Community Legal Services, Inc. of Philadelphia is a non-profit public interest agency providing free civil legal services to low-income Philadelphia residents. As the largest provider of free civil legal services in the Philadelphia area, CLS is both locally and nationally renowned as a premier legal services provider dedicated to ensuring access to justice for all low-income individuals and communities. CLS has eight legal units covering a wide range of civil legal services.
CLS will partner with Broad Street Ministry and Philadelphia FIGHT to establish its third Medical-Legal Partnership. Broad Street Ministry provides radical hospitality, including meals and social services, to hundreds of guests each week, many of whom are experiencing homelessness.
The new Medical-Legal Partnership Paralegal will work with the MLP’s Supervising Attorney to provide legal advice and representation to Broad Street Ministry’s guests. CLS anticipates that the MLP may address income supports, health care, criminal records, and identity issues, and may address additional legal issues depending on the needs of guests.
Summary of Duties:
– Partner with the MLP Supervising Attorney to establish and maintain systems for screening and identifying guests with unmet legal issues.
– Work closely with Broad Street Ministry and Philadelphia FIGHT to build trusting, collaborative, and respectful relationships.
– Conduct in-person intake interviews for guests who are identified as having unmet legal issues up to three days per week.
– Respond to legal referrals via telephone, and track referral outcomes consistently in CLS’s case management system.
– Provide legal advice, referrals, and representation to guests on a range of legal issues, under the close supervision of the MLP Supervising Attorney.
– Assist the MLP Supervising Attorney in identifying the training needs of Broad Street Ministry and Philadelphia FIGHT staff. Provide training when appropriate.
– Collect case outcome data and other data that demonstrates the success of the MLP. Synthesizing or analyzing the data when needed.
– Serve guests in an empathic, culturally competent, and trauma informed way.
CLS will accept applications on a rolling basis until the position has been filled.