ROOT & REBOUND SEEKS REENTRY HOTLINE & DIRECT SERVICES STAFF ATTORNEY
Focused on the Transition from Incarceration into Community
About Root & Rebound: Root & Rebound (R&R) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, based in Oakland, CA, that works to restore and protect the rights, dignity, and opportunities of formerly incarcerated people and people impacted by the criminal justice system.
With offices statewide and launching nationally, our mission is to transfer power and information from the policy and legal communities to the people most impacted by the criminal justice system--through public education, direct legal services, and policy advocacy--so that the law serves, rather than harms, low-income communities and communities of color in the United States. R&R has a holistic approach to dismantle the two-tiered system of injustice in this country, working in rural and urban communities, and across all areas of life, including housing, employment and occupational licensing, family reunification, parole and probation advocacy, court debt, record expungement, and more. Learn more at www.rootandrebound.org.
Commitment: Full-time position, starting Fall 2019.
Location: Based in Oakland, CA, with occasional travel.
About the Reentry Hotline and Direct Services Attorney Position:
R&R seeks a Staff Attorney to focus on supporting people leaving prison statewide, who are most vulnerable in their early days and months after release and reach out to Root & Rebound needing strong and time-sensitive support.
In this role, the Attorney will coordinate the day-to-day operations of R&R’s Friday reentry legal hotline; serve as “attorney of the day” for non-hotline days; support walk-in clients in the Oakland office; and ensure that R&R’s legal work in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Fresno, the Bay Area, and Tribal regions in Northern California are maximizing the support we bring to people in that early phase of reentry.
The attorney will be given rigorous training on practicing on the reentry legal hotline and as a reentry legal generalist, working across 11 key areas of law and life in a holistic practice designed to be responsive to the needs of people and families impacted by the War on Drugs and mass incarceration. Trainings will include orientation from R&R’s senior attorneys and leadership team, and a high level of ongoing supervision, continuing education, professional development opportunities, and ongoing support of 1:1 management check ins, weekly case consult meetings, team meetings, and more.
Over time, this role will likely include moving from coordinating to fully managing our Friday reentry legal hotline, along with legal fellow(s), law clerks, and/or other supporting team members. Being a small and growing organization, there are many opportunities for leadership growth and advancement at R&R.
Responsibilities & Duties:
The Reentry Hotline & Direct Services Attorney’s responsibilities & duties include, but are not limited to, the following:
Direct Legal Services:
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Serve as a frontline support on R&R’s weekly Reentry Legal Hotline: conduct legal intakes with currently and formerly incarcerated callers; help callers identify and navigate solutions; advocate for clients; and help maintain a strong referral and resource database for the Hotline. Focusing on people who are making the early transition from incarceration into community, lead the hotline team in identifying community organizations and additional supports that would enhance success in reentry.
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Develop responsive and proactive strategies to support the success of individuals with complex and/or urgent reentry legal needs, with a focus on ensuring the success of people who are preparing for and recently released from incarceration.
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Develop a strong inside-out connection in Root & Rebound’s work, connecting people preparing for release with our existing legal programs teams in Oakland, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Fresno, and in the tribal regions of Northern California, and streamlining people’s connection to R&R and other outside resources in the early days and months after their release. Support and collaborate with Root & Rebound’s In-Prison Programs Attorney and In-Prison Programs Coordinator to ensure streamlined and robust referrals and warm hand-offs between Root & Rebound and social and other services statewide.
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Develop resources, educational material, and systems/protocols to ensure people approaching release and recently released people are informed of and connected to relevant services in their community.
Public Education, Resource Development, and Partner-based Trainings:
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Provide resources and training/education to partners, including directly impacted people, their families, service providers, employers, community supervision officers, attorneys, and other agencies supporting people with records, to have the tools and know-how to navigate reentry legal barriers, with a strong focus on increasing the capacity of service providers who work with people in the early days and months after release from incarceration.
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Assist in the creation and updating of R&R’s legal resources, such as R&R’s“know-your-rights” guide and toolkits, fact sheets, training slides and videos, etc.
General Programmatic and Administrative Support:
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Assist with proactively recruiting and managing a diverse, robust group of R&R volunteers, including pro bono attorneys, law students, undergraduate, and non-legal volunteers, in support of all of our legal programs.
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Track client and programmatic data and outcomes.
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Maintain organized files, systems, and databases for all of R&R’s legal programs.
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Assist with R&R’s development and fundraising activities, as needed.
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Attend local, state, and national conferences related to R&R’s work, as needed.
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Respond professionally and promptly to dynamic and ever-shifting programmatic demands in a startup environment, working collaboratively with our small but mighty team of reentry attorneys.
Qualifications:
The ideal candidate has the following qualifications:
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Licensed attorney, and in good standing, in California.
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1-5 years of experience practicing in public interest law.
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Experience providing wraparound legal and social support to clients.
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Strong communicator, good listener, and great issue spotter.
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Ability to research and synthesize complex legal information and distill into lay terms.
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Strong attention to detail and ability to maintain organized and documented case files.
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Able to prioritize work effectively and excellent time-management.
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Independent, self-motivated, self-starter.
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Demonstrated commitment to social, racial, and criminal justice.
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Positive, professional, and humble attitude.
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Strong work ethic, resilience, determination, reliable, positive attitude, and good sense of humor.
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Creative, enthusiastic, and willing to learn and try new things.
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Bi-lingual or multi-lingual is a plus.
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Driver’s license required.
Compensation & Benefits: This position will begin as a full-time position with a competitive salary scale commensurate with experience (the R&R scale starts at $62,000 for entry level attorneys) . R&R provides employment benefits that include medical, vision, and dental care, as well as the payment of state bar fees, professional and management training, and some CLE courses, plus 3 weeks (15 days) of PTO, and an additional 2 weeks of PTO for holiday closures.
Application Instructions: To apply for this position, please send a resume, cover letter, at least two short writing samples where you were the primary author (one legal and one non-legal), and at least three references with contact information in an email directed to K.C. Taylor at [email protected]. Resumes without a cover letter, writing samples, and references will not be reviewed. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled. No phone calls, please.
Root & Rebound is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages applications from all qualified individuals including formerly incarcerated and/or system-involved individuals, people of color, persons with disabilities, ethnic and religious minorities, women, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and gender variant individuals. We depend on a diverse team to accomplish our mission!