Advocate - Survivor

Survivor Advocate

The Survivor Advocate serves as a staff member at will of Domestic Violence Intervention Services (DVIS). The Survivor Advocate provides advocacy and case management services for Shelter survivors including intake, crisis intervention, individual and group sessions, and life skills education.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Priority 1: Equity and Inclusion
• Reflect and understand how identities could give advantages in the workplace—even if they are not asked for or earned—while others might experience disadvantages. Reflect on how our position and power may shift depending on the environment, the people, or the institutions at play. Build the awareness and compassion that is needed and expected to create an equitable and inclusive workplace.
• Create an inclusive environment and behave in a way that ensures that clients and employees feel embraced, no matter what their cultural orientations are, respected and valued, engaged, and connected to the community, and safe from abuse and harassment.
• Priority 2: Advocacy
• Provide crisis intervention services for phone-in and walk-in survivors.
• Perform intakes and needs assessments and make referrals to other community resources.
• Provide individual case management and facilitate group education with residents.
• Document and maintain resident files pursuant to DVIS guidelines and professional standards.
• Promote a positive environment within the shelter for both residents and employees.
• Provide supportive services to survivors, including safety planning, introducing DVIS services, and transporting callers in imminent danger to the Shelter.
• Create service plans for survivors.
• Provide coverage for Safe Housing on-call rotation.
• Assist clients in obtaining needed services and completing necessary paperwork for safe housing.
• Act as an advocate for survivors with external agencies.
• Organize and conduct supportive activities for Shelter residents.
• Serve as an educator for pertinent topics such as life skills, etc.
• Priority 2: Collaboration
• Collaborate with other DVIS departments and federal, state, and local agencies in meeting the needs of survivors.
• Collaborate with the DVIS Education Coordinator to represent DVIS in the community and at outreach events.

Other Duties & Responsibilities

Other assistance to support the overall goals of the department and organization. DVIS retains the right to add or change duties and/or responsibilities at any time.

Supervisory Responsibilities: None.

Budgetary/Fiscal Responsibilities: Acts as a good steward of DVIS's resources.

Responsibility for Confidentiality: The nature of this position requires safeguarding against the release of confidential and proprietary information of DVIS and its clients.

Contact with Others: This position will interact with staff members across the organization, in addition to members of external organizations and the public.

Requirements

Job Requirements/Experience

Education: 4-year degree required and in pursuit of a Master's degree in Social Work, Psychology, Counseling, or in a related field, or any equivalent combination of education and/or experience.

Experience: Requires 1-year of supervised experience working with individuals and groups in a social service or mental health environment; experience working in a nonprofit is preferred, or any equivalent combination of experience, lived experience, and/or special skills.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

Knowledge of or experience working with social justice issues, specifically intimate partner, and gender-based violence, post-traumatic stress, rape trauma, mental health, substance abuse, and racial, class, gender, and sexual orientation issues strongly preferred.

Spanish bilingual preferred.

Proven computer skills including Microsoft Office Suite are necessary; database experience preferred.

Requires excellent organizational skills, written and oral communication skills, attention to detail, and ability to prioritize work and tasks.

Requires adaptability to produce and meet deadlines in a fast-paced, multi-tasked and changing environment, and the ability to work independently and as part of a team.

Good negotiation skills and the ability to handle sensitive information with diplomacy are preferred.

Must be an outstanding communicator and comfortable motivating, collaborating, and working with a broad cross section of people in direct and matrixed relationships.

Experience applying an equitable analysis to all duties to achieve organizational goals and demonstrate the DVIS' commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and anti-racism preferred.

Schedule Availability: Monday through Friday with some evenings and weekends and on-call rotation.

Licenses/Certifications: Valid Oklahoma driver's license required; current CPR and First Aid certification preferred.

Physical Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made when requested to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Ability to communicate and understand in English (and Spanish preferred) effectively, in person, and in writing. Ability to hear adequately in person and by phone, in personal and group settings, and function with periodic distractions such as people, telephone calls, and noise.

Ability to work with, and process information from, a variety of individuals and media (e.g., computers, projected images, printed materials), and occasional sitting and/or standing for long periods of time.

Mobility necessary to access various offices and a wide variety of settings. Mobility necessary to perform a variety of tasks that involve intermittent standing, walking/traversing, sitting, stooping, kneeling, bending, and twisting, occasionally climbing stairs or using an elevator, and possibly reaching chest high and overhead for materials.

Ability to reach for, move and/or lift up to 25 pounds and the use of hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls, including frequent repetitive movement such as extended periods of keyboarding.