Staff Attorney 2

The Office of Early Childhood is recruiting for a Staff Attorney 2 position.  The Office of Early Childhood (OEC) is a unique state agency in Connecticut that helps families with young children achieve better life outcomes. A new state agency, OEC is called on in its enabling statute to be data-driven, human-centered, and result-focused.  We touch the lives of over 200,000 young children, parents, and caregivers annually through our integrated focus on early care and education programs and safety supports, our home visiting programs, and other critical early childhood services.  By scale of funding, OEC is one of the largest departments of Connecticut state government, deploying and leveraging approximately half a billion dollars each year in service of vulnerable families and communities.  Connecticut is a leader in the nation.  Whereas early childhood programming in most states is fragmented across multiple programs which families must navigate, only a handful of states have created agencies dedicated to integrating the supports families with young children require – an only Connecticut’s has  clear data-driven mandate.  The majority of brain development occurs in early childhood, setting the stage for the rest of a lifetime.  Experiences that support or impair a child’s development during this time can have significant and long lasting impacts. New parents and caregivers need support to whether the challenges and costs of parenting and caring for young children.  OEC acts on the overwhelming evidence that intervention early in life, is the most promising way to break the cycle of poverty.   Your work here will have an impact on the economic security, health, safety, and resilience of families with young children. You will help make childcare safer, more accessible and of higher quality; you will provide families with the support they need to help prevent child abuse, neglect, and trauma; you will help families gain greater economic stability; you will support families with young children who have developmental delays.  This position will play a critical role in the development of this new agency, showing that a family-centered, data-smart approach to service delivery drives measurable better results for children.  We are expanding our legal team to further safeguard child safety and promote positive child outcomes.  Responsibilities of this position include researching, interpreting, analyzing and applying complex federal and state laws and regulations, case law and legal principles; supporting the formulation of new agreements, initiatives, and legislation; supporting active contract management; acting as hearing officer or representing the agency in formal administrative hearings on a full range of cases involving child care licensing and/or child care subsidy. The incumbent will be responsible for the implementation of the multi-state appeal process for background checks required by the Child Care Development Block Grant.  This position is located at 450 Columbus Blvd., Hartford.   Occasional travel may be required. 

Applicants are required to submit a resume on the resume tab with their submission.  (Note: In order to upload documents you must ensure that your internet browser's 'pop-up' blocker is off.  Failure to do so may prevent you from being able to upload documentation and submit your application.) 

Questions about this recruitment and these required documents should be directed to the Office of Early Childhood Education human resources office: Chris.Beloff@ct.gov or (860)713-6697.

In a state agency this class is accountable for independently performing a full range of tasks in the legal work of the agency.

Performs advanced and complex legal work of an agency; researches, interprets, analyzes and applies complex and conflicting laws and regulations, case law and legal principles; acts as hearing officer or represents agency in formal administrative and public proceedings on a full range of cases involving complex legal and technical issues; negotiates and drafts settlement agreements; drafts advisory opinions, rulings, decisions, recommendations, findings, legislation, statutes, regulations, publications and other related legal documents; assists in the preparation and presentation of trials and appeals; consults with the Office of the Attorney General on legal issues; researches complex legal issues; conducts investigations and enforcement proceedings; prepares comprehensive reports for use in administrative and court proceedings; prepares pleadings and other court papers; interprets and applies complex or conflicting laws and regulations, case law and legal principles; participates in the conduct of various educational activities; provides legal guidance when duly authorized; provides input into policy formation; may testify at or monitor legislative proceedings; may represent agency in court when authorized; reviews court decisions, new and proposed laws and regulations to determine impact on agency operations; prepares and maintains precedent manuals; reviews legal and other related documents for legal sufficiency; performs related duties as required.

Considerable knowledge of legal principles, practices and procedures in Connecticut; considerable knowledge of legal research techniques; considerable knowledge of the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act; considerable knowledge of and the ability to interpret and apply relevant state and federal laws, statutes, regulations and legislation; considerable knowledge of relevant agency policies and procedures; knowledge of the rules of evidence; knowledge of criminal and constitutional law and legislative process; considerable interpersonal skills; considerable oral and written communication skills; considerable ability to apply judicial decisions to the interpretation of statues; considerable ability to comprehend, analyze and organize technical data and coordinate elements of legal cases.

STAFF ATTORNEY 2: Two (2) years of experience in the practice of law.
STAFF ATTORNEY 3: Three (3) years of experience in the practice of law at the level of Staff Attorney 2 in the same state agency.

Preferred candidates will possess:

• experience conducting enforcement proceedings;
• experience preparing comprehensive reports;
• experience participating in the conduct of various educational activities;
• experience providing legal guidance when duly authorized;
• experience providing input into policy formation;
• experience testifying at or monitoring legislative proceedings;
• experience drafting proposed laws and regulations;
• experience preparing and maintaining precedent manuals; 
• experience acting as hearing officer or representing an agency in formal administrative hearings;
• experience drafting and reviewing  data agreements;
• experience with data privacy;
• experience advising on all aspects of privacy law and regulation, including HIPAA, FERPA, data protection, data retention, data security, and data breach rules;
• familiarity with design and execution of performance-based contracting and active contract management;
• experience creating new processes in conformance with state or federal law. 
• dual fluency in professional written and spoken English and Spanish.

1. Must be admitted to practice law in the State of Connecticut.
2. May be required to travel.

AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.