PARALEGAL – WELFARE LAW UNIT

Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS) is an Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity / Accessible Employer and strives to ensure that our staff members reflect the diversity of the communities we serve.

Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS) seeks to hire a full-time paralegal to join our Welfare Law Unit (WLU). The WLU uses a range of legal advocacy to enforce legal rights to cash welfare benefits, food assistance and child care benefits. The WLU’s legal advocacy includes direct representation of individual clients and their families; systemic administrative advocacy directed at targeted state and federal agencies; class action and other impact lawsuits; and legislative advocacy campaigns to expand, improve, and defend income, food, and child care programs. The WLU's clients include parents with children and single adults with disabilities. Many of our clients have experienced domestic violence or other traumas, have disabilities and/or children with disabilities, are unhoused, and are immigrants.

Core Responsibilities:

• Provide direct representation involving cash assistance benefits; SNAP food assistance benefits; subsidized child care; and disability and language access rights within these programs.
• Provide services to culturally and linguistically diverse clients in an inclusive, respectful, and trauma-informed manner.
• Specific tasks include written and oral advocacy, legal and other research, communicating effectively with clients, attention to detail, managing a caseload, and documenting case work in the client's GBLS case record.
• Support the WLU’s systemic advocacy, including use of individual cases to promote systemic change.

Qualifications:

• Ability to work effectively and inclusively with diverse clients in an accessible manner.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Demonstrated capacity to perform careful, detailed analysis.
• Ability to handle and prioritize multiple tasks.
• Ability to work independently and collaborate with other advocates, staff and community partners.
• Prior relevant experience is preferred, including experience with welfare law or another area of administrative law, or prior work in legal services or other social justice organizations. Lived experience with poverty and/or navigating safety net systems is also recognized.
• Preferred, but not required: fluency in Spanish, Haitian Creole or another language prevalent among our clients.

Salary & Benefits: The position is part of the Staff Association union. Salary is based on the union contract, with annual increases. Starting place on the salary scale is determined by work history and related experience. As of July 1, 2024, the salary range for an applicant with 4 to 6 years of experience is $50,000 - $52,000 with an additional $950 annual payment for second language ability. GBLS offers a generous benefits package, including 98% employer-paid health insurance, retirement contributions, and generous PTO (paid time off) leave.

How to Apply: Candidates should submit a cover letter, resume, and writing sample to the Human Resources Team via e-mail at jobs@gbls.org. Please refer to Job Code: WLU-PARA when applying for this position. The deadline for applying is February 5, 2025, or until the position is filled.

GBLS values diversity and encourages applicants from a broad range of backgrounds.