Staff Attorney, Family Preservation Project

Children’s Law Center is a mission-driven organization focused on providing high-quality legal services to children and families in DC.  As an organization, we envision a world in which all children have a strong foundation of family, health and education and are free from poverty, trauma, racism and other forms of oppression. Our mission is to do this work together with DC children and families, Children’s Law Center uses the law to solve children’s urgent problems today, improve the systems that will affect their lives tomorrow and strengthen our community so that change endures.  A key part of our mission is to challenge and reduce ways in which racism and other biases – structural and interpersonal – prevent each of us, our organization and the systems in which we work from providing children a strong foundation from which to thrive.    

Our greatest assets are our people.  We recognize that people with diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives fuel our ability to provide the best outcomes for our clients and our community. Staff members at Children’s Law Center advance the organization’s mission through their leadership, result-oriented mindset and commitment to cultural humility.  We are looking for individuals who like to be challenged to grow both personally and professionally and value the opportunity to make a difference in their community.  Children's Law Center's continued success depends on recruiting and retaining individuals who possess and exemplify these attributes.  

Program Description

Children's Law Center (CLC) has a long history of working with parents and caregivers to help them solve problems that threaten a child’s health, safety and well-being. By providing legal services at the right time, attorneys can lift burdens of poverty that often drain a client’s capacity to care for their child.  Through our new Families Together program, Children’s Law Center will expand the range of legal assistance provided to parents and caregivers.

Families Together supports pregnant persons, parents and caregivers in achieving their goals for their families, with the long-term outcome of mitigating the risk of child welfare involvement and ensuring children can remain safely at home.  When appointed, Families Together attorneys also achieve positive outcomes for children by representing their best interests in contested custody disputes.

To reach families, Children’s Law Center partners with community-based organizations, the Court and governmental agencies that share our commitment to strengthening DC families impacted by poverty.  The Family Preservation Project (FPP) is a partnership with DC Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) to provide critical legal advocacy to low-income families at risk of entering the abuse and neglect system and potentially having a child removed from the home.  FPP aims to prevent unnecessary removals and foster care placements, to minimize the emotional trauma caused by removal, and to keep more children with their families when those families can care for them.

Job Summary

The FPP Staff Attorney will manage a full caseload and advocate - both in and out of court - to provide interventions that support and stabilize families.  In addition to the direct legal services, the FPP Staff Attorney will train personnel from Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) and other community organizations on identifying and referring clients who need legal assistance.

Role Responsibilities

Case Handling: Advocacy

• Provide high-quality, culturally humble, trauma-informed direct legal representation.
• Zealously advocate for the client in all cases.
• Attend all hearing dates and timely file all appropriate pleadings.
• Engage in strategies to avoid family separation and entry into foster care.

Case Handling: Supervision

• Attend and actively participate in regular supervision with their supervisor to brainstorm case strategies, keep the supervisor informed and ensure quality of representation.
• Provide written materials to their supervising attorney for feedback on all written material, including trial preparation.
• Immediately report any impending or actual difficulty in fulfilling obligations to clients or Children’s Law Center (CLC) to minimize adverse consequences for clients or the organization.
• Provide assignments, training and/or supervision to law clerks, if applicable.

Case Handling: CLC Obligations

• Maintain accurate, timely data entry and document storage in CLC’s case management system.
• Adhere to program policies and protocols, including case planning notes, litigation protocol, case notes and timekeeping policy and client visitation and contact protocol to achieve positive outcomes for clients outlined in program logic models.
• Provide support to CLC’s policy team in areas of expertise to address the systemic needs of CLC’s clients.  CLC uses case stories, trend issues and client data to provide background and advocacy for legislative or interagency initiatives as well as for testimony on behalf of clients in DC Council hearings.
• Identify and elevate Targeted Appellate Strategy Issues List (TASIL) cases to supervisor and Appellate Team.

Partnerships

• Develop and lead trainings for CFSA personnel on identifying and referring clients.
• Work with CFSA and other service providers to ensure optimal outcomes for clients.

Qualifications

• Experience working with child welfare agencies.
• A demonstrated commitment to social, economic and racial justice.  
• Strong legal analysis, research, writing and oral advocacy skills.
• Ability to be self-reflective and give and receive constructive and corrective feedback.
• Excellent organizational and time management skills.
• Exceptional interpersonal, communication and relationship-building skills.
• Demonstrated capacity to work independently and collaboratively.
• Ability to proactively identify issues and work to find creative solutions in the face of obstacles.
• Strong independent judgement and decision-making.

Required Skills and Experience

• JD and DC Bar membership or immediate eligibility to waive in required.
• A minimum of one year of legal practice, which must include experience in at least one of the following issue areas: child welfare, housing, custody, child support, domestic violence and/or public benefits.

Organizational Competencies

• Cultural Humility – an openness to self-reflection and to understanding and respecting other cultural experiences and points of view and viewing individuals as experts in their own culture and experiences.
• Giving and Receiving Feedback – the ability to be self-reflective, give and receive appreciative, coaching, constructive, interpersonal and evaluative feedback.
• Conflict Management – a process which is designed to guide individuals and groups from the moment of conflict to the implementation of an identified solution.  This process incorporates skills and techniques, including recognizing points of conflict, identifying the facts and feelings involved to get to the root of the issue, investigating equitable solutions, implementing and evaluating solutions, and supporting and guiding others throughout the process.

Salary and Benefits 

The salary for this position ranges from $67,980 to $76,512 annually based on relevant experience. Children’s Law Center offers a generous benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, and short- and long-term disability insurance; employer-provided retirement contributions; flexible spending plans; and vacation, sick, holiday, family and medical leave. You can find more details about Children’s Law Center’s comprehensive benefits package at https://childrenslawcenter.org/get-involved/careers/employee-benefits/. 

Candidates who indicate bilingual proficiency in English and Spanish will be asked to complete Spanish language testing. After hiring, full-time employees in this role who are proficient in Spanish are eligible for a $5,000 bonus. 

Children’s Law Center is a 501(c)(3) organization. Employees with federal student loan debt can apply for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. For more information, go to https://myfedloan.org/borrowers/special-programs/pslf. Additionally, the DC Bar Foundation’s Loan Repayment Assistance Program provides renewable one-year, interest-free, forgivable loans up to $12,000 per year for qualified Children’s Law Center attorneys. For more information, see https:/dcbarfoundation.org/lrap/. 

Application Instructions 

To apply, please submit a resume via CLC's careers page (https://childrenslawcenter.org/get-involved/careers/). 

Children’s Law Center is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment. If you believe that you need accommodation to search for, or apply for, one of our positions please send an email to Jobs@ChildrensLawCenter.org. In your email, please include the accommodation you are requesting and the job title you are applying for. It may take up to three business days to receive a response to your request. 

Hybrid Working Conditions 

Children’s Law Center is currently operating on a hybrid work schedule. Employees are required to work in-person from Children’s Law Center’s office a minimum of two days per week. At least one of these days must be either Tuesday or Wednesday. The hybrid work schedule is subject to change based on organizational needs and/or best practices for health and safety. Hybrid work expectations may vary depending upon role responsibilities. 

Work Authorization

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S.  Children’s Law Center is unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time.

Background Checks 

Candidates who receive a conditional offer of employment will be subject to a background check. 

EEO 

Children’s Law Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunities for all applicants and existing employees. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to ancestry, age, color, disability, genetic information, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, military or veteran status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, and any other basis protected by federal, state, or local law, ordinance, or regulation. In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.  We invite you to visit our website to learn more about our company and our career opportunities (https://childrenslawcenter.org/get-involved/careers/). 

DEI Statement 

Children’s Law Center is dedicated to building a world that is inclusive in approach and has equal opportunities and equitable outcomes for all. Our organization is committed to developing and supporting a robustly diverse, equitable, inclusive and anti-racist community, where all members can create and feel a sense of belonging. Through our collective deliberate efforts, we work toward racial and social justice for children and families in DC.