Deputy City Attorney (Care) - Child/Family Team - City Attorney's Office (8177)

Company Description

Permanent Exempt:

Permanent exempt (PEX) position; individuals who are appointed to Exempt Positions are appointed at the pleasure of their appointing officer and are considered to be "at-will".

• Application Deadline: Continuous, earliest close 5:00 p.m. on August 7, 2023
• Compensation Range: $142,168- $249,080
• Application Opening: July 17, 2023
• Recruitment ID: RTF0137638-01154680

About the Office: The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office (Office) is an innovative, nationally-recognized municipal law office working to protect and advance the rights and interests of the City and County of San Francisco and its residents. With over 300 talented, dedicated, and diverse employees, the Office provides exceptional legal services to the City’s Mayor, Board of Supervisors, officials, and departments. Our work empowers the City’s public servants with effective, responsive, and creative legal solutions and representation so they can deliver critical public services and our affirmative advocacy enhances the lives and wellbeing of San Francisco’s residents and visitors.

The Office recognizes that diversity in the backgrounds, identities, ideas, and lived experiences of our employees enriches our workplace and enhances our work. We aspire to recruit, employ, retain, and promote talented individuals representing the full spectrum of our community, and welcome all candidates, including candidates of any race, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, and age, and candidates with disabilities. We have a clear vision: to be the place where a diverse mix of people want to come and stay, grow professionally, and find purpose and engagement, and where all employees feel welcomed and respected for their full authentic selves, and valued for their work and contributions to the Office and the City. To learn more about the Office’s efforts to provide an inclusive workplace where employees feel they belong and can meaningfully contribute, please click here.

The Office offers a hybrid remote work schedule for eligible employees, with three days onsite and up to two days remote.

To learn more about the City Attorney’s Office please visit: https://www.sfcityattorney.org/

About the Child/ Family and Conservatorship Team

The CFC Team is a collaborative and dynamic group of 13 attorneys, two paralegals, and two legal secretaries. Our team has been involved in the creation and implementation of the processes that will be CARE Court. We have been working with many partners – including the court, San Francisco Behavioral Health, the Public Defender’s Office and the Mayor’s Office to ensure the infrastructure for this new program will be in place by the statutorily mandated start date of October 1. Our team will represent San Francisco Behavioral Health at all phases of the CARE Court process. Representation in these cases will begin with client consultations prior to the filing of the petitions, and will continue with the filing of the petitions and appearing at the numerous statutorily required court hearings for each case. Because the program is new, it is not clear exactly what the case load will be. Estimates of eligible participants in San Francisco range from 400-2000.

Attorneys will work in a fast-paced environment and likely juggle a complex caseload. In addition to working with behavioral health specialists, attorneys will also work with a variety of other professionals including, but not limited to, doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists, law enforcement, service providers and opposing counsel.

Deputy City Attorney Position and Responsibilities

Petitions in CARE Court may be filed by a wide range of individuals – but each petition will eventually be taken over SF Behavioral Health so the Deputy City Attorney will be involved in every single CARE Court case. The attorney will work with the client to ensure that the CARE Plan comports with statutory requirements and will work with opposing counsel to determine the course of each case. There will be multiple court hearings for each case. There may be as many as five hearings on a case prior to a court ordering a CARE Plan. While state law requires bi-monthly review hearings once a CARE Plan is ordered, the San Francisco Superior Court has indicated it will hold review hearings on a monthly basis. Participants will be allowed to contest virtually every stage of the proceedings which will likely lead to several contested hearings per case.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Licensed to practice law in California.

Desired Qualifications

• Commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment.
• Ability to exercise good judgment, multi-task, and meet deadlines.
• Desire and ability to work successfully as part of a team.
• Excellent oral and written communication and advocacy skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills and a positive attitude.
• Familiarity with Probate Code as it relates to mental health conservatorship proceedings.
• Ability to assume responsibility quickly and work independently and efficiently.
• Ability to manage a high volume, fast paced caseload and adjust to occasional workload increases.

Verification:

Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. If education verification is required, information on how to verify education requirements, including verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at https://sfdhr.org/how-verify-education-requirements”

Note: Falsifying one’s education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification for this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco.

All work experience, education, training and other information substantiating how you meet the minimum qualifications must be included on your application by the filing deadline. Information submitted after the filing deadline will not be considered in determining whether you meet the minimum qualifications.

Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed City and County of San Francisco application.

Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility, disqualification or may lead to lower scores.

Selection Procedures: The selection process will include evaluation of applications in relation to minimum requirements. Applicants meeting the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement to the interview. Depending on the number of applicants, the Department may establish and implement additional screening mechanisms to comparatively evaluate the qualifications of candidates. If this becomes necessary, only those applicants whose qualifications most closely meet the needs of the Department will be invited to participate in the next stage of the selection process. The stated desirable qualifications may be considered at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring.

Additional Information

Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:

• Right to Work
• Veterans Preference
• Copies of Application Documents
• Information About the Hiring Process
• Equal Employment Opportunity
• Diversity Statement
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation

HOW TO APPLY

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.sf.gov/ and begin the application process.

• Select the “Apply Now” button and follow instructions on the screen

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up-to-date. Also, applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses (@sfgov.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com).

Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

Human Resources Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please send your inquires to Nikki Chew, Sr. HR Analyst at [email protected].

CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT: All City and County of San Francisco employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. Someone is fully vaccinated when 14 days have passed since they received the final dose of a two-shot vaccine or a dose of a one-shot vaccine. Any new hire must present proof of full vaccination status to be appointed. Any new hire who will be routinely assigned or occasionally enter High-Risk Settings, must provide proof of having received a COVID-19 booster vaccine by March 1, 2022, or once eligible.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.