Helpline Advocate Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Helpline Advocate

"We do not merely have a social responsibility to assure that our children and youth have decent life chances and prosper. We have a sacred obligation to do so." Founder Hubie Jones

About MAC

Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC) is a non-profit legal aid organization working to remove barriers to education for low-income students, children with disabilities, immigrant children, and Black and Brown youth. During a time when civil rights in education are under political attack, MAC is a key leader in fighting to maintain and enforce longstanding education protections for these children in Massachusetts and achieve education equity.

Our work is multi-level and is driven by a community-informed, ground-up advocacy model. We use a combination of direct legal advocacy for families, strategic litigation, legislative change, coalition leadership, community training, and a multilingual Helpline that serves close to two thousand callers each year. Our longstanding organizational commitment to racial equity guides both our internal practices and external advocacy, aligning our work with equity, justice, and inclusion and equipping us to identify structural racism internally and externally.

To learn more about our mission and work, please visit MAC's website or view a video about who we are.

The Opportunity

MAC seeks a committed, mission driven, and detail-oriented, and preferably bilingual person to work with our Helpline Team as the Helpline Advocate. MAC's multilingual Helpline is the entry point to MAC for families and caregivers who are looking for resources, information, and referrals to better advocate for children experiencing barriers to education.

The Helpline Advocate will be joining a team of exceptional public interest attorneys and advocates working to achieve equal educational opportunities for children in Massachusetts. The Helpline Advocate will respond to calls to MAC's multilingual Helpline and provide callers with guidance and information on topics including special education, school discipline, and language access.

The Helpline Advocate will spend most of their time responding to calls, providing support and resources to callers, and documenting the caller information in MAC's case management database. There are also opportunities for the Helpline Advocate to provide direct assistance to families and caregivers, such as reviewing documents and drafting communications to the child's school to further the family or caregiver's advocacy efforts.

The Helpline Advocate will also be an active participant in developing and executing initiatives to improve and innovate the Helpline, such as enhancements to technology or outreach strategies to ensure the Helpline is accessible to the racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse low-income communities MAC serves.

The Helpline Advocate will receive training, professional development, and mentorship on an ongoing basis to develop necessary skills and knowledge of education law for the position.

MAC has a deeply committed staff with a flexible family-friendly culture that values and promotes creativity. The position offers flexibility to work hybrid with the days in person and remote agreed to with the supervisor.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provide counsel and advice to parents, caregivers, and service providers who contact MAC's Helpline:
  • Respond to racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse callers contacting MAC's Helpline, providing callers with resources, referrals, and other education advocacy?related information.
  • Document demographic information and all communications with callers in MAC's client information database
  • Identify matters that may fall within MAC's programmatic priority areas and present them at weekly case review meetings for possible attorney representation.
• Provide ongoing direct advocacy assistance to families:
  • Capacity permitting, review student documents, draft advocacy letters, attend Team meetings, and provide other direct assistance to families
• Continuous improvement of Helpline:
  • Support and eventually lead initiatives to improve Helpline efficiency, client support, and engagement of a culturally and racially diverse population.
• Contribute to MAC's internal racial equity initiatives in partnership with all staff.

Qualifications:

We value a wide range of experiences and pathways. We also recognize that people from historically marginalized communities may not apply for positions if they do not have every qualification. If you believe you can thrive in this role, we encourage you to apply.

• Fluency in Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Vietnamese or Mandarin in addition to English is preferred.
• Experience and interest in working with racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse communities.
• Basic understanding of disability and special education rights, including inequitable access to education for certain groups due to systemic racism, language barriers and other factors.
• Excellent active listening skills and empathy towards people whose communication is influenced by trauma, discrimination, and/or unfair treatment by school districts or other systems.
• Strong written, analytical, oral, and organizational skills.
• Ability to manage personal schedule and meet work deadlines.
• Ability to be flexible and to work independently and as a part of a team in a hybrid work environment.
• Commitment to racial equity and a desire to grow and learn with an organization working to advance racial equity internally and in our community serving programs.
• Comfort level with technology, including competent use of Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel and Outlook and Teams) and a willingness to learn new applications and systems.
• Desire and ability to work effectively in an intergenerational, multiracial, multicultural, disability?inclusive workplace.

Location, Compensation & Benefits

Location: This is a full-time, exempt hybrid position requiring at least 2 days a week in our office at the Non-Profit Center near South Station. The salary range is between $45,500 to $50,000. The range has been established after a comprehensive analysis of market data, industry benchmarks, and our internal salary structures which have been adopted as part of our race equity commitment.

Benefits:

• **Pilot 4-day workweek*** (Fridays off at full pay. Read more
• here)
• Health insurance with 85% employer contribution
• Employer-paid life and short-term disability insurance
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer match
• Generous paid time off: 2 weeks vacation to start, 15 sick days, 11 holidays + 2 floating holidays, office closure from December 26–January 1, and 2 personal days
• Sabbatical eligibility after 7 years of service

How to Apply:

Interested candidates should submit their application materials to Elsa Liu at Eliu@massadvocates.org with "Helpline Advocate– [candidate name]" in the subject line. Applicants must submit both a cover letter and resume. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered.

The hiring process includes a virtual interview, skills assessment, and in-person interview. Applications will be reviewed as they come in.

MAC is committed to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. We strongly encourage applications from Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color; bilingual and bicultural candidates; LGBTQ2SIA+ people; and people with disabilities. We are an equal opportunity employer and prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, marital status, age, or sexual orientation