Legal Assistance to the Elderly (LAE) seeks a Social Service Advocate who will work with our Licensed Clinical Social Worker and our housing attorneys to provide support to clients facing eviction. This interdisciplinary team collaborates in case assessment, strategy, and management. This position requires a strong advocate with excellent organizational skills, a willingness to work collaboratively across legal and social work disciplines, and a desire to help grow an exciting and challenging new endeavor of integrating social workers into a legal organization.
For more than 40 years, LAE has provided free legal advice and representation to seniors and adults with disabilities in San Francisco. Our mission is to protect and advance the right of San Francisco’s seniors and adults with disabilities to be housed, healthy, financially stable, and safe. Our primary practice areas are Housing Preservation/Eviction Defense, Benefits and Healthcare Advocacy, Physical and Financial Elder Abuse Prevention, Consumer Rights and Protection, and End of Life Planning. LAE is a friendly and collaborative work environment.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
- Excellent verbal, writing, and organizational skills
- A demonstrated ability to work well both independently and as part of a team
- Aptitude to work under pressure in an empathetic and professional manner
- Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to work effectively with diverse client groups, including people in crisis, seniors, people with disabilities including mental health, people of color, people who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness, immigrants, non-English speakers, service providers, government employees, and community partners
- An interest in being part of an interdisciplinary team working with attorneys to support clients to prevent homelessness
- Must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (including boosters) unless the applicant has a valid medical reason for not being fully vaccinated or a sincerely held religious belief preventing vaccination.
HIGHLY DESIRABLE
- Bilingual in English and Spanish, Cantonese and/or Mandarin
- Experience working with elderly, veterans, adults with disabilities and/or homeless individuals or those experiencing a crisis
- Experience working or volunteering with social service or non-profit organizations
- A commitment to contributing to your community and advancing justice for seniors and adults with disabilities
DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
- Work collaboratively with attorneys and LAE Licensed Clinical Social Worker in assessing and meeting the psychosocial and legal needs of housing clients
- Work with tenants at risk of eviction to address risks to their housing
- Help clients connect with appropriate social services and support, including housing support services, physical and mental health services and substance abuse treatment
- Provide housing resources to clients and stay current with available housing waitlists
- Provide direct assistance in completing housing applications
- Provide case management, crisis intervention and support to clients, with support and supervision from LAE Licensed Clinical Social Worker
- Support clients in identifying their needs, setting goals, and developing structured plan for achieving those goals
- Meet clients in various settings, such as at home, court, and other community-based settings
- Develop relationships with local social service organizations and agencies
- Provide advocacy for clients in non-legal settings (i.e., local housing authorities, social service offices, community-based organizations)
- Advocate on clients' behalf with housing providers,
- Provide referrals to and collaborate with community based organizations such as In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) and Adult Protective Services (APS)
- Work with clients to access rental assistance and on-going subsidies
- Complete administrative tasks, such as those related to grant management, reporting, and client case management
- Additional tasks as assigned by Supervisor
SUPERVISED BY
LAE Licensed Social Worker
WORKING CONDITIONS
The position requires working with individuals during moments of extreme stress and instability. The position also requires the provision of culturally-sensitive and empathetic services. Some evening and weekend work may be required.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
- Prolonged sitting/standing
- Extensive typing/data entry
- Close visual acuity to prepare and analyze data, text, and figures
- Prolonged computer use
UNION MEMBERSHIP
After successful completion of a probationary period (90 days), membership in the National Organization of Legal Services Workers becomes a condition of employment.
COMPENSATION
We offer a family friendly environment, and compensation based on competitive public interest salaries along with a generous benefits package. The salary based on Union Scale starting at $53,000 to $60,000 (placement on scale is primarily determined by years of related experience). There is a salary stipend for fluency in a second language that is regularly used in LAE’s legal practice and an additional stipend after two years working at LAE. LAE’s benefits package includes 100% employer covered medical, dental, and life insurance for employees and dependent children and up 75% for spouses; LAE student debt reimbursement program; employer paid CA Bar license and/or social work license fees; 401k retirement plan with annual LAE contribution; and a Staff Wellness Fund. LAE has a generous paid leave policy which includes: sick leave; parental leave; compensation time, 19 holidays each year; and vacation (starting at 15 days and increasing with additional years of employment).
E-MAIL RESUME AND COVER LETTER TO: [email protected]
If you find that you meet many of the qualifications in the job description, we encourage you to apply and explain in your cover letter why your experience would make you a good fit for the position. We recognize that organizations may miss out on strong applicants who screen themselves out of the process because they do not meet every qualification and that disproportionately impacts people from historically marginalized backgrounds. We know that our greatest strengths come from the people who make up our team and a welcoming, inclusive and culturally diverse staff allows us to best serve our community. We look forward to your application.
LAE seeks to fill all positions with people who share our values, including our organizational commitment to diversity. We encourage all interested individuals to apply—especially people of color; women; people from low-income backgrounds; people with disabilities; people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary; or anyone belonging to any other federal or state protected category. We believe that all persons are entitled to equal employment opportunity, and are committed to not discriminating on any basis prohibited by applicable law.
APPLICATIONS WILL BE CONSIDERED UNTIL THE POSITION IS FILLED. THOSE SELECTED FOR AN INTERVIEW WILL BE NOTIFIED.
