Attorney, Juvenile Probation Educational Advocacy Team

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We are currently hiring for an Attorney based in Houston, Texas.

Position Summary

The Juvenile Probation Education Advocacy (JPEA) Team Attorney is charged with providing legal and technical support services to justice-involved youth, their families, and probation officers. Under the direction of, and in collaboration with, the Supervising Attorney/Coordinator of Operations, the JPEA Team Attorney exercises independent judgment within the parameters of the probation department regulations, the limited scope of the County contract for services, and according to Disability Rights Texas’ policies and procedures while completing assigned case work. This includes interviewing clients, reviewing records, conducting legal research, negotiating outcomes, and representing clients in administrative hearings and in state and federal judicial proceedings. The JPEA Team Attorney will also work with the Supervising Attorney/Coordinator of Operations to identify and address systemic issues to facilitate systemic change. The JPEA Team Attorney also develops and provides education and training sessions pertaining to legal issues that affect our client population for youth, families, probation staff and service providers, and the community.

 In accordance with certain obligations imposed upon DRTx by the governmental entity engaging us to perform contractually based services, persons employed in this position must be cleared through a thorough background investigation conducted by the Texas Department of Public Safety (or a vendor engaged by them to do so) that may include fingerprinting. Furthermore, employees will be immediately suspended if they are alleged in the course of their employment to have committed acts of abuse, neglect or exploitation of children, the elderly or persons with disabilities; or an offense against the client; an offense against the client’s family; an offense involving public indecency under Texas Penal Code; an offense under Chapter 481 of the Texas Health and Safety Code (Texas Controlled Substances Act); or any act or offense that can reasonably be associated with potential risk or harm or loss to probation involved youth. Convicted allegations may subject an employee to corrective actions up to and including termination of employment.

This job may be for you if:

• Systemic, institutionalized discrimination makes you angry.
• You recognize that there are inherent problems with the design and function of the education system itself and you want to help create solutions for justice-involved youth.
• You value diversity and see intersectionality everywhere.
• You want to remove barriers to educational success.
• You look for creative ways to address issues.

 About the Team:

• Hybrid of DRTx and Juvenile Probation
  1. Operated by DRTx Supervising Attorney/Coordinator of Operations
  2. Supported by Harris County Juvenile Probation Department Director of Education Support Services 
  3. Includes 4 DRTx Education Specialists, 1 DRTx Mental Health Specialist, and 3 Harris County Juvenile Probation Education Specialists 
  4. Team members work out of probation offices in Harris County 
• Collaborative
  1. We work together as one team
  2. We seek and provide feedback on our work 
  3. We enjoy helping teammates solve problems, celebrating their successes, and providing encouragement when things are difficult, or do not work out
  4. We rely on each other for support, encouragement, feedback, and help

Here’s what are looking for in a teammate: 

• Active license to practice law in Texas.
• Two (2) years of experience working in the field of Education, or on education-related issues. 
• Has working understanding of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and current, relevant case-law that enables the candidate to correctly analyze client situations. 
• Demonstrated legal skills including the ability to develop and evaluate facts and apply knowledge to client outcomes; the ability to analyze and apply legal rules and  principles in order to develop case strategies; the ability to conduct legal research and apply information to case strategy; the ability to conduct an investigation and gather all pertinent facts; and being able to form logical and legal conclusions from the information.
• Ability to read between the lines when analyzing situations. 
• Take direction and independently follow up on instructions and with clients, community partners, and others in timely fashion. 
• Ability to multitask, prioritize conflicting assignments, and work under challenging conditions while meeting required deadlines.
• Work well with others in a team environment in addition to working independently.
• Demonstrate the ability to learn a new way of doing something and willingness to take constructive feedback and grow. 
• Quickly learn new information and apply it to new situations. 
• Research (via legal research platforms, the internet, public records, news articles, and other resources) an issue and effectively applies findings to evaluate a situation.
• Address issues using concise written communication or conversation.
• Working understanding of intersectionality. 
• Experience assisting people in crisis. 
• Experience in public speaking and developing effective presentations.
• Follow and implement the probation department and organizational policies and procedures. 
• Detail-oriented, with follow-up skills and organizational skills.
• Working knowledge of technology, including Microsoft Office suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams) or similar and ability to learn new technology.

 Here’s what this Attorney will do! 

Assist Clients – 80%

• Provide legal services and advice to individuals eligible for Juvenile Probation Education Advocacy Program services, which may include legal advocacy, negotiation, mediation, litigation, and  handling of administrative and court proceedings.
• Investigate potential cases, review and compile evidence, and assist and/or represent clients in accordance with DRTx policy.
• Understand and apply the substantive laws, regulations, and case law to potential client situations. 
• Clearly communicate with clients, witnesses, opposing parties, and others, and document file to reflect activity in the case. 
• Conduct initial interviews with potential clients and enter information into system. 
• Provide clients advice and assist with connecting clients to resources.
• Process case opening documents, and open and close case files.
• Manage individual workload so that services are delivered timely and appropriately. 
• Address client needs through identification of systemic barriers and work to resolve those issues through systemic complaints and other advocacy-based projects. 

 Technical Assistance / Training – 20%

• Provide technical assistance on an on-going basis to justice-involved youth, their families, juvenile probation staff, private attorneys representing our client population, and community stakeholders.
• Develop materials for and conduct a selected number of presentations on the Juvenile Probation Education Advocacy Team’s services and legal rights issues.
• Develop and cultivate community contacts and relationships.
• Conduct outreach, education, and training for justice-involved youth, their families, juvenile probation staff, and community stakeholders.

 Additional Job Requirements:

• Use personal computer 6-7 hours per day.
• Use telephone, email, and conferencing systems to communicate with clients, colleagues, and other professionals, approximately 3-6 hours per day.
• Spend approximately 1-3 hours per day in meetings.
• Requires working under a moderate degree of stress (time constraints; deadlines; multi-tasking high-level projects and issues; complex issues; and conflict resolution).
• Travel around Harris County is required (30%).

 We would love a candidate that is:

• Bilingual - both written and spoken word

E-Verify Participation:

Disability Rights Texas uses E-Verify to verify the work authorization of all new hires. 

Non-Solicitation Statement

Disability Rights Texas (“DRTx”) does not accept any liability for fees for resumes from recruiters or employment agencies (“Agency”), without a binding, written recruitment agreement between DRTx and Agency describing the services and specific job openings (“Agreement”). DRTx may consider any candidate for whom an Agency has submitted an unsolicited resume and explicitly reserves the right to hire those candidate(s) without any financial obligation to the Agency, unless an Agreement is in place. Any email or verbal contacts with any person within DRTx is inadequate to create a binding agreement. Agencies without an Agreement are requested not to contact any hiring managers of DRTx with recruiting inquiries or resumes.