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<p>TheCenter for Family Representation Inc. (CFR)is an award-winning, innovative law and policy organization that serves primarily Black and Brown families and youth in Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx with an interdisciplinary legal defense model that serves more than 2400 clients every year. In 2024, CFR will expand our family defense practice to Richmond County. CFR was originally founded in 2002 to dramatically change the trajectory of indigent parents being prosecuted by the Citys Administration for Childrens Services (ACS). Our goal is to defend and protect our clients rights, reduce the harm of family separation and prevent or minimize the time any child spends in the foster system.</p>
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<p>CFR provides interdisciplinary family defense with a model that was unique at our founding and that is now being replicated nationally: we assign every client an attorney and a social work staff member, and teams have the support of parent advocates, who are parents with direct personal experience of being investigated and prosecuted by ACS. CFR was the first agency in the country to integrate parents with lived experience into legal teams and now has 7 parent advocates working in all three of our family defense locations. CFRsCommunity Advocacy Projectrepresents parents during a child protective investigation (to avoid court involvement where possible) and assists parents in clearing their names from state maltreatment records.</p>
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<p>As an agency committed to securing justice for families, we built theYouth Defense practice (YDP)to defend youth at risk of family separation through incarceration. YDP uses the same interdisciplinary model to represent youth being prosecuted in Queens and Manhattan in Supreme Court Youth Parts, during Probation Adjustment and in Delinquency proceedings in Family Court. CFRs Home for Good program provides legal and social work services to CFR clients inimmigration,civil legal servicesandcriminal defensematters, to afford clients an efficient and well-coordinated one-stop solution to a range of issues that threaten family stability.</p>
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<p>Recognized as experts in our fields,we annually train over 500 practitioners in the city, state and around the countryon strategies to promote family preservation and interdisciplinary representation, and we provide community based Know Your Rights presentations to parents, youth and service providers.We advocate at the city, state and national level for policies that reduce the harm of family separation, and promote parent engagement and justice for youth and families.</p>
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<p><b> Current opening:</b></p>
<p>The Center for Family Representations (CFR) Youth Defense Practice represents young people who are charged in the criminal legal system who are either removed from the Supreme Court Youth Part or charged in Manhattan and Queens Family Courts as juvenile delinquents. CFRs Criminal Defense Practice primarily represents parents who are facing concurrent criminal proceedings or investigations arising out of the same incident that resulted in their Family Court Article 10 proceeding. On occasion, the Criminal Defense Practice will represent a client in Criminal Court even if the criminal charges are not directly related to the pending Family Court proceeding.</p>
<p>CFR seeks to hire a <b>Client Coordinator</b> who will work with the legal teams and clients in both practice areas. The Client Coordinator will work collaboratively with CFRs criminal defense team, and among other responsibilities, will stay in touch with clients post-disposition to ensure that they are complying with any court ordered services or fines to reduce their risk of recidivism or future violations.</p>
<p>The Client Coordinator will serve as a liaison between clients YDP/Criminal legal teams and family defense teams, assist the criminal and youth defense team in having any and all pertinent information and status updates prior to all court appearances, Additionally the Client Coordinator will maintain a database of referrals to CFRs criminal defense practice.</p>
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<p><b> The candidate should expect to:</b></p>
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<li><p>Responsible for tracking all referrals made to the criminal practice, including maintaining the current spreadsheet used to monitor all pending and closed referrals</p></li>
<li><p>Opening all new cases in CMS</p></li>
<li><p>Assisting the CFR criminal defense lawyer with obtaining all of the necessary paperwork from prior counsel on takeover cases, including but not limited to criminal court complaints and rap sheets</p></li>
<li><p>Assisting the criminal defense team with contacting clients where CFR retainer's are pending</p></li>
<li><p>Assisting or following up with clients who have compliance matters pending, including obtaining necessary proof of documentation, or contacting clients who are facing civil judgments in criminal court for defaulting on mandatory surcharges</p></li>
<li><p>Assisting clients with obtaining post disposition relief documentation, i.e. certificate of compliance or copy of order of protection</p></li>
<li><p>Sending clients upcoming court reminders</p></li>
<li><p>Filing/serving motions</p></li>
<li><p>Participating in initial client interviews on "take over cases</p></li>
<li><p>Coordinating with Arraignment clerks to confirm when defense counsel paperwork will be ready prior to arraignment</p></li>
<li><p>Assist criminal defense lawyer with jury selection backgrounds</p></li>
<li><p>Assist on suppression and pre-trial hearings requests, i.e. minutes, subpoenas</p></li>
<li><p>Assisting with Family Court JD intake when needed</p></li>
<li><p>Sending client closing letters and orders</p></li>
<li><p>Coordinating calls and visits with detained/incarcerated clients</p></li>
<li><p>Assist with organizing or digesting discovery</p></li>
<li><p>Troubleshoot any issue that might interfere with clients compliance matters, sentencing conditions, or mandated services, and serve as an intermediary between clients and service or supervision providers</p></li>
<li><p>Where appropriate, assist clients on probation or supervised release, or clients required to comply with bail conditions by monitoring their compliance to court ordered services or obligations arising from a criminal case, sentence, or disposition</p></li>
<li><p>Appear with or on behalf of clients on compliance dates in criminal court -</p></li>
<li><p>Assist CFRs criminal defense attorneys in court and with case preparation and management when needed</p></li>
<li><p>Conduct timely conflict checks in CFRs client database (CMS)</p></li>
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<li><p>Applicants must have a Bachelors degree, preferably with some prior experience with the NYC family policing, criminal legal system or youth/juvenile legal system, or other social justice experience.</p></li>
<li><p>Candidates must demonstrate strong interpersonal and communication skills, organizational skills, an ability to work as part of a team,</p></li>
<li><p>Candidates who are bilingual in Spanish or other languages are strongly encouraged to apply.</p></li>
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