Social Worker, Early Defense

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, the Bronx, and Staten Island with an interdisciplinary legal defense model that serves more than 3,000 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) and our goal is to reduce the harm of family separation and prevent or minimize the time any child spends in foster care.  CFR provides interdisciplinary family defense to parents charged by ACS 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 losing children to foster care and safely reunifying their families. CFR was the first agency in the country to integrate parents with lived experience into legal teams. In 2015, CFR expanded its practice to provide legal and social work services to parents in immigration, civil legal services and criminal defense matters.  

In addition, CFR’s Juvenile Justice Practice represents youth in Queens and Manhattan in Supreme Court Youth Parts, during Probation Adjustment and in Delinquency proceedings in Family Court.  CFR’s Early Defense Project represents parents during a child protective investigation (prior to court involvement) and assists parents in clearing their names from state maltreatment records. 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 promote parent engagement and justice for youth and families.

CFR seeks a Staff Social Worker for the Early Defense Practice. Social Work candidates must have a Masters in Social Work. 

Applicants should be able to demonstrate a strong undergraduate academic record, strong interpersonal and communication skills, a commitment to supporting families, and a desire to share in both the exhilaration and challenges of a growing endeavor.

The Staff Social Worker will work with the Social Work Supervisors, Senior Staff Attorney, and Director in the Early Defense Practice.  This position will span working with Queens, Manhattan, Bronx, and Staten Island families. A Social Work Supervisor or Senior Staff member in the project will supervise this position.  

Responsibilities May Include: 

• Providing direct social work support, advocacy and information to clients who retain CFR for Early Defense representation. 
• Conducting intake and client interviews and assess whether clients qualify for Early Defense representation, and connect to other organizations as needed;
• Maintaining contact with service providers, advocating for clients at ACS conferences, home visits, shelter meetings, DOE meetings, hospitals, and any other settings client may need support;
• Identifying supports and services that will ensure that family separation is prevented and if not preventable that familial and community resources are identified to keep children out of stranger foster care and in the community;
• Create safety plans, conduct collateral interviews to gather information about the family’s functioning, gather collateral documents and information from other systems the family may be interacting with, i.e DOE, Parole, legal service providers, probation officers, etc., as needed. 
• Tracking (in CMS - internal data collection system) and recording (in the client legal notes and in client folders) activities, outcomes and deliverables for the project, maintaining up to date information
• Ensure as smooth a transition as possible to the family defense team if an Article 10 case is filed in family court. This may include in person support for the client the day of appearance, testifying in court, and sharing of any helpful documentation and information;
• Partner with other practice areas at CFR (Family Defense, Criminal Defense, Immigration, SCR, Civil etc.) to ensure client’s needs are met which may include making referrals, providing service provider reports, and providing any information needed;
• Assisting  in efforts to conduct community outreach, presentations, and develop training materials for parents, mandated reporters, external stakeholders/partners and CFR staff;
• Participate in group supervision meetings

Social Work candidates must have a Masters in Social Work. 

Applicants should be able to demonstrate a strong undergraduate academic record, strong interpersonal and communication skills, a commitment to supporting families, and a desire to share in both the exhilaration and challenges of a growing endeavor.

Salary & Benefits  

CFR offers a generous compensation package, including a competitive base salary as well as health, 403(b) and vacation benefits. The salary, benefits, and employment policies relevant to this position are governed by the Collective Bargaining Agreement between CFR and the CFR Union, part of ALAA (Association of Legal Aid Attorneys) UAW 2325.

CFR strives to create an inclusive and antiracist environment for all of its staff, and candidates from all backgrounds are encouraged to apply; CFR is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Annualized Salary: $76,900 (L2) - $97,200 (L12)/LMSW

Location

CFR currently has offices in Manhattan, Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island. Client work and community outreach will take place in any of the NYC boroughs.

Ideal candidates will also have:

• At least 2 years of experience doing client advocacy or working in the family policing space
• Strong time management and communication skills 
• Fluency in Spanish or other languages;
• Knowledge of community resources in 1 or more of the boroughs in which CFR practices;
• Experience in community organizing and advocacy;
• Experience working in interdisciplinary teams that include attorneys and social work staff;
• Prior experience with the NYC family policing system, education, housing or public benefits’ systems or other social justice experience.

Salary : $76,900 - $97,200