Are you between the ages of 18-26? Join the Youth Action Board at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia!
Youth Action Board Fellows will spend a year working together, along with CLS Advocates, to develop ideas, goals, and projects to support young people in Philadelphia. If you…
- Are a Philadelphia resident between 18-26
- Want to support and advocate for young people
- Care about racial justice and combating intersectional oppression, and
- Have lived experience with issues involving housing, child welfare, SSI and other benefits, and/or juvenile or criminal records
This is a part-time temporary position (April through April) averaging 10 hours of work a month at a rate of $20 dollars an hour.
Additional Information
Community Legal Services, Inc. of Philadelphia is a non-profit public interest agency providing free civil legal services to low-income Philadelphia residents. As the largest provider of free civil legal services in the Philadelphia area, CLS is both locally and nationally renowned as a premier legal services provider dedicated to ensuring access to justice for all low-income individuals and communities. CLS has eight legal units covering a wide range of civil legal services. The Youth Justice Project (YJP) provides holistic legal representation to youth ages 16-24. YJP uses a community-based model to conduct trainings and offer legal clinics on-site at youth-serving organizations. YJP has developed a virtual intake model to remain accessible online and by phone during the coronavirus pandemic. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many youth have lost important sources of income, and are struggling to access vital sources of income for which they are eligible, including emergency cash assistance, Unemployment Compensation, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, and traditional public benefits like SNAP, TANF, and SSI benefits.
This is a part-time temporary position (April through April) averaging 10 hours of work a month at a rate of $20 dollars an hour. Fellows will engage with the YJP youth advocates to determine personal and collective goals and identify skills and areas of interest for development. The Fellows will collaborate to build a curriculum to meet these goals and address their skill-building needs. During this year long position, Fellows will self-identify areas of interest and build projects specific to CLS’s advocacy, organizing, and legal representation. These projects will be youth identified, but could look like:
- Providing communications support to the YJP team in the form of social media content, creation of youth friendly materials, and using different means of communication including videos.
- Working with CLS’s racial justice committee to ensure the voices of youth of color are being heard and that grassroots youth organizations are connected to the YJP for legal assistance and to partner on advocacy projects where appropriate.
- Partnering on a specific advocacy project such as improving mental health treatment for youth with disabilities or banning the box that asks about juvenile/criminal records on college applications.
- Consulting with the YJP on how to make YJP services more youth-friendly and helping to spread the word about YJP services in the community.
CLS staff are currently working remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Work location to be determined when we return to in-office work.
Preferred Qualifications: The ideal candidate will have experience with civil legal issues in the areas of housing, child welfare, SSI and other benefits, and employment. This is because we believe community members with lived experience in these systems have invaluable knowledge and expertise. Dependability, strong initiative, motivation, concern for the interests of young people, a commitment to racial justice and to combating intersectional oppression are essential skills. The ideal candidate will be someone who is non-judgmental, empathetic, patient, and understanding, and has a strong ability to work cooperatively.
Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Community Legal Services values a diverse and Inclusive work environment where employees feel a sense of belonging and strongly encourages women, people of color, people who identify as LGBTQ, people with disabilities, people who have experienced poverty or homelessness and people who have had prior contact with the juvenile, criminal, or child welfare systems to apply. Because this position falls within the Youth Justice Project, young adult applicants (ages 18-26) are highly encouraged to apply.
CLS invites all applicants to include a statement about how your unique background and/or experiences might contribute to the diversity, cultural vitality, and perspective of our staff and legal services practice in their application.
This is a part-time temporary position ending in April, 2022. It will be paid at the rate of $20/hour for 10 hours per month of work.
Community Legal Services, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applicants of all diverse backgrounds to apply. CLS, Inc. does not discriminate in the selection of employees on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, sexual identity, genetics, age, national origin, disability, or veteran status. In addition to federal law requirements, CLS complies with all applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall and transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.
