BACKGROUND Lenox Hill Neighborhood
House (Lenox Hill), widely recognized as one
of New York's premier nonprofit human service organizations, is a 123-year-old
settlement house that provides an extensive array of effective and integrated
human services which significantly improve the lives of thousands of people in
need each year on the East Side of Manhattan. Their clients include older
adults, homeless and formerly homeless adults, children and families, recent
immigrants, disabled persons, adult learners and thousands more. Lenox Hill is among the oldest settlement
houses in the nation, and has long been a leader in addressing issues including
affordable housing, health care, hunger, education, poverty, homelessness and
long-term care for older adults.
The Legal Advocacy program was created in 2004 to address the lack of general civil legal
organizations in the community. The Department, currently consisting of
11 attorneys, 6 advocates, and 2 coordinators, provides free, comprehensive civil legal services to individuals and
families on the East Side of Manhattan and Roosevelt Island. It operates
through a multidisciplinary approach to legal representation, such that the
clients receive assistance not only with their civil legal needs, but also have
access to social workers, psychiatrists, care managers, ESOL classes and more
within the organization. This synergy of legal advocacy and social services
creates a powerful tool to achieve social justice for those in need.
The Legal Advocacy Department now assists more than 3000 low-income
individuals and families each year with diverse civil legal issues such as: - Advance Directives The Legal Advocacy Department partners with
volunteer attorneys to assist low-income older adults seeking legal counseling
and assistance with the drafting and execution of one or more of their Advance
Directives, including Powers of Attorney, Wills, Health Care Proxies and Living
Wills.
- Eviction Prevention - provides
free legal services to help individuals and families remain in their homes and
avoid eviction.
- Health Care Access Project - helps
low-income families, disabled and older adults, and their caregivers, navigate
and access critical health care benefits, including Medicaid, Medicare and
health insurance on the NY State of Health Marketplace.
- Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption Assistance Project (SCRIE) - helps
low-income older adults remain in their homes by exempting them from future
rent increases.
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) - a SNAP advocate
conducts confidential pre-screenings to determining whether clients are
eligible and assists them in submitting their application.
For more information on Lenox Hill
Neighborhood House, please visit their website at http://www.lenoxhill.org.
POSITION
Reporting to
the Chief Program Officer, an experienced public interest attorney and former
director of the Legal Advocacy Department, the Director of Legal Advocacy will
lead and manage the diverse activities of a 20 person civil legal services
program. The Director will drive towards leading a department that emphasizes the
highest quality legal work coupled with a team approach in working with peers throughout
the organization. She/he must also serve as a strong manager, able to
effectively mentor and guide a committed group of attorneys and legal
advocates.
Lenox Hill prides itself on its holistic approach to serving its
clients' myriad needs, which encourages staff to think expansively about service
integration as a key part of the solution. The Director of Legal Advocacy will work
collaboratively with all of Lenox Hill Neighborhood House's social and
educational programs, including two senior centers, a care management program
for homebound older adults, a supportive housing residence for adults with
mental illness, a women's mental health shelter, and an early childhood center.
RESPONSIBILITIES
The Director
of Legal Advocacy will have leadership responsibility in the following areas: - Assume primary responsibility for all departmental operations,
including setting priorities, developing
program areas, grant reporting and program oversight
- Provide instrumental quality assurance, infrastructure and
supervision that is essential to the delivery of high quality legal services.
- Sustain and cultivate relationships and ensure compliance with
both government and private sources of funding.
- Recruit, mentor and train attorneys, advocates, and law students.
- Lead efforts to maintain and expand pro bono lawyers and law
school partnerships.
- Pro-actively engage with peers in continually developing ways to better
serve Lenox Hill Neighborhood House clients.
- Build
strategic alliances and develop collaborative approaches to service delivery
with other organizations.
QUALIFICATIONS
The Director
of Legal Advocacy must be passionate about providing free legal services to low
income individuals, families and communities. A successful candidate will have: - Supervisory and management experience.
- Significant achievements in public interest law and social justice.
- Excellent leadership, interpersonal communication, and
organizational skills.
- Ability to foster constructive, collegial working relationships
with a diverse group of employees and partners.
- Creativity and flexibility.
- Commitment to our holistic Settlement House model of service
provision.
- A minimum of seven years legal experience, preferably including
one or more of the following substantive areas: housing, health care or
government benefits.
- Admission to the New York State
Bar is required.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
David Hinsley Cheng, Managing Partner
Kelsey Blagdon, Senior Associate
Elise Riffel, Junior Associate
TO
APPLY
Please submit a resume and cover letter.
Email: lenox@drgnyc.com
Website: www.drgnyc.com
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