Social Work Supervisor, Youth Defense Practice

Overview

The Center for Family Representation, Inc., (CFR) is an award-winning, innovative law and policy organization that was founded in 2002 to dramatically change the trajectory of indigent families impacted by child welfare and to reduce the number of children entering foster care. CFR introduced a new model of legal services to parents charged with abuse or neglect: we assign every client an attorney and a social work staff member, and teams are additionally supported by Parent Advocates. CFR’s Parent Advocates are parents with direct personal experience of being impacted by the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), such as having been investigated or prosecuted by ACS or lost temporary custody of their children to foster care or otherwise due to the ACS involvement. CFR was the first agency in the country to integrate parents with lived experience into legal teams. Beginning with just a handful of staff, CFR now has more than 120 staff serving more than 2400 parents annually in Manhattan and Queens. CFR has been the primary, county-wide provider of legal services to indigent parents in Manhattan Family Court since 2007 and in Queens Family Court since 2011. 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 2019, we launched two new initiatives: a Youth Defense Practice that provides holistic, interdisciplinary defense to youth being prosecuted in the Family Court, and in the Youth Parts in Manhattan and Queens Supreme Courts; and a Community Advocacy Project, to represent parents during a child protective investigation (prior to court involvement) and to assist parents in clearing their names from state maltreatment records. We regularly train over 500 practitioners annually around the country on strategies to promote family preservation and on holistic, interdisciplinary representation and advocate at the city, state and national level for policies that promote parent engagement and justice for families.

CFR has an immediate opening for a Social Work Supervisor to help build and sustain our Youth Defense Practice (YDP). Objectives of YDP include providing high-quality, interdisciplinary representation to AO/JO and D/PINS clients, building CFR’s reputation with the Court, Corporation Counsel, District Attorneys, Probation and other agencies serving these youth, building community partnerships that benefit clients, and engaging in systemic advocacy to improve support for juvenile justice engaged youth and their families. Objectives of CFR’s YDP also include demonstrating the effectiveness of the CFR model for serving YDP clients, and reducing recidivism. CFR is committed to dismantling racist policies and practices in NYC, and continues to work on evolving into an antiracist organization. 

Primary responsibilities will include: 

• Working in partnership with the YDP Litigation Supervisor to oversee YDP, including developing and monitoring intake schedules, providing formal training to CFR’s YDP staff, developing group supervision routines where appropriate, engaging with the Court and other stakeholders on issues of practice administration; 
• Supervising 3-5 MSW and non-MSW (Family Advocate) Social work staff of varying degrees of experience, who work in interdisciplinary teams with attorneys to represent YDP clients;
• This Supervisor may also supervise a Youth Advocate (who will be a staff person with lived experience of the justice system) or Educational Advocate (both are yet to be hired);  
• Helping YDP social work staff develop mastery as well as reinforcing and building upon skills and values introduced in initial and ongoing trainings which include:
• Working collaboratively with attorneys, YDP social work staff and paralegals to represent youth in the Youth Part and Delinquency/PINS cases 
• Providing social work support and advocacy to clients 
• Preparing mitigation reports, pre-pleading memoranda, and other written advocacy materials on behalf of clients 
• Intake and client interviews, assessing clients’ needs and goals, and ensuring clients are engaged in appropriate and meaningful service plans 
• Referring clients for necessary services (mental health services, Alternative to Detention and Alternative to Placement programs, recreational or job programs) 
• Maintaining contact with service providers to obtain information for court 
• Advocating for clients with Probation during the Adjustment Process and with any service providers working with a client as a result of a parole or dispositional order 
• Keeping up to date client legal notes and entering data in CFR’s database 
• Interviewing clients and their family/community members in various settings  
• Conducting home, office and field visits (including Correctional facilities)  
• Conducting psychosocial assessments  
• Referring clients to programs (for youth – mental health services, Alternative to Incarceration and Alternative to Placement programs, recreational or job programs)  
• Providing oral and written advocacy in/for court, including testimony (fact and/or expert), especially at disposition in JD cases in family court  
• Developing dispositional service plans and recommendations to prevent out-of home placement  
• Preparing youth and their families for Probation adjustment conferences, I&R interviews, and MHS evaluations  
• Providing educational advocacy and resources for clients 

This Supervisor may carry a small caseload of clients as the assigned SW staff member on a team representing a JD/PINS or AO/JO client. The supervisor will be supervising SW staff in both Manhattan and Queens and be supervised by a SW Co-Director as well as Directors responsible for YDP. Along with all Supervisory and Senior staff at CFR, this Supervisor will work with other supervisors and senior staff as well as with the HR and Development staff, Training Supervisor, and Executive Director to inform decisions on strategic planning and overall program development, and improvement for the entire agency: in these areas, activities may include participation in administration, fundraising efforts, contract management, training, policy work, development, progressive discipline, internships, recruitment and/or hiring. 

Qualifications:

• The ideal candidate will have familiarity with the law and procedure involving AO/Youth Part and JD/PINS cases, service and education options available for system-involved youth, experience working directly with youth who have been arrested and their families, and 3 to 5 years of supervisory experience.  
• LMSW is required and SIFI eligibility 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, an aptitude for productive, team problem-solving, a commitment to interdisciplinary representation of clients and a desire to share in both the exhilaration and challenges of a growing endeavor.