Social Work Intern- Generalist

About Cabrini Green Legal Aid

Cabrini Green Legal Aid (CGLA) was established in 1973 to serve the legal needs arising from the lack of opportunity, criminalization of poverty, and racial inequity experienced within Chicago's Cabrini Green public housing community. Since then, CGLA has grown beyond a single neighborhood to become a citywide, countywide, and statewide leader in proactively filling the void of legal representation, wraparound services, legal information and resources, and advocacy exclusively for low-income individuals negatively impacted by the criminal legal system. Any engagement with the criminal legal system can greatly disrupt an individual, family, and community's quality of life.

CGLA is distinguished among legal aid service providers locally, throughout Illinois, and nationally as having expertise in legal matters related to the direct and collateral consequences of the criminal legal system. Since 2014, we have been the sole legal aid services provider serving Cook County with the distinction of focusing exclusively on individuals and families who have been adversely impacted by the criminal legal system in all legal program areas: criminal records, emerging adults, criminal defense, housing law, and family law. We provide direct legal services, advocate for policy reforms, and provide legal information and resources to other legal aid organizations, pro bono attorneys, and the general public. We also support our clients holistically with wraparound social services from our social workers. Our policy and advocacy work is not performed as a separate entity; rather it is informed by our legal services and the lived experiences of our Leadership Council, an Advisory Group made up of former CGLA clients and community members directly impacted by the criminal legal system.

CGLA’s Mission, Purpose and Vision

• Mission: We provide holistic legal services that include social support services and advocacy for individuals and communities negatively impacted by the criminal legal system.
• Purpose: CGLA exists to remove barriers to equity in the criminal legal system.
• Vision: A more just and equitable criminal legal system.

Position Overview 

The Social Work Intern is primarily responsible for providing responsive and intensive case management to clients across all of CGLA’s legal programs, managing a caseload in addition to other duties as assigned. In addition to providing direct services, the Social Work Intern engages with CGLA’s network of partner agencies and other social service organizations to achieve successful client outcomes. The Social Work Intern at CGLA serves as part of an interdisciplinary team, addressing the holistic needs of our clients as they receive legal services from CGLA staff attorneys. By targeting the root causes of legal problems, Social Work Intern addresses key domains related to engagement with the criminal legal system to assist in achieving the legal goal and to support the client throughout their legal case. 

Essential Duties 

Program Responsibilities  

• Engage effectively with both clients and attorneys as an integral part of CGLA’s interdisciplinary team approach to serving clients, including intake processes and case conferencing. 
• Engage with clients and the assigned attorney to define legal goals and outcomes. 
• Learn and demonstrate knowledge of procedural posture for legal cases to best support clients and attorneys. 
• Contribute to mitigation packets, provide ongoing support in court, and participate in conferences related to the client’s legal case. 
• Assist in the implementation and periodic revision of the evidence-based holistic assessment model for CGLA clients. 
• Support a continuous quality improvement plan for monitoring and enhancing the quality of services being provided by the Client Support Services program at CGLA. 
• Maintain client confidence and protect operations by keeping information confidential. 
• Support operations by following policies and procedures; participating in quality reviews; reporting changes as needed.  
• Perform other duties as assigned.  

Direct Client Engagement