Staff Attorney

About CTFC

California Tribal Families Coalition (CTFC) is a coalition of tribes in California working to promote and protect the health, safety, and welfare of tribal children and families – which are inherent tribal governmental functions and at the core of tribal sovereignty and governance. In service to member tribes, CTFC has a small team that is dynamic, highly self‑motivated, and places a high value on deep relationships.

CTFC works hard to maintain team connections despite an all‑remote work environment.

CTFC serves and is led by member tribes, with nearly 50 of the 109 tribes in California as members. California has the largest American Indian population of any state with 364,826 tribal people claiming California as home. The work of CTFC produces benefits for all tribal children and families in California, though we may focus on specific regions where tribal children are negatively impacted to a greater degree.

We use a three‑pronged approach to develop, implement, and enforce policies that ensure equity for tribal children and families and protect tribal sovereignty. Using this method, we have amended over 50 provisions of the California Welfare and Institutions Code, trained more than 6,000 individuals in charge of implementing these policies and initiated multiple impact litigation cases to enforce these policies.

Simultaneously, we work every day to not only hold state systems accountable, but also to build up tribal systems, with the long‑term goal of tribal social services systems being able to serve tribal children directly, thereby eliminating the need for state intervention.

In 2022, we also launched the Legal Counsel for Tribes Project. The LC4T Project is intended to solve the problem of tribes being the only unrepresented party in a case governed by the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) by building a program that leverages existing state and federal funds to create a team of highly trained specialists that any member tribe can access for any state court ICWA case in California.

CTFC now seeks a motivated Staff Attorney with outstanding professional credentials and knowledge of the California dependency system, deep experience working with tribal communities, and relationship‑based values to join the Legal Counsel for Tribes team.

• Reporting to a Senior Attorney, Staff Attorneys investigate, manage and represent Tribal Nation clients in cases governed by ICWA and associated state law.
• Applicants for the Staff Attorney position should have a minimum of one year of experience as a practicing attorney, including litigation experience that prepares the applicant to handle dependency litigation in California.
• Staff Attorney applicants are expected to possess experience sufficient to allow them to work with substantial independence in furtherance of CTFC’s mission.
• Non‑litigation advocacy is also required, including writing and publishing reports, planning and participating in community events and tribal listening sessions, legislative research and advocacy, working with law clerks, and training attorney and non‑attorney audiences.
• Staff Attorneys shall have excellent written and oral communication skills, excellent project management skills, and a deep interest and understanding of working for Tribal Nations and carrying out CTFC’s mission.

• Member of the California Bar
• 1+ years litigation experience
• Experience with dependency and juvenile justice legal representation
• Strong academic qualifications
• Excellent writing, verbal and interpersonal skills
• Strong organizational skills
• Public speaking skill and experience

This is a full‑time, exempt position. Work will be primarily performed remotely as the Coalition operates as a remote organization. Staff are generally required to attend meetings and/or court appearances between 8:30 AM–5:00 PM Pacific. Candidates shall have the ability to travel statewide approximately four times a quarter and work atypical hours on occasion. Compensation consists of a base salary range of $90,000 – $105,000 commensurate with experience and a full benefits package.

• A cover letter that addresses your goals and your interest in this position
• Resume
• Writing sample
• Names of three references

Applications welcome immediately; position open until filled.