Social Worker for Education Defense and Justice for Youth Program

Description

East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC) is a non-profit legal services organization, the community-based clinical program for U.C. Berkeley Law School, and one of the Bay Area’s largest and most effective system disrupters. With a dual service and teaching mission, EBCLC is a racial justice organization committed to building a culturally diverse workplace, centered on equity. With about 50 staff, 100 clinical law students a year, and a $7 million annual budget, EBCLC is the largest provider of free legal services in Alameda County, providing multimodal, collaborative, and holistic legal services to over 4,000 clients annually and engaging in legislative and policy advocacy at the state and local level. 

EBCLC’s Education Defense and Justice for Youth (EDJY) Program provides holistic legal representation to youth in Alameda County, CA. We combine legal advocacy and social work to disrupt the “school-to-prison pipeline.” The team strives to uplift the voices and rights of young people – particularly young people of color – through holistic legal representation in Alameda County, local and statewide policy advocacy, and community engagement.? 

The Opportunity 

We are hiring a Social Worker to join our dynamic EDJY Program team. The Social Worker will work in close collaboration with attorneys and program staff to advocate for youth in a variety of settings. The position requires a strong, client-centered advocate with excellent case management and organizational skills and experience working with youth and/or young adults. The ideal candidate is committed to pursuing racial justice and community healing, enthusiastic about engaging in interdisciplinary advocacy, and eager to mentor the next generation of social justice professionals. 

Primary Responsibilities

• Work collaboratively with attorneys to represent young people in Alameda County juvenile court and education cases, including AB 12, juvenile record sealing and expulsion matters

• Provide trauma-informed case management, crisis intervention, and support to clients and their families 

• Support clients in identifying their needs, setting goals, and developing structured plans for achieving those goals

• Attend in-person client appointments, court proceedings, and engage in-person fieldwork to support our clients. Fieldwork typically includes visits to our youth clients’ homes, schools, juvenile detention facilities, and community spaces 

• Engage with community partners and coalitions to confront the criminalization and incarceration of youth, school push-out practices, civil rights violations, and the school-prison nexus more broadly 

• Supervise MSW interns and participate in the training of legal and social work teams

• Complete case management tasks 

• Additional tasks as assigned by Supervisor

Workplace Expectations

The Social Worker is expected to work at our Adeline office in Berkeley 3 days a week from 9am-5pm to meet the needs of our Social Work and EDJY teams and the community. In addition, our Social Worker is expected to work with clients in the field - meeting with clients in their homes, as well as various other locations throughout Alameda County including social services agencies, court etc. Our Social Worker’s remote schedule will be determined by the Social Work Director, based on programmatic and client needs.

Salary and Benefits 

Starting salary for this full-time exempt position is $87,763 - $104,763 based on the applicant’s MSW graduation date, as dictated by the EBCLC salary scale for the fiscal year July 2025-June 2026. This is a bargaining unit position. Applicants interested in a senior status title must complete the requirements outlined in the collective bargaining agreement. 

Benefits include fully paid health insurance (medical, dental, and vision) for employees and their dependents, life and disability insurance, and generous paid leave (vacation, sick, and holidays); EBCLC also offers flexible spending accounts for qualified health, dependent care, and commute expenditures, and retirement options. 

Application Procedures 

Interested applicants should submit an application by visiting https://ebclc.org/about-us/careers/. Applicants must submit a complete application – resume, cover letter and 3 professional references – through the Paylocity platform (linked on EBCLC’s website). The position will remain open until filled. EBCLC will review applications and interview candidates on a rolling basis, starting June 22, 2026 and will only review complete applications.  

*If you need technical assistance to submit your application, please email [email protected]. Please contact EDJY and Social Work Director, Whitney Rubenstein, [email protected], with any questions about the position. 

Working at EBCLC 

EBCLC is a unionized workplace and members of the bargaining unit are represented by the Engineers and Scientists of California Local 20, IFPTE. 

Additionally, EBCLC is committed to building a culturally diverse workplace centered on equity and providing an inclusive, welcoming, and culturally responsive environment for all members of our staff, volunteers, subcontractors, vendors, and clients. To achieve this goal, EBCLC works actively to improve our office climate, systems and structures, communications, and community engagement to create an inclusive and respectful workplace where differences are acknowledged and valued. We strongly encourage individuals from traditionally underrepresented communities to apply. EBCLC does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender, gender expression, gender identity, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, prior contact with the criminal or juvenile legal system, or any other basis prohibited by law. 

Requirements

 Minimum Qualifications

· Masters in Social Work 

· Experience with or strong interest in MSW intern supervision

· Demonstrated ability to work effectively with individuals from diverse socioeconomic, cultural, and lived-experience backgrounds

· Ability to engage clients with empathy, respect and a strengths-based approach

· Demonstrated experience working with youth and/or young adults and their families

· Strong written and oral advocacy skills 

· Experience in case management 

· Demonstrated time management, priority-setting, and organizational skills 

· Ability to use personal transportation to travel throughout Alameda County as needed for weekly client work and community engagement 

Preferred Qualifications 

· Experience working in an interdisciplinary setting or experience working collaboratively with attorneys

· Experience managing a complex workload independently in a professional setting 

· Experience collaborating with community partners

· Spanish language fluency