Employment Opportunities
Northwestern District Attorney – Job Posting
Position Title: Assistant District Attorney – Child Abuse Unit
Main functions:
A Child Abuse Unit Assistant District Attorney’s (CAU ADA) primary function is to be the principal CAU litigator responsible for handling the majority of the CAU litigation. The CAU ADA will handle all facets of cases from the forensic interview of the child through formal CAU meetings, investigation, charging, plea negotiations and trial. The Child Abuse Unit ADA works closely with the Northwestern District Attorney's Children's Advocacy Center which utilizes a multidisciplinary, culturally sensitive and child-friendly approach to the investigation of child sexual and physical abuse and child neglect/endangerment. The CAU ADA’s immediate supervisor is the Chief of the Child Abuse Unit.
Duties & Responsibilities:
- Superior (and some District Court) litigation of all forms of child abuse cases assigned by the Chief of the Child Abuse Unit. The CAU ADA shall be primarily responsible for most of the litigation within the CAU.
- Perform the legal roles and responsibilities required of a Superior / District court Assistant District Attorney, including, in collaboration with the CAU Family Service Advocate, providing court orientation and trial preparation of child sexual and physical victims and family members;
- For all assigned investigations the CAU ADA will:
- Attend the S.A.I.N. or Forensic Interview of the child victim(s);
- Participate as the prosecution member of a multi-disciplinary team, which includes law enforcement, the Department of Children and Families, medical and mental health personnel and other child abuse experts, to direct the investigation of child sexual and physical abuse and endangerment;
- Assist law enforcement in the drafting / reviewing of any search warrants or with any other legal issues that arise;
- Ensure that all items of evidentiary value, including physical evidence, DNA, Rape Kits, medical records, etc. are all obtained in a forensically sound manner;
- Monitor the entire investigation, including the work of all members of the multi-disciplinary team;
- Play a role in Community Outreach & Education for child abuse prevention and 51A mandatory reporter training;
- Cover shifts with the 24 hour ‘on call’ cell phone line as determined by a schedule maintained by the CAU Chief;
- Serve as the ‘Acting Chief’ in the absence of the CAU Chief. When serving as the acting Chief, the CAU ADA will be responsible for the supervision of all CAU case matters and CAU personnel;
- Handle those other responsibilities and special assignments as delegated by the Chief of the Child Abuse Unit.
Requirements:
Superior Court trial experience
Experience handling trials involving physical and sexual child abuse
Preference given to candidate with experience handling multi-disciplinary child abuse investigations
Salary Range: $55,000 to $62,000
To apply for this position, please do the following:
- Download the NWD Employment Application Form by righ-clicking on this link and saving it to your computer.
- Fill out the form carefully and completely and save it.
- Attach to an email the filled out application form, a cover letter and a resume, and send them to martha.murphy-kane@state.ma.us.
Please maintain copies all documents sent in.
You can expect to receive an email back confirming receipt of your application. If you do not receive confirmation with 2 business days, or if you experience any techinical difficluties with this process, please call our offices at (413) 586-9225 during regular business hours.
You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to open the application form. You can download it for free here.