Project Coordinator - CAFL

Overview

The Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS), the Massachusetts state public defender agency, is seeking a person with experience in project management who is committed to justice for parents, young adults, and children to serve as Project Coordinator within its Children and Family Law Division (CAFL). The Project Coordinator will work with CAFL’s Deputy Chief Counsel to develop and oversee new programs and projects and expand existing ones to improve the quality and increase the availability of legal representation of parents, young adults, and children involved or at risk of becoming involved in the state’s family regulation/child welfare system.

We fight for equal justice and human dignity by supporting our clients in achieving their legal and life goals. We zealously advocate for the rights of individuals and promote just public policy to protect the rights of all.

Our Values

Courage
• Accountability
• Respect
• Excellence

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION MISSION STATEMENT

CPCS is committed to protecting the fundamental constitutional and human rights of our assigned clients through zealous advocacy, community-oriented defense, and the fullness of excellent legal representation. We are dedicated to building and maintaining strong professional relationships, while striving to accept, listen to and respect the diverse circumstances of each client, as we dedicate ourselves to meeting their individual needs. It is our CPCS mission to achieve these goals, and in furtherance thereof, we embrace and endorse diversity, equity and inclusion as our core values as we maintain a steadfast commitment to: (1) Ensure that CPCS management and staff members represent a broad range of human differences and experience;

(2) Provide a work climate that is respectful and supports success; and (3) Promote the dignity and well-being of all staff members. CPCS leadership is responsible for ensuring equity, diversity, and inclusion. The ability to achieve these goals with any level of certainty is ultimately the responsibility of each member of the CPCS community.

AGENCY 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, family regulation, 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 clients we represent are diverse across every context imaginable and bring many unique cultural dimensions to the matters we address. This reality creates a critical need for CPCS staff to be culturally competent and able to work well with people of different races, ethnicities, genders and/or sexual orientation identities, abilities, and limited English proficiency, among other protected characteristics.

DIVISION OVERVIEW

The Children and Family Law Division provides zealous legal representation to parents, children and older youth, custodians, and guardians in a range of civil matters involving families. These include care and protection cases (known in other states as dependency or child neglect/abuse cases); termination of parental rights cases; child requiring assistance/status offense matters, and guardianship-of-a-minor cases. Our multidisciplinary legal teams defend families against unwarranted governmental interference and protect the constitutional and statutory rights of their individual clients.

CAFL staff’s representation of clients is provided through 13 multidisciplinary litigation offices, but most of CAFL’s work is handled by approximately 900 private attorneys whom CPCS trains and certifies as eligible to accept assignments. Both private attorneys and staff are supported by the CAFL Training Unit, which is part of CPCS’s Training Department.

CAFL’s client-directed legal advocacy plays a critical role in cases involving families. CAFL staff and private attorneys protect the rights of parents and children to remain together…