| COMMITTEE FOR PUBLIC COUNSEL SERVICES YAD TRAINING DIRECTOR TRAINING DEPARTMENT CPCS is seeking applications for the Training Director of the Youth Advocacy Training Unit. The YAD Training Unit is part of the Training Department of the Committee for Public Counsel Services which provides high quality training to all staff and private assigned counsel. DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION MISSION STATEMENT CPCS is committed to protecting the fundamental constitutional and human rights of its clients by providing zealous advocacy, community-oriented defense, and excellent representation. In fulfilling its mission, CPCS is committed to fostering diversity at all levels of the agency. We are dedicated to building a strong professional relationship with each of our clients, to understanding their diverse circumstances, and to meeting their needs. In striving always to achieve those goals, CPCS embraces diversity and inclusion as core values and is steadfast in our commitment to: (1) ensuring that CPCS management and staff members represent a broad range of human difference and experience; (2) providing a work climate that is respectful and that supports success; and (3) promoting the dignity and well-being of all staff members. CPCS's leadership is responsible for ensuring excellence, diversity, and inclusion. Our ability to achieve these goals depends on the efforts of all of us. POSITION OVERVIEW CPCS is the state agency in Massachusetts responsible for providing an attorney when the state or federal constitution or a state statute requires the appointment of an attorney for a person who cannot afford to retain one. The agency provides representation in criminal, delinquency, youthful offender, child welfare, guardianship, mental health, sexually dangerous person, and sex offender registry cases, as well as in appeals and post-conviction and post-judgment proceedings related to those matters. The CPCS Training Department provides high quality training to all staff and private assigned counsel. The Training Department, led by the Training Chief, includes four practice area Training Units - Criminal Defense, Children and Family Law, Youth Advocacy and Mental Health Litigation – all of which are overseen by individual Training Directors. CPCS enjoys a well-deserved national reputation for its skills based training. In addition to providing substantive and skills training to attorneys, the Training Department ensures that all other professional staff members are provided appropriate training in their areas of expertise. The Training Department also plays a significant role in the provision of diversity, management, supervision, employment law, and other training to staff and private assigned counsel. The Youth Advocacy Division delivers legal services to children and youth charged with crimes through both staff offices and private assigned counsel located throughout Massachusetts. The Youth Advocacy Division employs a Positive Youth Development Approach to providing zealous community-oriented advocacy and is dedicated to reducing the racial and ethnic disparities that plague the child welfare, education, juvenile justice and adult criminal legal systems. Youth Advocacy Division attorneys and social workers represent clients at the trial and appellate levels in Massachusetts state courts, as well as in administrative proceedings in the Department of Youth Services and the public schools. RESPONSIBILITIES The YAD Training Director is responsible for working within the Training Department under the supervision of the Training Chief in consultation with YAD leadership to prioritize and create training for staff and privately assigned juvenile defenders around the state. The Training Director also provides support through issue specific publications, listserv postings, and providing advice on cases, court practice and legal strategies. The YAD Training Director also collaborates with others within the Training Department to create and offer training of core competencies of Public Defense. Specific duties of the position include, but are not limited to: - Designing, implementing, and evaluating training programs for staff attorneys and private panel attorneys in consultation with YAD leadership;
- Working with the Trial Panel Director, Attorneys in Charge, and Juvenile Supervising Attorneys to continually assess the training needs of staff and private bar;
- Identifying, recruiting, and coaching qualified members of the Youth Advocacy Division and private bar to help plan and teach at YAD training programs;
- Developing and continually updating the YAD training work plan which lists all the specific tasks the YAD Training Unit is working on at any given time;
- Supervising members of the Youth Advocacy Training Unit, including promoting the professional development of staff and completing annual staff performance evaluations in a timely and comprehensive manner;
- Preparing the YAD Training Budget and working with Training Administrative Support personnel on budget oversight;
- Researching, preparing, and publishing training materials, legal outlines, practice guides and practice advisories;
- Monitoring the juvenile listserv and updating and creating new pages in the juvenile section of My Gideon as well as updating the YAD webpage of the CPCS website pertaining to professional resources;
- Collaborating with members of the Training Department and other stakeholders to plan and implement cross divisional and agency-wide training programs, including the MCLE Annual Delinquency and Child Welfare Conference and the CPCS Annual Conference; and,
- Other duties as assigned.
EEO Statement The Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnicity, sex, disability, religion, age, veteran or military status, genetic information, gender identity, or sexual orientation as required by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and other applicable federal and state statutes and organizational policies. Applicants who have questions about equal employment opportunity or who need reasonable accommodations can contact the Director of Human Resources Management, Lisa Bacon, at lbacon@publiccounsel.net |
