Attorney in Charge - CAFL Transition Age Youth Office

Overview:

The Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS), the public defender agency for Massachusetts, is excited to announce the opening of a Transition Age Youth Office, a new initiative in the Children and Family Law Division “conflicts office,” the Family Justice Advocates. We are seeking an experienced attorney to be the first Attorney in Charge. The Attorney in Charge will lead and supervise a multidisciplinary team, committed to improving representation and advocacy for the specific issues young adults and transition age youth face when caught up in the family regulation system.

The Transition Age Youth Office will open as a fully remote office until office space is procured. The final office location is expected to be in Framingham but may be located in other Metro West or Greater Boston area locations.

We fight for equal justice and human dignity by supporting our clients in achieving their legal and life goals. We zealously advocate for the rights of individuals and promote just public policy to protect the rights of all.

Our Values

C ourage • A ccountability • R espect • E xcellence

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION MISSION STATEMENT

CPCS is committed to protecting the fundamental constitutional and human rights of our assigned clients through zealous advocacy, community-oriented defense, and the fullness of excellent legal representation. We are dedicated to building and maintaining strong professional relationships, while striving to accept, listen to and respect the diverse circumstances of each client, as we dedicate ourselves to meeting their individual needs. It is our CPCS mission to achieve these goals, and in furtherance thereof, we embrace and endorse diversity, equity and inclusion as our core values as we maintain a steadfast commitment to: (1) Ensure that CPCS management and staff members represent a broad range of human differences and experience; (2) Provide a work climate that is respectful and supports success; and (3) Promote the dignity and well-being of all staff members. CPCS leadership is responsible for ensuring equity, diversity, and inclusion. The ability to achieve these goals with any level of certainty is ultimately the responsibility of each member of the CPCS community.

AGENCY OVERVIEW

CPCS is the state agency in Massachusetts responsible for providing an attorney when the state or federal constitution or a state statute requires the appointment of an attorney for a person who cannot afford to retain one. The agency provides representation in criminal, delinquency, youthful offender, family regulation, guardianship, mental health, sexually dangerous person, and sex offender registry cases, as well as in appeals and post-conviction and post-judgment proceedings related to those matters.

The clients we represent are diverse across every context imaginable and bring many unique cultural dimensions to the matters we address. This reality creates a critical need for CPCS staff to be culturally competent and able to work well with people of different races, ethnicities, genders and/or sexual orientation identities, abilities, and limited English proficiency, among other protected characteristics.

OFFICE OVERVIEW

The Transition Age Youth (TAY) Office is a new advocacy unit that provides multidisciplinary support in matters involving transition age youth across the state. We aim to address the varied and complex needs of a vulnerable population. In addition to case support and training, the defense teams provide limited direct client representation.

The TAY Office promotes and supports attorneys to provide holistic and high-quality representation of transition age youth throughout the Commonwealth. Attorneys in the TAY Office focus their advocacy on Care and Protection cases for children ages 14-22 and their siblings, Children Requiring Assistance, and Permanency for Young Adult (PYA) cases where youth are in DCF’s continued responsibility pursuant to G.L. c. 119, § 23(f). This new office will be comprised of an Attorney in Charge, trial attorneys, a social worker, an administrative assistant, and a peer support specialist.

The Transition Age Youth office is part of Family Justice Advocates (FJA), CAFL’s “conflicts trial office.” FJA provides legal representation to children and indigent parents and guardians in family regulation cases in which (a) a CAFL staff attorney in a non-conflict office has been appointed to another party to the case or (b) a conflict of interest prevents CAFL staff attorneys in non-conflict offices from representing any party in the case.

The Transition Age Youth Office will open as a fully remote office until office space is procured. The final office location is expected to be in Framingham but may be located in other Metro West or Greater Boston area locations.

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Attorney in Charge (AIC) will play a significant leadership role by assisting in the opening of this new office. The AIC will oversee the TAY Office to fully address the legal needs of the office’s clients as well as providing support and training to the Children and Family Law private panel attorneys. The AIC will also help with the management of FJA as a whole, representing individual clients, and working closely with the private bar and Massachusetts courts to build a strong community of family regulation defenders.

The AIC must be an experienced manager who excels at supporting, mentoring, and motivating legal and other office staff; developing processes that facilitate the efficient and effective delivery of legal services by staff; and leading teams that work closely with children and young adults who are experiencing governmental interference.

The AIC will report to the Family Justice Advocates Managing Director. The AIC will be expected to participate in regular meetings with other FJA AICs, the local CAFL Resource Attorneys, other CPCS divisions, and the CAFL management team. The AIC also will collaborate extensively with private assigned counsel.

MINIMUM ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS

• Eligible to practice law in Massachusetts, either as a member of the Massachusetts bar in good standing or as a member of the bar in another jurisdiction eligible to engage in the practice of law under SJC rule 3:04;
• A minimum of seven years’ experience as an attorney, including at least 5 years handling family regulation cases;
• Ability to travel to courts, clients’ homes, and other locations not easily accessible by public transportation; and,
• Access to home internet access sufficient to work remotely.

QUALIFICATIONS/SKILLS

The ideal candidate will possess many of the following professional and personal abilities, attributes, and experiences:

• Commitment to serving low-income, diverse populations;
• Experience successfully employing an anti-racist/anti-oppression lens to ensure a diverse, equitable working environment, including collaboration with coworkers to create diverse teams that reflect the communities served;
• Success at leading, managing, developing, and directing high-energy legal teams, as well as other managerial experience;
• Supervisory experience;
• Ability to model best practices for the representation of children, parents, and other caretakers in accordance with CPCS Performance Standards;
• Desire and proven ability to promote client empowerment;
• Experience or specialized knowledge from working with clients of all ages, races, and backgrounds, including but not limited to LGBTQIA clients, survivors of trauma, people with disabilities, indigent clients, and other vulnerable populations;
• Superb organizational skills and time-management abilities, including the ability to handle and manage a variety of priorities;
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills;
• Ability to understand and handle sensitive and confidential information;
• High-level writing, analytical, and oral advocacy skills; and,
• Ability to maintain the optimism, humor, integrity, patience, and perseverance necessary to ensure that office staff provide clients with high quality legal services.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Management and Leadership Responsibilities:

• Training, supervising, and evaluating trial attorneys, including a LGBTQ+ specialist, social workers, a peer support specialist, and an administrative assistant;
• Assigning cases and other work within the office;
• Generating management reports;
• Attending meetings with CAFL/FJA administrative staff and staff in other CAFL/FJA offices to discuss management issues and child welfare policy and practice issues;
• Providing direct support to child welfare attorneys through advisory case support, requests for assistance, and ongoing regionally based training;
• Helping private attorneys through trainings and providing technical assistance;
• Developing and presenting trainings statewide on issues impacting young adults and adolescents;
• Participating in state and local coalitions to drive policy reform for Transition Age Youth and young adults;
• Developing and maintaining strong working relationships with local courts, bar associations, CAFL Resource Attorneys, DCF, DYS, DESE, Community Resource Centers, Probation Offices, Family Preservation Project offices, and other organizations and stakeholders in juvenile and family regulation matters;
• Identifying systemic problems and developing strategies for addressing those problems;
• Identifying and creating professional development opportunities for trial office attorneys and support staff; and,
• Other duties as assigned.

Client Representation Responsibilities:

• Visiting and interviewing adolescents, young adults, and their sibling clients;
• Pre-trial investigation and discovery, including locating and interviewing witnesses, reviewing documentary evidence, and consulting with experts and other service providers;
• Legal research and writing;
• Advocating through the internal DCF administrative processes;
• Representing clients in pretrial proceedings, hearings, trials, and interlocutory appeals;
• Advocating with DCF and other providers for appropriate services for clients and other family members; and
• Coordinating advocacy with CPCS, CAFL, and FJA social work staff.

EEO Statement

The Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnicity, sex, disability, religion, age, veteran or military status, genetic information, gender identity, or sexual orientation as required by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and other applicable federal and state statutes and organizational policies. Applicants who have questions about equal employment opportunity or who need reasonable accommodations can contact the Chief Human Resources Officer, Sandra DeBow-Huang, at [email protected].