Seeking Post-Graduate Fellow Applicants
ANNUAL SALARY: $62,000+ prior to Bar admission and $75,000 after Bar admission
ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION:
MHAS is a private, non-profit organization whose mission is to protect and advance the legal rights of low-income adults and children with mental health disabilities and empower them to assert those rights in order to maximize their autonomy, achieve equity, and secure the resources they need to thrive. MHAS assists both children and adults, with an emphasis on obtaining government benefits and services, protecting rights, and fighting discrimination. MHAS also serves as a resource to the community by providing training and technical assistance to attorneys, mental health professionals, consumer and family member groups, and other advocates. Finally, MHAS participates in policy work and advocacy in an effort to improve the lives of people with mental health disabilities.
CALL FOR FELLOWSHIP APPLICANTS:
Mental Health Advocacy Services, Inc. (MHAS) seeks candidates to partner with on a post-graduate fellowship project. Applicants should have a passion for advocating for individuals with mental health disabilities primarily through direct legal services.
MHAS has a long history of sponsoring law school graduates seeking to start their public interest legal careers with a fellowship. Legal fellows have found a home for diverse projects at MHAS, including:
A medical-legal partnership funded by a Skadden Fellowship supporting transition-aged youth with mental illness by providing direct legal services to remove barriers to economic and housing stability.
A maternal medical-legal partnership funded by Equal Justice Works empowering low-income pregnant and postpartum women with mental health disabilities through direct legal services, know-your-rights trainings, and policy advocacy.
A project funded by a Skadden Fellowship enabling litigants in Los Angeles County’s Mental Health Court and CARE Court systems to better move through these systems by providing necessary civil legal aid services.
Since MHAS practice areas cross a broad spectrum of disability rights, MHAS has had success working with graduates who seek to find a home for their disability rights fellowship projects. MHAS is open to proposals relating to any of our practice areas, including housing, re-entry,
special education, mental health law, and/or public benefits. MHAS will work closely with the applicant to refine the project proposal.
FOUR DAY WORK WEEK, FRINGE BENEFITS, & WORK CULTURE:
On January 1, 2023, MHAS proudly and permanently adopted a four-day work week. After completing a six-month trial of a four-day work week in 2022, MHAS found what almost all other companies that have moved to a four-day work week have found: the four-day work week improves organization productivity and employee health, reduces gender inequality, and creates a more sustainable work environment. All full-time MHAS employees, including this position, work approximately four eight-hour days per week. The MHAS office is closed on Fridays.
Other benefits include paid vacation, holidays, and sick leave; employee health, dental, vision, long term disability, and life insurance.
MHAS is proud of its collegial, family-friendly culture that respects the work/life balance of its employees. MHAS also provides employees with frequent wellness opportunities, including trainings on stress management and mindfulness, group meditations, and regular, informal staff gatherings.
MHAS attorneys work remotely with access to the MHAS headquarters office as needed. MHAS equips all employees working from home with the necessary technology and office supplies.
COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, & INCLUSION:
Mental Health Advocacy Services seeks to fill all positions with people who share our values, including our organizational commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We encourage all interested individuals to apply - especially people of color; women; people from low-income backgrounds; people experiencing mental health and/or physical disabilities; people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender non-conforming, or non-binary; immigrants; people who have been affected by mass incarceration; and people from other underrepresented and historically marginalized groups. We believe that the resulting diversity is both a source of program strength and a matter of fundamental human fairness.
APPLICATION PROCESS: Please email Managing Attorney Jo Bloomfield at jbloomfield@mhas-la.org if you are interested in exploring a fellowship project with MHAS. Please include a cover letter explaining your interest in MHAS and your fellowship project idea(s), a resume, and a writing sample.
MHAS is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, national origin, ancestry, age, sexual orientation, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, mental or physical disability, or any other basis protected by law.