DSHS HCLA APS Legal Benefits Advisor

Legal Benefits Advisor

Home & Community Living Administration (HCLA) – Adult Protective Services (APS)

You will join a mission-driven team working to uphold safety, choice, and dignity for vulnerable adults across Washington. As part of Adult Protective Services, you will help ensure that APS decisions are grounded in fairness and supported by clear, consistent due process. Your work strengthens the integrity of APS investigations and helps safeguard adults who have experienced abandonment, abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, or self-neglect.

You will be part of a collaborative legal team that values clarity, preparation, and teamwork. Most of your week will be spent preparing for and representing APS in administrative proceedings, including evidentiary hearings before the Office of Administrative Hearings. You will work closely with APS investigators, paralegal staff, and partners across state and local agencies to prepare cases, guide staff through hearing processes, and support the division’s commitment to timely, thorough, and objective work.

Within your first six months, you will be ready to independently manage a full administrative hearing caseload comparable to your peers. You will have built strong working relationships with APS staff, gained confidence navigating APS due process requirements, and demonstrated your ability to prepare and present cases with clarity and precision.

Most of the casework is done telephonically or virtually. This career opportunity offers flexible hybrid telework within Washington State, with infrequent travel and an official duty station in Lacey, WA.

Some of what you will do

• Represent APS in administrative hearings and appeals, including evidentiary proceedings before the Office of Administrative Hearings and the DSHS Board of Appeals.
• Prepare legal documents, correspondence, discovery materials, hearing packets, and exhibits.
• Prepare APS investigators and other witnesses for testimony.
• Interpret and apply laws, rules, and policies related to APS due process and provide guidance on case preparation.
• Collaborate with paralegal staff and work closely with attorneys, prosecutors, legal aid organizations, tribes, and community partners.
• Participate in the Investigative Review Team by offering legal insight on evidence needs and draft findings.
• Track and document all steps in the appeals process in APS systems, ensuring accuracy and timeliness.
• Develop, update, and train staff on policies and procedures related to administrative proceedings.

Who should apply

You will bring a Juris Doctorate (JD) from an accredited law school. Admission to practice law in Washington State is preferred but not required.

Knowledge, skills, and abilities that will help you succeed include:

• Trial practice, motions practice, Washington rules of evidence, negotiation, legal research and writing, and legal reasoning.
• Administrative hearings at the state level, the Washington Administrative Procedure Act, Washington rules of civil procedure, criminal law, domestic violence, elder law, guardianship, public disclosure requirements, interviewing techniques, conflict resolution, and culturally responsive practice.
• Experience preparing and presenting evidence, witnesses, pleadings, and legal briefings in judicial or quasi-judicial settings.
• Interpret statutes and regulations and translate them into clear guidance for staff.
• Organize work, manage multiple deadlines, adapt to changing needs, and communicate effectively with colleagues, partners, and the public.
• Work collaboratively in a multidisciplinary environment and navigate sensitive or complex issues with care and professionalism.

DSHS partners with people to access support, care, and resources.

Interested? Please list 3 professional references’ current contact information on your application and include your current resume and a cover letter explaining how your knowledge, skills, and abilities qualify you for this role.

The Department of Social and Health Services’ (DSHS) vision that people find human services to shape their own lives requires that we come together with a sense of belonging, common purpose, shared values, and meaningful work. It is crucial to our agency’s vision that you bring a fairness, access, and social justice commitment to your work with DSHS. We strive to support all Washingtonians, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, people with physical, behavioral health, and intellectual disabilities, elders, LGBTQIA+ individuals, immigrants and refugees, and families building financial security.

Prior to a new hire, a background check including criminal record history may be conducted. Information from the background check will not necessarily preclude employment but will be considered in determining the applicant’s suitability and competence to perform in the job. This announcement may be used to fill multiple vacancies. Employees driving on state business must have a valid driver's license. Employees driving a privately owned vehicle on state business must have liability insurance on the privately owned vehicle.

Washington State Department of Social and Health Services is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in any area of employment, its programs or services on the basis of age, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression, marital status, race, creed, color, national origin, religion or beliefs, political affiliation, military status, honorably discharged veteran, Vietnam Era, recently separated or other protect­ed veteran status, the presence of any sensory, mental, physical disability or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability, equal pay or genetic information. Persons requiring accommodation in the application process or this job announcement in an alternative format may contact the Recruiter at (360) 725-5810. Applicants who are deaf or hard of hearing may call through Washington Relay Service by dialing 7-1-1 or 1-800-833-6384.

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