Benefits:

403(b)

Dental insurance

Health insurance

Paid time off

Vision insurance

Wellness resources

THIS POSITION IS AVAILABLE IN MAY OF 2026; ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS NOW

Organization Description

Dependency Advocacy Center (DAC), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, provides interdisciplinary family defense legal services to indigent parents and children involved with Santa Clara County’s child welfare system. Substance use disorder, intimate partner violence, and mental health concerns are commonly presenting issues, often rooted in the layered effects of poverty, marginalization, and intergenerational trauma. DAC was founded on the belief that traditional legal advocacy is insufficient to adequately represent our parent and youth clients. Our approach to holistic family defense utilizes an interdisciplinary team of attorneys, social workers, and mentor parents to create client-centered legal strategies designed to support family reunification and the family’s long-term success.

Mission Statement

Dependency Advocacy Center provides zealous legal representation to indigent clients in the juvenile dependency system to promote timely reunification and preservation of families in a safe, healthy environment. DAC believes that every parent and child entering the dependency system has a right to be treated with dignity, compassion and respect.

Job Description

The Clinical Director works directly with staff across roles at DAC, including our social workers and Mentor Parents, leading clinical processing groups for our attorneys and informing our clinical practice as an organization. Social workers at DAC partner with a dynamic group of attorneys who represent parents and children involved in the child welfare system. DAC social workers provide clinical expertise to support attorneys in: (1) presenting clients’ legal positions to the court in open child welfare cases and (2) advocating for clients who are involved with the Department of Family and Children’s Services informally, before a court case opens. Roles and responsibilities of the social workers at DAC include completing individualized needs assessments, providing referrals to resources in the community, ongoing case management, assistance in system navigation, interfacing with various service providers, providing clinical assessments, observing parent/child visitations, supporting clients at court hearings, providing expert testimony in litigation, writing reports to the court on the client’s behalf, and attending non-court based meetings, including CFT (Child Family Team) meetings. Some work may be done remotely but in person work is required for this position.

The Clinical Director will be responsible for:

developing and managing DAC’s social worker program, including facilitating monthly group supervision for all DAC social workers, providing clinical supervision to DAC social workers, providing feedback to DAC leadership on best practices in the field of social work, collaborating with child welfare system partners to promote DAC’s social work program, overseeing DAC’s social work intern program, managing data collection, preparing written reports to funders and acting as assigned social worker on a limited number of cases;

providing case consultation to DAC staff on clinical matters including risk assessment/planning, mental health support, trauma informed care, etc., and be accessible to DAC staff including working from court each week for in person support,

providing individual and group clinical supervision to DAC’s mentor parents and collaborating with the Mentor Parent Program Manager for programmatic clinical support and training tools as needed;

supporting DAC’s organizational development with regards to clinical work with clients including clinical training for attorneys, administrative assistants and management, developing DAC’s mental health risk assessment protocols for client-facing staff and staying up to date on relevant clinical topics such as trauma informed care, addiction and recovery, family systems research and more.

Desired Qualifications:

● Masters in Social Worker, preferably a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with two years post licensure experience (including the ability to meet all Board of Behavioral Sciences requirements to act as a Clinical Supervisor to Associate Clinical Social Workers (ASWs))

● Previous managerial and supervisory experience, preferred

● Strong leadership skills

● Demonstrated commitment to public interest issues

● Ability to flourish in a high-energy environment

● Ability to collaborate with multidisciplinary teams

● Knowledge of trauma informed standards of practice

● Experience in child welfare, risk assessment and safety planning strongly encouraged

● Excellent verbal, interpersonal, writing, and organizational skills

● Experience working with individuals from multi-ethnic communities

● Knowledge of community resources in Santa Clara County

● Experience providing clinical supervision to social workers, preferred

● Experience as a Field Instructor to social worker students, preferred

● Bilingual, Spanish speaking preferred

Salary/Benefits

$95,000 – $105,000 depending upon experience. Medical, dental, and vision coverage available. Generous PTO.

DAC’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) Mission Statement

At the Dependency Advocacy Center, our mission is to create an inclusive, equitable, and accessible environment where respect, kindness, and empathy guide all interactions with our staff, stakeholders, and clients. We are dedicated to fostering a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion within our organization. We firmly believe that every parent and child entering the dependency system deserves to be treated with dignity, compassion, and respect. These values are not only applicable to our clients but also extend to all staff members.

We are committed to continuous learning and self-reflection on matters concerning diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. Through ongoing education, training, and critical analysis of our progress, we seek to deepen our understanding and awareness of these issues and the impact it has on our clients and staff members. By doing so, we can more effectively advocate for clients and promote all aspects of inclusion, including diverse representation in our leadership and staff.

At DAC, we are determined to increase representative diversity within our organization. We aspire to become an actively pro-diversity company and a strong ally to all the communities we serve. We recognize the importance of intentional efforts to support individuals of diverse ethnicities, abilities, genders, gender identities, sexual orientations, ages, and all races and religious affiliations.

Incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion practices is at the core of our daily work at DAC. We strive to integrate these principles into every aspect of our organization to ensure a welcoming and inclusive environment for all.

Application Process

Please submit your cover letter and resume via the "Apply Now" button below.

In your cover letter, please include the following information: 1. Why are you interested in working in the position you are applying and at DAC specifically? 2. In order to best serve our clients and our community, DAC is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace in which differences are acknowledged and valued. How has your personal background or experiences, professional or otherwise, prepared you to contribute to social justice, race equity, and diversity among our staff?

Flexible work from home options available.