Law & Policy Consultant
Overview
Care should systematically account for people's legal rights, risks and remedies; and empower care teams as strengths-based, role-aligned partners in problem-solving. MLPB (mlpb.health) equips communities of care with legal education and problem-solving insight that fosters prevention, health equity and human-centered system change. Through training, education and technical assistance, we help teams and organizations more effectively connect people to the resources and legal protections they seek. This work is embodied in MLPB's team-facing legal partnering framework and in our Unlocking Access capacity-building suite. MLPB is a fiscally sponsored program of TSNE (tsne.org).
Responsibilities
MLPB Law & Policy Consultants provide capacity-building information to care teams across many domains of health-related social need (HRSN) and structural drivers of health (SDOH). They do this in ways that, on the one hand, honor scope of practice boundaries among non-lawyers and, on the other hand, promotes diffusion of equity-advancing legal information and rights education more broadly within a health ecosystem that is preparing for a new frontier: social care.
MLPB's capacity-building work is complementary to, but distinct from, more familiar (and essential) access to justice approaches such as direct legal representation of individual clients. Because MLPB and its staff do not practice law - we do not provide direct legal representation of any sort to individuals, families, or classes of consumers; or to our organizational partners - applicants seeking to practice law in this important way should not apply for this position.
Essential Functions
The Law & Policy Consultant we recruit will join a passionate, talented team and advance MLPB's mission and successful growth by providing training, education and technical assistance to a range of organizational partners. This position will tap general and continuous law and policy knowledge, content development skills, project management skills, and public-/social-/community-health-aligned skills. Its primary responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
Training & Tools
- Developing and delivering in-person and web-based trainings that teach workforces about
- how law, public policy, and history impact people's health, well-being and dignity;
- common obstacles people and populations confront when attempting to access resources and legal protections; and
- role-aligned strategies that care team members can deploy to support people's problem-solving goals.
- Developing and maintaining companion tools (reference content) that build care team capacity, including but not limited to MLPB's Digital Digest.
Education & Telementoring
- Joining interdisciplinary team meetings to provide general legal information and problem-solving insight in a care planning context;
- Responding thoughtfully, efficiently, and creatively to a high volume of questions from care team members both within and outside of team meetings.
System Design & Effective Practice Technical Assistance
- Providing capacity-building support to teams and organizations that (a) connects the dots between household-level social needs and structural drivers of health, and (b) points to potential system- and policy-level change strategies;
- Serving as an ambassador for MLPB in a range of external settings, including but not limited to local, regional and national coalitions, networks and conferences.
Quality Assurance and Improvement
- Maintaining timely documentation of all activities on central project management database;
- Supporting preparation of regular reports on services and related learning, including trends in barriers to resources and legal protections experienced by people and populations;
- Supervising interns;
- Miscellaneous / general non-profit "pitching in."
Compensation and Benefits
Location: Work will be primarily performed within the state of Massachusetts and your home office. Remote work options available in a transitional hybrid work environment.
Benefits: This position is eligible for a full benefits package including:
- Generous Paid-Time-Off (PTO): 12 paid holidays, 3 weeks vacation, 1 week personal holiday, and sick time for full-time staff;
- 80% Employer-paid, $0 deductible Health Insurance through Harvard Pilgrim;
- Low-cost MetLife Dental and Vision;
- Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) for Health and Dependent Care;
- Employer-paid Life, Long- and Short-Term Disability Insurance;
- Employer-paid Pension through TIAA;
- ...and more!
Additional Information
- Deadline to Apply: January 31, 2022
- Please include the following documents with your application:
- Resume/CV - Use document upload section in the beginning of the application
- Cover letter - You will be prompted to enter a cover letter towards the end of the application and will need to copy paste it into the space available not as an attachment
TSNE/MLPB envisions a society grounded in the principles of social and economic justice. As such, we strive to achieve excellence through a diverse and inclusive workplace that honors the unique talents and lived experiences of each person. Our vision and values are reflected in all our employment-related decisions, including hiring practices. Accordingly, TSNE actively seeks people who bring diverse backgrounds and perspectives to join us in our work.
As an EOE/AA employer, TSNE/MLPB will not discriminate in its employment practices due to an applicant's race, color, religion, sex, national origin or ancestry, age, sexual orientation, gender identification, genetic information, veteran or disability status or any other factor prohibited by law.
Qualifications
We will consider exceptional candidates who demonstrate a strong combination of the specific qualifications and skills described below.
- Required:
- Juris Doctorate;
- Licensed and in good standing in Massachusetts;
- At least 3 years of professionally relevant experience.
- Preferred:
- Licensed and in good standing in additional states;
- Willingness to waive into additional state bars;
- Additional advanced degree or training/experience in community health, social work, public health, or related field;
- Previous work experience in an interdisciplinary context.
- Key attributes:
- Comfort level with unpredictability, fast-paced environment, and responsibility for developing knowledge about unfamiliar topics;
- Ability to nimbly translate complex "legalese" into simple and clear communications, both verbal and written;
- Dedication to anti-racism and diversity-, inclusion-, equity- and trauma-informed practices;
- Cultural humility regarding the diversity of our interdisciplinary colleagues and the people they serve;
- Consciousness of vicarious trauma and the challenges our workforce colleagues and we face in managing the stress of our work;
- Commitment to contributing to a positive, collegial, and inclusive team culture.
Physical Demands/Work Environment
The physical demands described here are representative of those for this position. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions. Work is performed in an office environment and in close proximity to other workers.
While performing the duties of this position, the employee is required to:
- Handle, or feel objects, tools or controls;
- Reach; traverse; sit (usually for longer periods of time); occasionally ascend/descend; and position self (to) move;
- Occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds;
- The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate;
- Job is not subject to significant occupational or environmental hazards;
- Likelihood of personal injury would be relatively slight;
- Environmental and work hazards are not present to a measurable degree;
- Willingness and ability to travel periodically to locations in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New England, and across the country in the course of the work.