Staff Attorney, Early Defense

Job DetailsLevel: ExperiencedJob Location: Manhattan, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island - New York, NY 10013Position Type: Full-TimeEducation Level: Law Degree (JD)Salary Range: $86,800.00 - $107,500.00 Salary/yearTravel Percentage: NegligibleJob Category: Legal 

The Center for Family Representation Inc. (CFR) is an award-winning, innovative law and

policy organization that serves primarily Black and Brown families and youth in Queens,

Manhattan, and the Bronx with an interdisciplinary legal defense model that serves more than

2400 clients every year. CFR was originally founded in 2002 to dramatically change the

trajectory of indigent parents being prosecuted by the City’s Administration for Children’s

Services (ACS). Our goal is to defend and protect our clients’ rights, reduce the harm of family

separation and prevent or minimize the time any child spends in the foster system. CFR provides interdisciplinary family defense with a model that was unique at our founding and that is now being replicated nationally: we assign every client an attorney and a social work staff member, and teams have the support of parent advocates, who are parents with direct personal experience of being investigated and prosecuted by ACS. CFR’s Early Defense Practice represents parents during a child protective investigation (to avoid court involvement where possible) and our SCR practice assists parents in clearing their names from state maltreatment records.

 

As an agency committed to securing justice for families, we built the Youth Defense practice

(YDP) to defend youth at risk of family separation through incarceration. YDP uses the same

interdisciplinary model to represent youth being prosecuted in Queens and Manhattan in

Supreme Court Youth Parts, during Probation Adjustment and in Delinquency proceedings in

Family Court. CFR’s Home for Good program provides legal and social work services to clients

in immigration, civil legal services and criminal defense matters, to afford clients an efficient and well-coordinated one-stop solution to a range of issues that threaten family stability.

 

Recognized as experts in our fields, we annually train over 500 practitioners in the city, state and around the country on strategies to promote family preservation and interdisciplinary

representation, and we provide community based “Know Your Rights” presentations to parents,

youth and service providers. We advocate at the city, state and national level for policies that

reduce the harm of family separation, and promote parent engagement and justice for youth and

families.

 

Job Description

 

The Staff Attorney for Early Defense will be an integral part of the Early Defense practice and in helping shield or reduce harm to the CFR Early Defense client inflicted by the family policing system. The Staff Attorney will report to the Senior Staff Attorney in Early Defense. 

 

Location: This position is remote or in person in alignment with CFR’s telecommuting policy. CFR has offices in Staten Island, Lower Manhattan, the Bronx, and Queens.  This position may work out of any of these offices as needed subject to CFR’s hoteling policy. 

 

Specific Responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

 

Early Defense 


Under the supervision of the Senior Staff Attorney in Early Defense:


Conducting intake and client interviews and assess whether clients qualify for Early Defense representation, and connect to other organizations as needed;
Carry a caseload, both through Early Defense intake screening and case assignment for attorney support as appropriate, and collaborate with other Early Defense staff to provide client-centered legal advice and representation to parents during family policing system investigations and meet the objectives of clients who retain CFR for Early Defense representation;
Strategically communicate with legal representatives of respective agencies involved in a family policing investigation (i.e. DOE, Hospital, ACS, PPRS etc.);
Delivering and monitoring a variety of written and oral communications including Early Defense Retainers, Client’s Rights and Responsibilities, practice resources, internal memos, and important messaging for internal and external use;
Think creatively around strategies and practices to shield Early Defense Clients from the Family Policing System. Included but not limited to 

Use of Standby Guardianship Agreements and Designation of Person with Parental Relationship;
Advising on voluntary placements 
Drafting petitions for custody and guardianship and writs of habeas corpus.


Under the supervision of Early Defense Leadership, develop strategic relationships with other organizations that regularly interact with our client population (i.e., legal defender organizations, ACS, and other agencies) to forward the goals of the Early Defense practice and its clients;
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