Community Worker

WHO WE ARE: Founded in 1966, CRLA's mission is to fight for justice and individual rights alongside the most exploited communities of our society. Through a network of regional offices and cross-cutting programs, CRLA provides legal services to tens of thousands of low-income people annually. Our work impacts farmworkers, indigenous populations, individuals with disabilities, immigrant populations, LGBTQ+ communities, women, children, and low-income families in rural areas.

• Position: Community Worker
• Program: Agricultural Worker Justice Program
• Experience: 6+ months
• Application Deadline: Open until filled
• Location: CRLA Oxnard Office
• Term of Employment: Regular, Full Time (37.5hrs/week)
• Other: FLSA Non-Exempt, Union Position

The Agricultural Worker Justice Program utilizes a community lawyering model to address the specific, discrete, and systemic issues facing agricultural workers statewide. The model calls for creative, innovative advocacy that uses a multipronged approach to address the issues and their systemic roots. Approaches such as community leadership development and advocacy around policies are as important to the work as traditional legal advocacy.

The Agricultural Worker Justice Program covers a wide array of legal areas ranging from wage and hour violations to unsafe industry-wide working conditions. AWJP's clients are low-wage agricultural workers, including farmworkers and people who work in: dairies, packing houses, plant and flower nurseries, and meat and animal product processing operations such as meat and egg packing.

Reporting to the Directing Attorney, the Community Worker will perform initial screenings for eligibility, interviews to determine the nature of the legal problem/s and to identify the type of legal assistance being sought by the applicants.

Applicant Intake:

• Perform initial screening for eligibility; interview applicants to determine their legal problem's nature and identify the type of legal assistance being sought.
• Interview applicants to learn the underlying causes of their legal problem and how the legal assistance being sought would assist clients in meeting their short, mid-range, and longer-term goals.
• Provide applicants with appropriate legal information and referrals.
• Prepare and deliver to attorneys and other staff verbal and written reports of applicant interviews, including facts pertinent to the issues raised by applicants.
• Assess applicants' capacities to represent themselves in the legal matter and the obstacles applicants face in meeting their stated goals.

Conducting Investigations:

• Gather information through field inquiry and other research related to actual or potential cases and litigation.
• Prepare simple documents from standard forms.
• Assist pro-per clients in identifying helpful information for the presentation of their cases.
• Provide appropriate advocacy and make referrals where applicable.

Lay Advocacy:

• Represent client's interests in administrative hearings and other forums appropriate to a non-lawyer and engage in lay advocacy to the extent permissible under the law and the code of professional ethics.
• Perform ministerial duties in connection with lawsuits such as filing and the service of process and interpreting for non-English speaking clients in interview situations and before formal and informal tribunals.

Community Outreach and Education:

• Provide legal information and skills training to individuals and groups to help our clients understand and assert their legal rights and responsibilities.

Collaboration with other agencies:

• Maintain CRLA liaison with community organizations and groups to ensure that CRLA resources address client community needs.
• Community Workers may be required to work outside the office, for instance, to work on regional sweeps.
• Perform other tasks assigned.