Description
POSITION TITLE: Section Chief, Child Protection Section V
LOCATION: Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia
Family Services Division
200 I Street, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
REMOTE WORK STATUS: A hybrid remote telework/in-office schedule option is available.
COVID-19 VACCINATION REQUIREMENT: The Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia (OAG) is committed to providing the highest quality legal and programmatic services to the District and its residents while ensuring the health and safety of employees, customers, clients, volunteers, contractors, and other visitors.
The District of Columbia Office of the Attorney General values the safety of our employees, our residents, and our visitors. In support of these values, OAG employees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, including having received a booster shot within five months from either the date of the second shot for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines (or two months from the single-shot of Johnson & Johnson), except when vaccination is not medically advised or violates sincerely held religious beliefs. If you are the selected candidate, as of your start date, you must provide proof that you are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, including timely received booster vaccine, or you must request an exemption from your representative.
JOB REQUISITION NUMBER: 2023-105
NUMBER OF VACANCIES: One (1)
OPENING DATE: August 16, 2023
CLOSING DATE: September 6, 2023
SALARY: $145,000- $160,000 (LX-1)
PAY PLAN, SERIES, AND GRADE: LX-905-01
TYPE OF APPOINTMENT: Legal Supervisory Service (LX) – Permanent
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING UNIT: This position is not in the collective bargaining unit.
AREA OF CONSIDERATION: Open to the public.
DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES: A Section Chief is responsible for supervision of litigation and other legal services. A Section Chief supervises attorneys primarily, but could also supervise paralegals, support staff, fellows and interns.
The Family Services Division is divided into several child protection sections. Attorneys in these sections handle all aspects of child neglect advice prior to petitioning and litigation on behalf of the District and the DC Child and Family Services Agency (“CFSA”), from petitioning through the achievement of permanency.
In addition, the attorneys provide advice and counsel to social workers and other professionals from CFSA regarding strategies for case closure, analyzing matters for legal sufficiency for papering, compliance with local and federal law, participating in team meetings, and working with various multi-disciplinary teams.
MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
This position supervises an attorney assigned to support non-court involved matters being managed by CFSA. Those duties include:
- Regularly monitoring progress in assigned cases and other short and long-term projects;
- Monitoring and attendance at various CFSA meetings, such as clinical staffing and consultations, case reviews and meetings about data and its impact on performance and practice;
- Monitoring the development and implementation of various trainings such as complaint writing, teaming with legal, chat n chews;
- And other projects assigned by the Assistant Deputy and Deputy.
This position also supervises attorneys assigned to court-involved cases. Those duties include:
- Managing the litigation work of the Section;
- Establishing litigation priorities, in consultation with the Deputy and Assistant Deputy, and assigning pre-trial matters accordingly;
- Supervising trial attorneys in all aspects of child abuse and neglect proceedings before the Family Court of the DC Superior Court;
- Reviewing and editing pleadings, motions, memoranda, and correspondence;
- Reviewing litigation outcomes and determining when appellate review may be needed;
- Reviewing division policies and procedures to ensure that the practice remains up to date and the work of the division runs smoothly;
- Working closely with the other Section Chiefs to ensure equitable distribution of cases and to ensure consistency in practice amongst the five sections;
Additional duties for the Section Chief include:
- Monitoring compliance of staff with the Attorney General’s Performance Contract requirements, including ensuring full compliance with customer service standards;
- In coordination with the Deputy, Assistant Deputy and other Section Chiefs, planning and/or conducting training for new and experienced trial attorneys, support staff and social workers;
- Maintaining requisite legal, management, inter-agency, human relations, and labor knowledge and skills;
- Collecting, maintaining, and disseminating timely, accurate and up-to-date data on the Section’s activities, including collecting and tabulating various statistics that show performance results and assist in identifying evidenced-based best practices.
- Monitoring compliance with Abacus data entry and internal electronic filing;
- Establishing relationships with agency staff and other stakeholders to identify and address systemic issues.
- Participate in meetings, work groups and trainings as needed to ensure agency staff are informed about the legal process and legal mandates.
- Participating in short and long-term projects with CFSA or internally.
- Ensure that attorneys are working closely with staff at CFSA and other agencies to address compliance with court orders and timely exits to permanence.
- Liaising with other components within OAG, the District government, and the community at large, including:
- Attending management meetings with or on behalf of the Deputy and the Attorney General as requested, as well as other specific meetings with relevant agencies;
- Attending meetings to support CFSA with improving practice to achieve better outcomes for families;
- Attending assigned and appropriate community meetings, including serving as OAG’s representative; and
- Serving as OAG’s representative for any relevant agency, Court or community task forces and committees, and other similar interagency groups.
Performs other duties as assigned.
QUALIFICATIONS: The candidate must have at least 5 years of practice in prosecution or similar experience dealing with agency-level litigation related to child welfare; data analysis, excellent oral and writing skills as well as knowledge of the appellate process; and demonstrated ability to supervise and to direct the day-to-day activities of professional and support staff in a litigation-oriented office. An ability to work well in a team environment as well as work collaboratively with a client agency and the court system is required. A demonstrated passion for working with and aiding children and families is strongly preferred.
ELIGIBILITY: The successful candidate must have a law degree and be an active member in good standing of the bar of any jurisdiction. If not a member of the District of Columbia Bar, the candidate must be sworn into the District of Columbia Bar within 360 days of his/her initial appointment with the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia.
SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION: A substitution of education for required experience is not allowed per defined in OPM’s Qualification Standards.
TIME-IN-GRADE RESTRICTIONS: Time-in-grade restrictions must be met by the closing date of this vacancy announcement.
HOW TO APPLY: Interested candidates must apply online by 11:59 pm of the closing date. All applications must include the completed questionnaire, along with a cover letter, resume, a writing sample, and a list of three professional references including supervisors. Please ensure that all required documents are included prior to submitting the application.
OTHER SIGNIFICANT FACTS
GENERAL SUITABILITY SCREENING: The selected candidate will be subject to a background investigation including reference checks. Your position is of special trust, and as part of your duties you may reasonably be expected to affect the access to, or control of, security-sensitive systems or resources. Accordingly, your position is considered security-sensitive. As a condition of employment, you must successfully pass a criminal background check, traffic record check (as applicable), and consumer credit check (as applicable). For the duration of our tenure, you must comply with requests (if needed) for periodic criminal background checks, as well as reasonable suspicion and post-accident or post-incident drug and alcohol screenings.
PRIORITY CONSIDERATION: Displaced Employee Priority Placement: Candidates who are eligible for the District of Columbia’s Displaced Employee Program (DEP) and Agency Reemployment Priority Placement Program (ARPP) will be given priority consideration for this position if found qualified.
EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS: Selectee will be eligible for health and life insurance, annual (vacation), and sick leave and will be covered under the District of Columbia government’s retirement plan. However, if the selectee was previously employed in the District of Columbia’s government under an appointment for which he/she was eligible for Civil Service Retirement (CSR), contributions to CSR will resume upon re-employment.
RESIDENCY PREFERENCE: A person applying for a position in the Career Service, Education Service, Management Supervisory Service, an attorney position in the Legal Service (series 905) other than in the Senior Executive Attorney Service (SEAS), or an attorney in the Excepted Service (series 905) who is a bona fide District resident AT THE TIME OF APPLICATION for the position, maybe awarded a 10-point residency preference over non-District residents’ applications unless the person declines the preference points. If selected, the person shall be required to present proofs of bona fide District residency and maintain such residency for 7 consecutive years from the effective date of the appointment. Failure to maintain bona fide District residency for the 7-year period will result in forfeiture of employment. If the position you accept is in the Career, Management Supervisory, or Educational Service at an annual salary of one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) or more, you must establish residency in the District of Columbia within one hundred eighty (180) days of the effective date of employment and continue to maintain residency within the District of Columbia throughout the duration of employment.
VETERANS’ PREFERENCE: Applicants claiming veterans’ preference must submit official proof at the time of application.
DRUG-FREE WORKPLACE: Pursuant to the requirements of the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1998, the individual selected to fill this position will, as a condition of employment, be required to notify his/her immediate supervisor, in writing, not later than five (5) days after the conviction of or a plea of guilty to a violation of any criminal drug statute occurring in the workplace.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER: All qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, family responsibilities, matriculation, physical handicap, genetic information, or political affiliation.
NOTICE OF NON-DISCRIMINATION: In accordance with the D.C. Human Rights Act of 1977, as amended, D.C. Official Code, Section 2-1401.01 et. seq., (Act) the District of Columbia does not discriminate on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, familial status, family responsibilities, matriculation, political affiliation, disability, genetic information, source of income, or place of residence or business. Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that is also prohibited by the Act. In addition, harassment based on any of the above-protected categories is prohibited by the Act. Discrimination in violation of the Act will not be tolerated. Violators will be subject to disciplinary action.
OFFICIAL JOB OFFERS ARE TO BE MADE ONLY BY THE HUMAN RESOURCES SECTION OF THE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Important: Your COMPLETE application is important to OAG hiring process. Please ensure that you have read through the requisition in its entirety. Any REQUIRED document/s i.e. Resume, Cover Letter, DC2000RP, and/or KSAs as applicable, are included BEFORE you SUBMIT the application. You will NOT be able to re-submit. Thank you.