TEAMCHILD
TeamChild is a nationally recognized nonprofit legal aid organization serving youth across Washington
State, with office locations in Seattle, Tacoma, Yakima and Spokane. TeamChild’s mission is to uphold the rights of youth involved, or at risk of involvement, in the juvenile legal system to help them secure the education, healthcare, housing and other support they need to achieve positive outcomes in their lives.
We have three mutually reinforcing program strategies: legal services, policy advocacy, and training and
community education. Core to all of our work is our legal services program, which reaches youth 12-24
years old in four of Washington’s largest counties as well as youth incarcerated in our state’s juvenile
prison and community facilities. Our clients are youth and young adults who are entangled in juvenile
court and the child welfare system and need civil legal advocacy to prevent homelessness, access
education and employment and get their basic health and other needs met. In our work, we also aim to
move systems away from exclusion, punishment, arrest, and incarceration towards more effective and
community-based strategies that address root causes and provide culturally meaningful and
developmentally appropriate support and opportunities for young people.
At TeamChild we believe that racial and other social identities should be respected and affirmed. In
support of this belief, we are building an equitable and inclusive organization and providing our team of
staff, volunteers and Board members with the tools to address institutionalized racism and other forms
of oppression. All members of our team are responsible for providing and supporting an equitable and
inclusive work environment that will enrich our interactions with each other and our products and
services. This responsibility provides the foundation for empowering the children and families that we
serve so their needs are justly represented and their desires amply fulfilled. For more information about
TeamChild and the Spokane County office, see www.teamchild.org.
JOB OVERVIEW
TeamChild is seeking two full-time staff attorneys in our Spokane County office. This is an opportunity to
be part of a collaborative team that is dedicated to client-centered legal advocacy and working to
continually reflect and improve our client services and office and program practices. TeamChild’s three
central strategies for practicing our mission and affecting change are direct representation, policy
advocacy, and training and consultation. Staff attorneys participate in each of these strategies, with client representation as the primary focus. All TeamChild staff participate in fulfilling our commitment to
organizational transformation through training, workgroups, retreats, staff meetings, and other internal
collaborations.
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES
Direct Representation
● Work effectively with youth clients age 12 to 24 and continue learning and applying knowledge
about adolescent brain development and trauma informed approaches to working with young
people;
● Maintain an appropriate client caseload based on statewide and local office guidance,
considering level of experience, complexity of current caseload, and other agreed upon
responsibilities;
● Develop content expertise in substantive areas of law that we regular practice, including special education, school discipline, McKinney Vento, CHINS, emancipation, dependency, post conviction
relief, juvenile court delinquency support, Medicaid, DDA eligibility, SSI eligibility, guardianship, civil
rights, and more;
● Present cases competently, as required by client needs and TeamChild’s commitments, in superior
court, administrative hearings, juvenile court, and possibly federal court and appellate court;
● Comply with RPCs in providing high quality legal representation;
● Maintain organized and clear client case files, consistently maintain timekeeping and case notes in
TeamChild’s web/cloud-based case management system, and close cases in a timely manner, based
on statewide and local office guidance;
● Collaborate with local office/program teams and program staff statewide on intake/screening
processes, case planning, case support, litigation planning, co-counseling, reviewing other attorneys’
work and closed cases, and other projects;
● Thoroughly review applicable funding contracts in order to understand deliverables and ensure
compliance;
Training and Consulting
● Provide substantive training and consultation on a variety of legal areas to youth, families,
professionals, community members, and other lawyers;
● Participate in community engagement work, including but not only outreach activities, to develop
relationships and connect with the communities where you work;
● Build and maintain relationships with local and statewide partners and promote effective
collaboration with other legal aid, public defense and advocacy organizations;
Policy
● Contributing to work on individual and collective policy advocacy areas as they are developed and
agreed to by TeamChild at the local, county, and statewide (sometimes federal) levels;
Organizational Transformation
● Participate in collaborative decision making processes about our work, priorities, and administration
and operations;
● Participate in retreats, planning meetings, regular staffings, and other collective agency work; and
● Continue learning about, developing, and applying anti-racist principles in work internal to
TeamChild as well as in our community and client work.
QUALIFICATIONS
We are seeking candidates who are committed to social justice and are passionate legal advocates for young people. Candidates should work well both independently and as a team member, be respectful and passionate about working with people from diverse backgrounds, enjoy creative problem solving, and value the creation of relationships across disciplines. Additional qualifications include:
● Exceptional legal skills, preferably in the relevant areas of law including school discipline/special
education, public health care, public benefits, re-entry issues, delinquency, child welfare, or other
areas of youth related law;
● Strong interpersonal and well developed oral and written communication skills to distill and convey
complex information to a wide variety of audiences;
● Member in good standing of the Washington State Bar Association or eligible for reciprocity or
limited admission to practice pending admission to the Washington State Bar Association;
● Experience working with young people, especially adolescents;
Demonstrated competence in working with diverse clients and communities;
● High level of professionalism and ethical standards; commitment to following the Rules of
Professional Conduct, including client confidentiality and zealous advocacy for client-directed goals;
● Must have access to a vehicle and have a valid driver’s license and liability insurance to travel
throughout the county to meet client and agency needs ;
● Strong organizational, technology, and project management skills;
● Demonstrated alignment with TeamChild values: Centering Youth, Anti-Racism, Wholeness,
Accountability;
● Interest in working on policy advocacy at local, county, and statewide (sometimes federal) levels;
● Anti-racist analysis and commitment to undoing institutional racism and other forms of oppression;
● Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with other advocates and social service providers;
and
● Bilingualism in Spanish, Marshallese, and/or another language frequently spoken by the
communities we serve is a plus.
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
Salary is based on the TeamChild attorney salary scale and the candidate's years of relevant experience.
The salary range is $61,800 to $92,700. For example, an attorney credited with zero years of legal
experience will start at $61,800. An attorney with seven years of experience will start at $73,461. The
place in which an attorney starts on the salary scale may be increased based upon the attorney’s lived
experience with systems of oppression reflective of our clients’ experiences. This position comes with
full benefits including:
Medical insurance through Regence with multiple plans available;
● Dental, Vision, EAP;
● Generous vacation, sick leave, and paid time off including 10 paid holidays and the week
between Christmas and New Year’s day;
● Options to set up FSA and 403b retirement accounts;
● Annual Wellness Fund stipend, which provides up to $1,000 in reimbursement for personal
expenses related to employee health and wellbeing;
● Paid WA State Bar Association Dues;
● Qualifying employer for the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program;
● Reimbursement for moving and relocation expenses.
TO APPLY
Please email a concise letter of interest, resume, and a legal writing sample to jobs@teamchild.org. Please write "Staff Attorney – Spokane County" and your last name in the subject line. No phone calls or email inquiries please. We will begin reviewing application materials on June 21, 2021, and then will begin scheduling interviews. We have a preferred start date of July 2021. The positions are open until filled.
Before submitting your application, please check teamchild.org/careers to make sure that these positions are still posted. All interested individuals, including people of color, women, persons with disabilities, and persons who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or intersex are particularly urged to apply. TeamChild is an Equal Opportunity Employer. TeamChild is committed to promoting an environment free of barriers and discriminatory practices for its clients, Board, and staff.