Attorney - Health & Mental/Behavioral Health Focus (Staff, Senior or Directing Level)

Position Summary

The Youth Law Center (YLC) is excited to announce that we are seeking a full-time Attorney to help drive our work on behalf of youth in the foster care and juvenile justice systems through health, mental health, and behavioral health advocacy. We are interested in considering both early career applicants as well as those with significant levels of experience in the field. Candidates for this position should have a current California bar license or willingness to obtain California licensure. (Note that the Youth Law Center is an eligible legal aid organization in California for applicants who may wish to seek permission from the California State Bar to practice in the state as a Registered Legal Aid Attorney (RLAA) in lieu of seeking full bar admission.)

The Attorney will be part of a team of other attorneys and non-attorney advocates. This position will focus specifically on health, mental health and behavioral health advocacy, particularly but not exclusively in California, in support of YLC’s legal team’s broader goals to improve the lifelong outcomes of young people impacted by the foster care and juvenile justice systems. While the types and levels of responsibility will depend on the successful candidate’s seniority, the position will likely involve efforts including:

• Supporting civil legal aid providers across California through technical assistance, training and advocacy support to address the individual health-related legal needs of young people impacted by systems and their families;
• Supporting community advocates, organizers, and directly impacted youth and their families in their efforts to address the disproportionate impact of health, mental health and behavioral health policies on systems-impacted children, youth and young adults;
• Local and state-level policy advocacy related to a variety of issues impacting health equity for systems-involved children, youth and young adults;
• Educating stakeholders on new opportunities offered by state law changes and regulatory reform to support the health of systems-impacted youth people and meet their basic needs;
• Collaborating with YLC’s other projects including but not limited to the Quality Parenting Initiative and Pathways to Higher Education project teams;
• Using a variety of tools—litigation, legislation, media, and narrative change work—to improve outcomes for students impacted by the foster care and juvenile justice systems.

YLC’s legal team focuses on a variety of substantive areas, such as protecting children and youth in the foster care and juvenile justice systems from abuse and dangerous conditions in out-of-home care; ensuring that government and other agencies provide support and services (e.g., health, mental health, housing, education) to enable system-involved youth to become healthy and productive adults; preventing homelessness among systems-involved transition aged youth; and ensuring youth in both systems have individualized, developmentally appropriate parenting as well as connections to families and to their communities. This position will leverage opportunities through health, mental health and behavioral health advocacy to support all of YLC’s broader advocacy goals.

About YLC’s Advocacy

Attorneys at YLC utilize a variety of traditional and creative advocacy strategies, including policy advocacy; litigation; legislative and administrative/regulatory work; collaborative systems-reform campaigns; public education and media advocacy; legal and non-legal writing; training; and technical assistance. YLC’s advocacy approach is grounded in the belief that those most directly impacted by systems are best positioned to transform them. As advocates, we seek out the spaces and places where we can hear from those young people and their families and offer them the support they need to lift up the vision they have for change. We believe that change comes from deeply listening to young people and the organizations that support them, from helping them to translate their ideas into practice and policy change, and from working in partnership to move forward a new narrative about what’s needed to transform systems.

Our broad advocacy goals include:

• Ending incarceration of youth in juvenile justice and reimagining new approaches to youth justice;
• Ending use of congregate care for youth in foster care and juvenile justice and ensuring youth receive excellent parenting in families in their own communities;
• Improving access to education, including postsecondary education, for system-involved youth;
• Ensuring healthy transitions to adulthood for system-involved youth and access to required services to make that transition;
• Advocating for improved conditions in foster care and juvenile justice systems.

Attorneys on our legal team also engage in strategic collaboration with our non-attorney advocacy staff who work on a variety of systems-reform efforts, including YLC’s national Quality Parenting Initiative, Just Beginnings program, and Pathways to Higher Education Project.

Who We’re Looking For

We want to hear from attorneys with a strong commitment to health equity and justice for youth in foster care and juvenile justice systems, experience with advocacy in foster care, juvenile justice, education, health, youth homelessness or a related area, and excitement about a movement-based lawyering approach. More specifically, we’re looking for team members who embrace our organizational values, and who are able to develop advocacy strategies, communicate effectively within and outside of the YLC team, build partnerships, create high-quality written products, and exercise their advocacy skills in areas including litigation, policy, and training.

People of color and individuals who have lived experience in the foster care, juvenile justice, or youth homelessness systems are strongly encouraged to apply.

Skills & Experience

The list below represents what we believe to be the most important skills and experience needed for someone to be successful in this position. However, we recognize that women, people of color, LGBTQIA+ folks, and other historically economically marginalized people tend to self-select out of applying for positions if they don’t meet 100% of the listed qualifications. We encourage you to apply if you’re enthusiastic about this role, even if you don’t meet every single criterion on this list:

• Current active bar license or willingness to obtain California licensure, either through admission to the California State Bar or by applying for RLAA status
• For the Staff Attorney level – One to ten or more years of experience practicing law utilizing a variety of advocacy strategies
• For the Senior Attorney level – A minimum of five years of experience as a practicing attorney utilizing a variety of advocacy strategies, ideally with experience coordinating projects and leading small project teams or supervising staff
• For the Directing Attorney level – A minimum of ten years of experience as a practicing attorney utilizing a variety of advocacy strategies, including experience directing projects, leading teams and providing supervision, as well as supporting other organizational and team functions including, for example, fundraising and budgeting
• Demonstrated ability as an advocate in juvenile justice, foster care, education, health, youth homelessness, or a closely-related field
• Substantive experience and knowledge of civil legal practices impacting systems-involved youth, including education, public benefits, health access (especially legal entitlements related to behavioral health services), housing, foster care entries and extended care, and others
• Creativity, passion, and vision to challenge the status quo
• Ability to think strategically and analytically and identify policy issues
• Excellent interpersonal, listening, and communication skills, including the ability to facilitate, write persuasively and clearly, communicate effectively with diverse populations, and to build strong partnerships and coalitions
• Experience and ability to work well with diverse groups of people including families and youth (especially older youth with lived experience) and a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace
• Deep commitment to elevating the voices of young people impacted by the foster care and juvenile justice systems and the voices of the organizations that work on their behalf
• Capacity to take initiative on identified goals, manage multiple tasks simultaneously, work independently, and meet deadlines
• Desire to be flexible, adapt to varied environments, and work as part of a team
• Ability to travel regularly for a variety of meetings, events, and other activities

About the Youth Law Center

YLC’s mission is to transform foster care and juvenile justice systems across the nation so every child and youth can thrive. Our goal is to ensure that, whenever a system must intervene in the life of a child, that child will receive the supports, services, and excellent parenting they need to become a flourishing adult. YLC’s specific, actionable, and sustainable advocacy strategies are shaped by the voices of youth and families most impacted by these systems and are informed by research in child development, psychology, behavioral economics, marketing and branding, and adult learning. The YLC team reflects the diverse backgrounds, experiences, and skills needed to make our creative approach to advocacy successful. Find out more about us at ylc.org and qpi4kids.org.

Equal Opportunity Employer

YLC values a diverse, inclusive workforce and we provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees. All qualified applicants for employment will be considered without regard to an individual’s race, color, sex, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, body size, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, marital status, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, genetic information, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local laws.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Read our DEI statement here.

English language fluency in both written and spoken forms is required for the fulfillment of the core responsibilities of this position.

Fluency or advanced proficiency in Spanish is valuable but not required.