys, interns, and law clerks
• 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) n understanding special education and early intervention rights
• Work with the education team to identify and creatively problem solve issues related to ableism, racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. as it arises for our clients and within our internal systems and processes

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

• J.D. Degree
• 0-3 years of legal experience
• California bar admission in good standing (recent graduates who sat for the July bar are welcome to apply; a job offer will not be extended until positive bar results are achieved)
• 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.

This job description is of a general nature and is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities and duties of the position.

Key Responsibilities

• Assist children with disabilities in the child welfare and juvenile justice system, and their families, to secure the early intervention and special education services they have identified as necessary to their success in school by providing zealous advocacy in IFSP and IEP meetings, informal dispute resolution, mediations, and by filing compliance complaints with the California Department of Education
• Train and supervise pro bono attorneys, interns, and law clerks
• 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 early intervention rights
• Work with the education team to identify and creatively problem solve issues related to ableism, racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. as it arises for our clients and within our internal systems and processes

Experience and Skills

• Excellent 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 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 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

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 cover letter and resume to our Education Program Director, Jill Rowland, at Jrowland@alliancecr.org. Please include in your cover letter any relevant experiences, background, or perspective, professional or otherwise, you have in working with diverse populations and/or towards goals of equity and racial justice.

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS

To demonstrate our commitment to providing reasonable accommodations to persons who identify as having a disability, we will work with candidates throughout the hiring/interviewing process to provide reasonable accommodations. These can include but are not limited to extended time, breaks, interview questions asked verbally and visually, live transcription, modified format (e.g., teams vs. zoom) based on assistive technology needs of interviewee, such as screen readers, etc.

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 Rights Department Fair Chance Act webpage.