Description:
We are seeking an experienced attorney to join our Public Benefits Unit as a Deputy Director and lead our expanding Housing-Public Benefits Initiative. We are hiring as a result of new funding.Our Organization:
Bronx Legal Services, the largest provider of free civil legal services in the borough, is part of Legal Services NYC's network of local programs throughout New York City. Our mission is to advance society's promise to its most vulnerable members: that all are entitled to equal access to our legal system. For over 50 years, we have provided civil legal services that help our clients meet their essential needs and have challenged the systemic injustices that keep them poor.
Bronx Legal Services prides itself on its Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) efforts. As a social justice organization, we are committed to fighting for a workplace that is as diverse, equitable, and inclusive as possible for everyone. Our DEIB committee and numerous affinity groups work to foster collegial relationships among staff and allow staff to explore and advocate for racial justice and anti-oppression growth within our organization and through our legal work. All employees are expected to learn about, seek to understand, and work to realize our DEIB goals.
The Public Benefits Unit – Housing-Related Benefits Practice
The housing-related public benefits practice of our Public Benefits Unit (PBU) currently consists of more than 15 advocates. In partnership with our Housing Unit, our PBU fights to retain, obtain, or increase public benefits, including cash public assistance, SNAP, WIC, HASA, and rent subsidies (such as FHEPS and CityFHEPS). We also specialize in health law issues, helping people obtain or retain public health insurance and services such as Medicare, Medicaid, and home- and community-based services.
The Opportunity:
We are seeking an experienced attorney to join our PBU as Deputy Director to lead our Housing-Public Benefits Initiative. Though the Deputy Director will be joining an already established practice, the new supervisor will be leading our team's expansion, will reevaluate our current model, and ensure best practices.
In partnership with our Housing and Public Benefits Unit supervisors, the Deputy Director will shape the direction of our Universal Access to Counsel housing-related public benefits practice, handle administrative and grant responsibilities, and identify systemic benefitsrelated trends for strategic litigation.
- Supervise a team of 5-7 advocates;
- Strengthen our relationship with key community-based organizations;
- Collaborate with our Housing Unit, including the Director of Housing;
- Evaluate, assess, and reimagine our housing-related public benefits practice; and
- Create and conduct a training program for public benefits advocates.
Our ideal candidate is a superlative project manager who excels at working with teams, is an outstanding teacher and mentor, understands the bureaucratic maze that is public benefits, and recognizes the over-sized role diversity, equity, and inclusion issues play in our clients' and teams' lives.
The Deputy Director will report to the Director of our Public Benefits Unit but is expected to work closely with the Director of our Universal Access to Counsel Unit, the Director of Health Advocacy, and other supervisors in the Bronx and across LSNYC.
Experience & Qualifications:
- An attorney licensed to practice law in New York;
- Significant experience in public benefits, including command of cash public assistance, SNAP, rent subsidies, and emergency assistance grants rules, processes, and pitfalls;
- Commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) and utilization of DEIB lens in the project, work, and supervision;
- An ability to adapt quickly and correct course;
- Superlative communication and interpersonal skills, with an aptitude for building relationships with people across disciplines, job titles, and agencies;
- Grace, kindness, and empathy, particularly when under pressure, for our clients, team, and agency partners;
- Excellent teacher, facilitator, educator, trainer, coach, and mentor;
- Belief in our ability to create systemic change and commitment to working towards that goal;
- Consummate project management skills, including command of time management and organizational skills, staying on top of multiple projects, planning backward, anticipating obstacles, identifying and involving stakeholders appropriately, and using resources wisely;
- A demonstrated passion for social justice and a commitment to working with lowincome communities and communities of color to advance equity;
- Good writing skills;
- Prior experience representing tenants in nonpayment and holdover proceedings in NYC preferred; and
- Fluency or proficiency in Spanish or another language commonly spoken by NYC residents preferred.
