Legal Case Assistant
Job DescriptionTHE SELECTED CANDIDATE WILL BE OFFERED A SALARY BETWEEN $59,116 - $70,023.The Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) protects and promotes the safety and well-being of children and families through child welfare and juvenile justice services and community supports. ACS manages community-based supports and foster care services, and provides subsidized child care vouchers. ACS child protection staff respond to allegations of child maltreatment. In juvenile justice, ACS oversees detention, placement and programs for youth in the community. The work of the Queens Family Court Legal Services Unit is litigation-focused and all FCLS Agency Attorney staff including supervisors and managers spend most of their time in court appearing before judges and referees on child neglect and abuse cases. When not in court, FCLS attorneys spend their time counseling Child Protective Specialists, preparing for trial or other hearings, contacting agency case-planners or Child Protective Specialists to ensure court orders are adhered to and generally engaging in all aspects of litigation. Under the general direction of the Legal Case Assistant Manager in the Queens Family Court Legal Services (FCLS) Borough Office, with some latitude for independent initiative and judgment, the Legal Case Assistant (LCA) performs work in coordinating, monitoring, and assisting the FCLS Division’s interactions with foster care agencies, preventive agencies and service providers, other divisions of ACS, opposing counsel and the court. The Legal Case Assistant is responsible for tasks including but not limited to:
Work with NYC community partners including over 25 different foster care agencies and preventive provider agencies and other providers who deliver critical services to community members, in order to address case related issues; independently determining when information is needed from a community service provider for case preparation.
Prepare compliance reports based on data in electronic legal tracking system (LTS) on court preparedness of provider agencies and other ACS divisions; making recommendations on procedures to improve court preparedness.
Draft correspondence to provider agencies and other community service providers including hospitals, healthcare providers, treatment centers, schools and educational organizations, and non-profit legal organizations; conducting legal research and drafting memorandum for judges and other family court stakeholders on behalf of FCLS. Drafting other legal documents such as subpoenas, motions and reports summarizing legal history.
Work with community service providers to coordinate receipt of court documents and reports and respond to discovery requests of family court stakeholders. Obtain documents from criminal court.
May attend case conferences and share information between community service providers (i.e. healthcare providers, educational providers, therapeutic organizations and non-profit organizations), family court participants and other ACS divisions to facilitate case resolution. Retrieve documents from the court.
Screen cases for the intake process including checking LTS, UCMS, and criminal court records.
Evaluate/access and respond to inquiries from ACS’ Divisions and Contract Agencies by reviewing CONNX records, PH Reports, Court Action Summaries, LTS, and/or UCMS, in order to ensure that accurate and appropriate information is provided by FCLS.
ADDITIONAL INFO:Section 424-A of the New York Social Services Law requires an authorized agency to inquire whether acandidate for employment with child-caring responsibilities has been the subject of a child abuse andmaltreatment report.TO APPLY:APPLICATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY USING ONE OF THE OPTIONS BELOW:For current city employees, go to Employee Self Service (ESS), Recruiting Activities, Careers and search for Job ID#638041 For all other applicants go to www.nyc.gov/careers and search for Job ID#638041 and click on the "Apply" button. If you do not have access to a computer, most public libraries have computers available for use. Only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.Qualifications
A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and two years of experience in community work or community centered activities in an area related to the duties described above; or
High school graduation or equivalent and six years of experience in community work or community centered activities in an area related to the duties as described above; or
Education and/or experience which is equivalent to "1" or "2" above. However, all candidates must have at least one year of experience as described in "1" above.
Additional InformationThe City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.