ABOUT THE ROLE
Reporting to the Managing Director of Client Services, the Home Preservation Program Director creates the vision and plans for the future of eviction defense and housing law work at Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California. The HP Program Director also oversees and leads a diverse team of attorneys, legal advocate(s), and interns. In addition to supervising staff, the HP Program Director ensures grant management tasks are complete and handles a limited number of eviction defense and home preservation cases. This position will be based in our Orange County office, and will work closely with other relevant teams and staff in both the Los Angeles and Orange County offices (i.e. Immigration, Survivor and Family Empowerment (SAFE), Asian Language Legal Intake Project, Finance, Development, etc.).
Your day-to-day typically includes:
60% Staff Supervision and Program Implementation
- Assess Advancing Justice's eviction defense and housing law work, and develop an immediate vision andplan for the future
- Expand program staff, building a team-centered, client service model, and monitor issues related to services to manage cooperation, ongoing engagements, and client expectations
- Provide legal substantive supportin the area ofhousing law, including landlord/tenant issues and eviction defense, and maintain expertise and keep updated on changes in landlord/tenant and eviction defense law
- Directly supervise, lead, mentor, and support Home Preservation staff, including interns and volunteers
- Manage intake process and case acceptance criteria; Receive and address client grievances
- Develop, oversee, and manage service clinics, workshops, and community education/outreach
- Oversee staff preparation for court appearances and briefs; inclusive of court forms and legal docs
- Develop and maintain case acceptance strategy, given community needs, priorities and agency resources
- Develop and executecommunity specific client outreach strategies, engaging relevant CBOs and media partnerships to establish trusted recruitment avenues for low income, insularclient bases.
- Maintain a reasonable caseload, providing direct client work on eviction defense and home preservation cases
- Coordinate client services with other attorneys and units, including strategy sessions with agency Asian Language Legal Intake Project Manager, Litigation Director and Policy Director
35% Grant Management
- Manage all Home Preservation grants and funding, including several California State Bar grants
- Work with Development and Finance staff in managing grants, including tracking progress towards grant deliverables,draftingand submitting reports, and overseeing data collection/analysis
- Work with Development and Finance staff in coordinating and managing monitoring visits and audits to ensure grant compliance
- Update procedures to comply with grant requirements and ensure positive team workflow
- Work with Finance staff to ensure appropriate spend down and grant compliance
- Manage sub-grantees in ensuring grant compliance and project collaborations
- Work with Development staff to secure future funding and assess current funding to sustain and grow the work, as well as periodic modifications of budget and project as needed
5% Community Relations and Advocacy
- Act as organization spokesperson for eviction defense and home preservation services, including with media, community stakeholders, and donors
- Analyze, draft, and advocate for policy/legislation, in coordination with Policy staff
- Participate in strategic meetings with other legal and community groups
- Engage in public speaking at forums to advance AJSOCAL's civil rights agenda
- All other duties as assigned
At AJSOCAL, we value a diverse, inclusive workforce and we provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees. All qualified applicants for employment will be considered without regard to an individual’s race, color, sex, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, marital status, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local laws. AJSOCAL strictly prohibits and does not tolerate discrimination against employees, applicants, or other covered persons, including interns.