Law Graduate, Youth Defense Practice, Bronx

Job Details
Job Location:    Bronx - Bronx, NY
Position Type:    Full-Time
Education Level:    Law Degree (JD)
Salary Range:    $ $ Salary/year
Travel Percentage:    Negligible
Job Category:    Legal

Description

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 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 was the first agency in the country to integrate parents with lived experience into legal teams and now has 8 parent advocates working in all four of our family defense locations. CFR's Community Advocacy Project represents parents during a child protective investigation (to avoid court involvement where possible) and 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) in 2019 to defend youth at risk of family separation through incarceration. YDP uses the same interdisciplinary model to represent youth charged with Juvenile Delinquency or being a Person in Need of Supervision (PINS) being prosecuted in the Bronx, Queens and Manhattan Family Courts. CFR's Home for Good program provides legal and social work services to CFR 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.

CFR is seeking a Law Graduate who will begin working at CFR in Fall 2025.

Responsibilities

Under the supervision and guidance of CFR's Youth Defense Supervisors, the Staff Attorney's core responsibilities will be to represent clients charged on juvenile delinquency matters in Family Court, as well as clients charged as adolescent and juvenile offenders (AO and JO) on cases in the Supreme Court Youth Parts whose cases are being removed to family court. 

The candidate will receive training on youth and family defense. 

The candidate will work collaboratively with legal teams, composed of attorneys, social work staff, investigators, and paralegals (clients' legal teams may also involve staff from CFR's immigration or housing/public benefits units). 

The candidate should also expect to maintain new and evolving youth defense data in Case Management System and client legal notes; keep files up to date; keep additional data related to deliverables for private funders supporting the Youth Defense Practice, and/or to meet with prospective and current funders; and help to inform and grow CFR's Youth Defense Practice. This person may also participate in community based outreach and presentations for families whose youth are impacted by or are at risk of juvenile justice involvement. 

The ideal candidate will enjoy the opportunity to wear multiple hats, learn a lot and enjoy working with teams.

Qualifications
Law school graduates who have taken the bar for the first time in July 2025. Demonstrate strong interpersonal and communication skills, an ability to work as part of a team and a desire to share in both the exhilaration and challenges of a growing endeavor. Prior experience with public benefits, housing, criminal defense or immigration is preferred. Fluency in Spanish or other languages and experience with public benefits, education, housing or immigration is all desirable. Individuals who apply should be able to demonstrate strong interpersonal and communication skills, a commitment to interdisciplinary representation of parents and a desire to share in both the exhilaration and challenges of a growing endeavor.

Salary & Benefits

Starting salary: $84,900

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.

CFR is a primarily in-person workforce. This role is based in our Bronx office. CFR has a generous telecommuting policy that allows staff the flexibility to work from home when there are no in-person client or organizational obligations. 

Apply

Candidates should submit their cover letter and resume through CFR's Career Portal.

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