Paralegal, Special Programs – Family

Interim Paralegal, Special Programs – Family

Department:Legal Programs

About KIND

Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) is a global leader in the protection of unaccompanied refugee and migrant children. Launched in 2008, KIND champions a world in which every child’s rights and well-being are protected throughout their journey to safety. Since 2008, KIND has accepted over 23,000 referrals of children seeking legal representation in their immigration proceedings. KIND has welcomed more than 41,000 attendees to trainings since its founding, cultivating partnerships with over 670 law firms, corporate legal departments, law schools, and bar associations across the country.

KIND’s social services program ensures that migrant and refugee children – who have often endured trauma – receive counseling, educational support, medical care, and other comprehensive services.

To address the root causes of child migration from Central America and strengthen protection of unaccompanied children, KIND advocates for policy changes and educates lawmakers, the media, and the broader public on the conditions that drive these children to flee their home countries. KIND supports children returning to their home countries by connecting them to essential support services and sponsors gender-based violence prevention programs in Central America to protect children in countries of origin and transit.

KIND is also building upon its expertise in the protection of unaccompanied children to encourage the development of pro bono initiatives across Europe in partnership with European NGOs.

Position Summary:

KIND seeks a full-time Paralegal to join its Family Separation team within the organization’s Legal Services component. The Paralegal will be part of KIND’s legal strategy, technical assistance and training arm within the Legal Services team and will report to a Senior Attorney on the Family Separation Team. The Paralegal will may work remotely, or can be based in any one of KIND’s field offices.

The Paralegal will work alongside the Managing Attorney and the rest of the Family Separation Team, to provide legal and administrative support to assist children and families impacted by family separation and other emerging legal and policy changes affecting migrant children seeking safe haven in the U.S. The Paralegal will provide litigation assistance, data management, legal support, and office administration in a cutting-edge area of work on behalf of highly vulnerable children. The paralegal will undertake case support tasks in coordination with attorneys, including conducting client intakes, legal research, preparation of immigration forms, drafting affidavits, maintaining files and data, hearing preparation, social services referrals, and other related duties.

Essential Functions:

• Provide legal, administrative, operations, and program support to attorneys working on family separation matters;
• Conduct client phone screenings and intake interviews and draft intake memoranda, and conduct initial assessment of case referrals received against case acceptance criteria and program priorities;
• Provide support for on-going FTCA litigation and administrative claims, including tracking cases and dates of filing, communicating and coordinating with pro bono and non-profit partners, calling clients, and providing support in preparation of documents for filing in federal litigation;
• Provide support to attorneys on in-house cases, including conducting legal research and country conditions research; filling out immigration benefit and other standard forms; submitting case file records requests to government agencies; drafting affidavits and basic motions; assisting with hearing and interview preparation; maintaining case files and data entry in case management database; and other tasks as needed;
• Serve as point of contact for clients, proactively ensuring that case files and case management system reflect current contact information and status updates on case developments and child’s wellbeing;
• Provide support to pro bono attorneys during case placement and assist with administrative and planning tasks related to pro bono attorney training and mentoring;
• Ensure that client and case information is kept up to date in the case management database, and assist in data reporting for internal reports and for external reports to funders;
• For direct representation cases, conduct regular check-ins with the child, particularly in cases in which case adjudication is delayed; update attorneys regarding new developments, as needed;
• For pro bono cases, assist in case audit efforts, ensuring that updates from pro bono attorneys regarding case status and child’s wellbeing and timely and accurately recorded;
• For cases involving detained, forcibly separated children, screen referrals and assist in locating detained parents, as well as facilitate communication with detained parents and family members in the child’s home country;
• Help assess the needs of repatriating separated children for social services in their home country and make referrals to KIND’s Reintegration and Repatriation program as needed;
• Support KIND’s role in communicating with and assisting members of the expanded class of parents who were forcibly separated from their children and have been recently identified through litigation;
• Provide remote assistance to the Managing Attorney for the Family Separation & Special Programs team, particularly on maintaining case data, conducting phone screenings, and making referrals to potential clients;
• Liaise with Social Services Coordinators regarding social services needs and referrals; assist with social services projects depending on office needs, including expenditure and tracking of emergency assistance funds; and work collaboratively to achieve programmatic goals where legal services/social services intersect;
• Support internal budgetary tracking; ensure appropriate tracking of client emergency fees and other expenditures; logging of expenses and receipts; reporting expenses for grant tracking purposes;
• Review, edit, and format guidance documents, narrative reports for funders, and other documents as needed;
• Assist with editing and/or translating Spanish language documents. Coordinate external interpreter resources where needed.

Qualifications and Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree;
• Advanced fluency in Spanish language;
• Minimum 1-year experience working with children, at-risk youth, immigrants, refugees, and/or vulnerable populations;
• Excellent organizational, time management skills, and attention to detail; ability to work on multiple projects in a deadline-oriented environment;
• Strong record of cultural competence and cross-cultural communication skills;
• Ability to work collaboratively with multiple attorneys and non-attorney colleagues, and prior experience working with attorneys, law firms, and/or legal and social service providers;
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in writing;
• Ability to adapt to a high-volume workload with fast-changing deadlines and priorities;
• Experience conducting legal intakes or interviewing children;
• Willingness to embrace new technology and collaborate across offices and teams;
• Experience and facility with numbers, data management and databases;
• Experience with funding applications, metrics and deliverable development and tracking preferred;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills;
• Passion for the plight of unaccompanied migrant and refugee children, and the enthusiasm and skills to communicate that passion to potential partners and other organizations.

Salary Range: $41,616 – $52,020 dependent on experience

KIND requires all staff be COVID vaccinated with the exception of those who have medical or religious beliefs exemptions.

Application Instructions:

Please be advised that an employment application will need to be submitted along with your resume and cover letter, in order to be considered for the desired role.

KIND has an organization-wide commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We strive to create a work environment where everyone has a sense of belonging. Individuals from historically underrepresented or underserved communities are strongly encouraged to apply.

Disclaimer: KIND is committed to an ethical recruitment and hiring process and maintains a firm “no fees” recruitment policy. We will never charge a fee or ask for money as part of the application process. KIND also conducts all interviews via telephone or video conference, and at no time will KIND engage in a text or mobile app-based application or interview process. For more information, please visit the following website: https://supportkind.org/join-the-team/kind-employment-practices/.

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