Healthcare Staff Attorney

Healthcare Staff Attorney

POSITION SUMMARY

The Alliance for Children’s Rights is seeking a mission-driven, dedicated individual to join our organization as our Health Care Staff Attorney. This is an exempt full-time position.

ABOUT THE ALLIANCE

The Alliance for Children's Rights is a nonprofit organization that provides free, holistic, legal services and advocacy to youth and families impacted by child welfare and juvenile justice systems in Los Angeles County. Our lawyers, advocates, and social workers, together with hundreds of pro bono attorneys and community volunteers, work to ensure young people in foster care and guardianships can overcome barriers to stability and success and access to the education, healthcare, and financial supports they need. Since 1992, we have helped over 170,000 children and young adults. For more information visit: www.allianceforchildrensrights.org.

To advance our mission of stability, equity, and justice for young people across the state, the Alliance also identifies systemic issues and barriers that impact our clients, and advocates for broad solutions and improvements through ground-breaking child welfare policy reform at the state and local levels.

WHAT YOUR IMPACT WILL BE

The Health Care Attorney will advise, advocate for, and represent children and youth impacted by the child welfare system, to help them obtain equitable health care, medical services, and benefits. This Attorney will assist children and young adults in or who have been in foster care or guardianships in obtaining and maintaining health insurance coverage, appropriate health and mental health services, and specialized care for children with disabilities or developmental delays. Legal representation will include challenges to Medi-Cal denials and appeals of other health related benefits.

The Health Care Attorney also will serve as the staff attorney for the Alliance’s Medical-Legal Partnership (MLP) with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Outpatient Center’s Medical Hub Clinic (the MLK Clinic), making Alliance services available to caregivers and youth who come to the clinic. The attorney will train MLK Clinic personnel as well as caregivers, youth, and child welfare stakeholders on issues including health care coverage, services, medical consents, and confidentiality.

KEY Responsibilities

• Assist medical providers, youth, and caregivers with issues of medical consent, Medi-Cal coverage, eligibility for early developmental services, specialized care support, and home approvals for children with medical or developmental needs.
• Serve as staff attorney for the MLK Clinic, screening potential clients, providing legal advice and representation to patients, collaborating to connect patients to other Alliance programs, conducting trainings, creating reference materials, and working with Alliance social workers and other staff to connect youth, caregivers, and medical staff with resources.
• Represent child welfare impacted caregivers and youth to obtain medical services through Treatment Authorization Requests and at administrative hearings to appeal denials of Medi-Cal or other health related benefits.
• Work with the Alliance’s Pro Bono Director to develop, implement, and manage legal support for this Program, including materials, training, supervision, and technical assistance for student interns and pro bono attorneys.
• Assist with the supervision of Intake, identify legal issues and strategies, and train and provide guidance to student interns and staff.
• Develop and maintain program materials for clients, pro bono attorneys, and the community.
• Conduct community trainings, and work with service providers and community partners, to maximize support for families and children.
• Collaborate with colleagues to identify critical resources for caregivers, young adults, and children that will support their stability and wellbeing.
• Work with the Alliance’s policy team to identify systemic issues and provide information to support the Alliance’s systems change work.
• Work with the Alliance's development, communications, direct services, and administrative staff to provide data and information to support funding opportunities, complete grant applications and reports, and evaluate and share the impact of our work.
• Perform other duties as required.

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE WILL POSSESS

• J.D. degree (required)
• California bar admission in good standing
• Experience advocating for physical or mental health care, Medi-Cal, Medicaid, or other health related benefits
• Prior experience working in a medical field or reviewing medical records
• Understanding of the healthcare and insurance systems

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

• Excellent written and oral communication, active listening, and presentation skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with clients, attorneys, medical staff, child welfare professionals, the judiciary, and members of the public
• Excellent organizational skills, with the ability to work independently and manage competing tasks in a fast-paced environment
• A strong work ethic, dedication, and enthusiasm for taking on responsibility
• Demonstrated ability to work as team member with a pleasant and collegial approach.
• Commitment to social justice
• Experience and comfort building rapport and working effectively with families, children, and young adults

This job description is of a general nature and is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities and duties of the position.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

This position will regularly report to the MLK Clinic on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis to be determined. On other days, with the exception of in-office meetings with clients, colleagues, or community partners, and to the extent that this position allows for telework, this position may work remotely from home. Employees may be asked to return to work at the office at the employer’s discretion.

Vaccination Requirement 

The Alliance is committed to prioritizing and safeguarding the health and wellbeing of our employees, their families, our clients, and members of our community against the COVID-19 coronavirus. In response to COVID-19 and the increased transmissibility with recent variants, and to support a safe environment for everyone, all new Alliance employees must provide documentation confirming they are fully vaccinated, and or evidence of an approved qualifying medical exemption or religious held belief exemption at the time of hire. 

Salary Range

This is an exempt, full-time paid position, with target starting annual salary in the range of $75,000 - $79,000 DOE.

Benefits

Benefits include generous vacation and paid holidays; comprehensive health plans covering 100% of the employee cost of medical, dental and vision insurance; life insurance; flexible spending accounts for childcare and health expenses; a retirement savings plan with company contributions to your 403(b) after one year of employment independent of employee contributions, and discounts on fitness memberships and other activities.

Applying

Email resume and cover letter to Human Resources at careers@alliancecr.org. Due to a high volume of interest, we are not able to contact each interested applicant. No calls please. If selected for consideration, candidates will be contacted to discuss our recruitment process and next steps.

The Alliance for Children’s Rights is committed to building and supporting a culturally diverse and inclusive environment that values all staff members’ backgrounds and perspectives in our work. We strongly encourage individuals from all traditionally underrepresented communities to apply. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. We are an Equal Employment Opportunity employer, and prohibit discrimination against employees or applicants because of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, veteran status, or any other unlawful basis.

The Alliance for Children’s Rights will consider qualified applicants with a criminal history pursuant to the California Fair Chance Act. You do not need to disclose your criminal history or participate in a background check until a conditional job offer is made to you. After making a conditional offer and running a background check, if the Alliance is concerned about conviction that is directly related to the job, you will be given the chance to explain the circumstances surrounding the conviction, provide mitigating evidence, or challenge the accuracy of the background report. Find out more about the Fair Chance Act by visiting the Civil Right’s Department Fair Chance Act webpage.