Deputy Director

The Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights seeks a smart, committed individual to serve as Deputy Director (DD). The DD will work in close partnership with LCCR’s Executive Director (ED) to embrace and move forward LCCR’s mission and vision. The primary role of the DD is to build LCCR’s internal capacity, including managing and developing a cohesive and collaborative staff, ensuring high performance standards, and supporting special projects.

The Community You Will Join

The Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights (LCCR) is a non-profit law office that fights to keep children out of the justice system so they can thrive in their homes and communities. We both represent individual children in their court cases and address the systemic issues that trap mainly poor, Black youth in the justice system.

Youth Defense: As the youth public defender in New Orleans, our Children’s Defense Team represents over 90% of children in the city who interface with the juvenile legal system. We provide each child with a holistic team – a lawyer, social worker, investigator, and youth advocate – to address both the causes and consequences of an arrest. In Baton Rouge, we partner with the East Baton Rouge Office of the Public Defender to provide a team of social workers, advocates, and investigators who partner with lawyers to ensure holistic defense.

State and Local Advocacy: We advocate for policies that reduce the number of children in the legal system and provide better alternatives to arrest and incarceration. For the youth who do enter the system, we support and propose policies that keep them safe, protect their rights, and get them home as quickly as possible.

LCCR envisions a Louisiana where every child is treated with grace, fairness, and dignity. In this future, young people are empowered to chart their own paths, surrounded by a true justice system that prioritizes restoration over punishment and a community that invests in their full potential.

The Difference You Will Make

The Deputy Director will, in collaboration with the Executive Director and Director of Organizational Effectiveness, create and implement professional development plans that align and strengthen teams and individual managers, including skills training and opportunities for staff to sharpen their advocacy and deepen their analysis and understanding of youth justice and restorative practices. Through this work, the Deputy Director will nurture staff cohesion and interdependence, promote healthy team culture, and facilitate regular team building activities. The Deputy Director will support LCCR’s development through cultivating specific individual donors and collaborating with LCCR’s development team. The Deputy Director will be an integral part of day-to-day office operations, including human resources and, in alignment with their expertise, will contribute meaningfully to litigation, advocacy, and narrative change strategies.

Your Expertise

The Deputy Director must share the analysis that children are fundamentally different from adults and that to address youth harm, we must also address the root causes of said harm. The DD is motivated intrinsically by the fight to end punitive consequences for children and is determined to ensure both that LCCR is living its values and is the best possible vehicle in the fight to end youth incarceration.

The DD will have a deep understanding of the local, state, and national youth justice landscape with a minimum of 3 years of relevant work and effective supervision experience. A proven track record of leading highly motivated, effective, and united teams, as well as the ability to inspire and focus teams and navigate complex staff issues through a restorative lens. Emotional intelligence, support of people who have lived experience, and healthy communication skills are required to excel in this role. In addition to being comfortable providing and receiving direct, consistent feedback, the DD will believe in dialogue, collaboration, and nonpunitive solutions.

Salary and Compensation

The salary range for the Deputy Director is $110,000 to $120,000 dependent on experience. LCCR offers employee benefits that include unlimited flexible paid time off, 100% employer-paid health, dental, and vision insurance, paid parental leave, paid mental health days, an annual mental health stipend, and the option to contribute to an employer-matched retirement plan. The position is full-time and in-person, although remote work is possible. No other compensated work is permitted.

To Apply

Please provide a resume, cover letter, and three professional references, explaining your interest in the position and your connection to Black youth, Louisiana, and people who have been incarcerated to ***email_hidden***. In the subject line of the email, please write “Deputy Director.”

Applications will be open and considered from June 1, 2026 to June 30, 2026. Interviews will take place in July, and the Deputy Director will have a tentative start of August 18, 2026.

LCCR values diversity and is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. People of color, women, LGBT persons, people with disabilities, and those directly impacted by the justice system are encouraged to apply for all positions.