Overview

The Bronx Defenders – an innovative, progressive, holistic legal defense office in the South Bronx – seeks a passionate advocate with a commitment to social justice to join the Early Defense Team in representing parents in the earliest stage of their child welfare case during the agency’s initial child protective investigation.

The Bronx Defenders is a public defender non-profit that is radically transforming how low-income people in the Bronx are represented in the legal system, and, in doing so, is transforming the system itself. BxD seeks thoughtful, creative, individuals with a strong commitment to social justice to join our dynamic and diverse staff. Our staff of over 400 includes interdisciplinary teams made up of criminal, civil, immigration, and family defense attorneys, as well as social workers, benefits specialists, legal advocates, parent advocates, investigators, and team administrators, who collaborate to provide holistic advocacy to address the causes and consequences of legal system involvement. Through this integrated team-based structure, we have developed a groundbreaking, nationally recognized model of representation called holistic defense that achieves better outcomes for the people we defend.

Each year, we defend more than 20,000 low-income Bronx residents in criminal, civil, family, and immigration cases, and reach thousands more through our community intake, youth mentoring, and outreach programs. Through impact litigation, policy advocacy, and community organizing, we push for systemic change at the local, state, and national level. We take what we learn from the people we represent and communities we work with and launch innovative initiatives designed to bring about real and lasting change.

Early Defense Team Family Defense Practice

The Bronx Defenders maintains a robust Legal Support Hotline that allows residents of the Bronx who need representation in family matters to receive immediate assistance. In the Early Defense Practice, our intake team assists people in the Bronx community who are being investigated by the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), invited to a child safety conference, directed to take their children to the Child Advocacy Center (CAC), asked to report to Family Court, and/or who need representation at the State Central Registry (SCR) or the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS).

Responsibilities

The Early Defense Team Family Defense Parent Advocate is responsible for working as part of an interdisciplinary legal team to represent community intake clients seeking assistance with family defense matters. The Bronx Defenders Early Defense Team also operates a 24- hour hotline where members of the community who are arrested, wanted by the police or contacted by ACS can call anytime of the day or night. The FDP Early Defense Parent Advocate will be responsible for staffing the hotline every couple weeks.

• Collaborate with lawyers, social workers, and other advocates on interdisciplinary, holistic defense teams that prioritize and center the needs of the people we defend
• Meet with walk-in community intake clients to assess and assist parents facing a child protective investigation with the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS)
• Assess the needs of the people we represent by speaking with them and conducting home and program visits to help identify home-based needs as well as benefits clients may be eligible for
• Advocate for parents at Child Safety Conferences, Family Team Conferences, and other ACS and foster agency meetings
• Assist clients in preparation for ACS/Foster Care agency conferences and/or court appearances
• Attend scheduled court hearings to support the people we represent
• Attend other meetings with clients at ACS and foster care agencies
• Conduct home and program visits to identify and support home-based needs for the people we represent
• Connect the people we represent with relevant programsfor substance use, anger management, parenting, and mental health services, and advocate with service providers
• Accompany parents to appointments throughout the Bronx and NYC to ensure seamless access to services
• Collaborate with clients and their legal teams to set goals and assess progress towards those goals throughout the pendency of their case
• Develop partnerships with service providers who can refer clients with pending ACS Investigations
• Document work in case management system and oversee data related to early defense initiatives
• Collaborate with leadership and development staff to create and submit funding reports & new applications for funding Conduct Know Your Rights trainings about the Family Regulation System with other members of the Early Defense Team
• Staff Early Defense Team hotline shifts, answering live calls and responding to voicemail and email messages as soon as possible before 9AM the next business day.
• Be available to work flexible hours, including nights and/or weekends and willingness to work as back up during staff shortages, when available

Qualifications

To be eligible, candidates must have: 

• Minimum of one year of case management/advocacy experience OR
• Two years of education in a related field 

Candidates must demonstrate: 

• Commitment to directly defending the rights of parents charged with abuse and neglect
• Understanding of how race and poverty affect parents’ experiences in the legal system
• Experience working in and with racially and socioeconomically marginalized communities
• Ability to effectively and respectfully communicate, collaborate and connect with people with various backgrounds, identities, and experiences
• Ability to work well independently as well as collaboratively with an interdisciplinary team of lawyers and non-lawyers
• Commitment to fierce advocacy, and willingness to strategically challenge authority in defense of the people we represent
• Effective advocacy skills
• Strong analytical skills and capacity to employ non-legal resources in cases
• Ability to multitask, maintain order and meet deadlines in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment 
• Meticulous attention to detail
• Ability to think critically and creatively in fast-paced settings, finding innovative solutions to unique obstacles
• Ability to receive constructive feedback, demonstrate introspection and shift behavior accordingly
• Ability to exercise excellent judgment, discretion, and confidentiality with sensitive matters
• Commitment to raising one’s cultural consciousness and challenging oppressive practices on an interpersonal and institutional level 

Preferred but not Required:

• Familiarity with family court, the child protection agencies, and/or the foster system
• Familiarity with the Bronx community
• Spanish language fluency 

This is a primarily in-person position that will require contact with staff and community members.

Salary is commensurate with experience. For candidates with 1-10 years of directly relevant experience, the salary range for this position would be approximately $57,343 to 72,626. Full-time employees are also eligible for a comprehensive benefits package including but not limited to medical, dental and vision coverage; a 403(b) plan with employer contribution; a generous vacation, sick leave, and parental leave policy; and a professional development fund. More specific information about salary and benefits will be provided when and if an offer is extended.

Approximately 70% of The Bronx Defenders' staff, including attorneys and non-attorneys, are represented by UAW Local 2325 - Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (AFL-CIO). This position is within the bargaining unit.

This position is non-exempt. By law, non-exempt employees are compensated hourly based on their annual rate and therefore are entitled to over-time, whereas exempt employees are not.

To apply, please click APPLY TO THIS JOB ONLINE and upload your resume and a cover letter in one document. If you would prefer to send in a video or audio statement in lieu of a cover letter, you may upload your resume as a document and separately upload a video or audio statement instead of a cover letter. Your cover letter or video/audio statement should share why you want to do this work at our office, some key lived and/or professional experiences that have prepared you for this position, and any additional information you would like for us to consider. Your cover letter may be up to one page if written or up to 3 minutes if an audio/video statement. This information allows us to understand your distinct perspective, experience and potential beyond the work history summarized on your resume. If selected for the position, your resume will be used to determine your salary based on your level of professional experience; we therefore encourage you to make sure this is up to date. Please remember that you may submit a written cover letter or an audio/video, but not both, and applications without a cover letter—in either written or video form—will not be considered. 

The application deadline is June 17, 2024 but applications will be considered on a rolling basis and decisions will be made as soon as appropriate candidates are identified. Please contact Noemi Cotto, Family Defense Practice Director of Social Work, via email at noemic@bronxdefenders.org with any questions regarding the position.

The Bronx Defenders is an equal opportunity employer and is cultivating an anti-oppressive workplace that embraces staff with a diversity of backgrounds, identities and experiences. We acknowledge the ways in which systemic oppression and injustice can undermine access to professional opportunities and are committed to conducting hiring and promotion processes that are equitable and accessible to those commonly excluded from the workforce. We do not discriminate against and in fact specifically encourage applicants from marginalized communities to apply, including those who identify as Black, Indigenous, people of color, queer, transgender, gender non-conforming, disabled, neurodivergent and those directly impacted by criminal, civil, family and immigration legal systems. We value lived as well as professional experience and particularly welcome applications from the Bronx community that we work with.