Research and Policy Legal Fellowship Sponsorship in Education Advocacy
Job Description
Advocates For Children (AFC) is a dynamic social justice organization that strives to ensure a highquality education for New York students who face barriers to academic success, focusing on students from low- income backgrounds. AFC works on behalf of children and youth who are at greatest risk of academic failure due to poverty, race, ethnicity, disability, homelessness, immigration status/limited English proficiency, or involvement in the child welfare or juvenile/criminal legal systems. We use uniquely integrated strategies to advance systemic reform, empower families and communities, and
advocate for the educational rights of individual students. For more information on AFC, see www.advocatesforchildren.org.
Organizations such as Equal Justice Works and the law firm of Skadden, Arps offer fellowships to enablerecent law school graduates to work full-time at public interest organizations for one or two years. AFC seeks to sponsor a recent law school graduate for a fellowship in education advocacy beginning in September 2024. Applicants must be entering their third year of law school or be recent law school graduates who are eligible for these fellowships (e.g., graduating law students who are clerking next
year). Bilingual applicants are encouraged to apply.
AFC is proud that we have a long tradition of successful fellowship projects. We are committed to providing strong supervision, training, and mentorship to our fellows.
FELLOWSHIP DESCRIPTION
We are particularly interested this year in working with a Post-Graduate Legal Fellow who wants to develop a project to address education issues facing students with disabilities transitioning out of high school, using the following strategies:
• Direct representation of individual students and parents in school-related matters, including special education hearings and suspension hearings;
• Community education and training for students, parents, and professionals on students’ and parents’ rights;
• Policy reform to address systemic barriers to quality education for NYC students; and/or
• Impact Litigation to protect our clients’ rights and compel needed education reform.
COMPENSENTATION AND BENEFITS
This is a full-time position and includes a comprehensive benefits package. AFC’s current compensation package includes medical and dental insurance, with a plan option that covers full payment of medical plan premiums for staff and their qualified dependents. AFC has generous time-off policies that include 10 federal holidays, office closure between Christmas and New Year’s Day, and 15 vacation days and 15 paid time off days in the first year of employment. AFC also offers a 403(b) plan with a fully vested employer match and coverage of the premium cost of life insurance and long- and short-term disability
insurance. With respect to salary, AFC pays fellows on the same scale as it pays staff attorneys. Currently, the starting salary for a staff attorney is $73,000, and this is expected to increase by the time the fellow would start in September 2024.
OTHER INFORMATION
Currently, all AFC positions are expected to work at least 2 days a week in the office and remotely on the remaining days. COVID vaccination is required prior to the first day of employment. AFC is an affirmative action employer that actively seeks to recruit and retain a diverse staff and especially encourages applications from people of color, persons with disabilities, parents of persons with disabilities, persons of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities or gender expressions and persons of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.
AFC is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation when requested by a qualified applicant or employee with a disability or other protected characteristic. The policy regarding requests for reasonable accommodation applies to all aspects of employment, including the application process. For more information and to request an accommodation, contact Human Resources at HR@advocatesforchildren.org.
