Youth Advocate

Internal Job Title: Voice & Choice Advocate (VCA)

Traffick911 values diverse perspectives, community knowledge, and lived experience. We strongly encourage individuals with relevant lived experience and applicants from historically underrepresented communities to apply. Traffick911 is an equal opportunity employer committed to an inclusive workplace where all employees can thrive.

Position Description

The VCA is a field-based victim service provider who works as a part of the overall Voice & Choice Empowerment Team. The VCA is responsible for engaging child sex trafficking survivors (and non-offending legal guardians) through trust-based relationships in the individualized, collaborative process of identifying, planning, accessing, and coordinating resources, support, and services for their emotional and social recovery. The VCA will service clients in Dallas, Tarrant, Collin, Denton, Rockwall, and Ellis counties for youth of any gender identification who have been sex trafficked. This position is primarily funded through a two-year grant with organizational plans to develop long-term sustainability.

Major Areas of Responsibility

• Under the supervision of the Chief Program Officer, Program Directors, and Program Supervisors, provide advocacy, emotional support and case management services to sex trafficking survivors (ages 12-24), as well support non-offending family members.
• Collaborate with survivors to plan, implement, monitor, and amend individualized services that promote client's strengths, safety, well-being, while helping them achieve their self-determined goals.
• Responsible for traveling throughout the six local service counties for on-site client meetings on a weekly basis (often including nights/weekends); transporting survivors to various meetings and appointments, with legal guardian consent.
• Help answer any questions that the survivor and/or family has on the legal process of the investigation and prosecution of the trafficker(s) and assist them through that process, when needed.
• Emphasis will be placed on clients’ self-determination, feeling understood and having choices in the options. Services should return a sense of control to survivors. Advocacy service plans are based on meaningful assessments for the child sex trafficking population.
• The VCA will play a pivotal role in connecting and referring the survivor with trauma informed services including but not limited to: residential/drug/alcohol/mental health treatment, counseling and therapy services, support groups, 12-step programs, legal services, family counseling, transitional housing, job skills training, crime victims’ compensation applications, medical services, tattoo removal.
• Serve in rotation on a 24-hour Crisis Response Team
• Traffick911 is responsive to crisis situations as they arise through the Crisis Response Team. This team rotates the responsibility of answering Traffick911’s 24-hour phone line (calls from first responders) and immediately responding to the incident.
• The assigned Crisis Response Team (CRT) member will dispatch themselves immediately to meet with the victim. They will accompany them to emergency medical treatment (if necessary), ensure food, clothing, emergency shelter, and connection with any other support needed is provided.
• Team player - Collaborates closely as a part of the Traffick911 Empowerment Team with Traffick911’s Chief Program Officer, Program Directors, Program Supervisors, and other VCAs to coordinate services for clients.
• Participate in community-based interagency multi-disciplinary team (MDT) that is responsible for coordinating specialized services and a trauma-informed investigative and prosecutorial process of trafficker.
• The VCA is required to provide any helpful information, including concerns, about the victim/family to the MDT care coordinator, other MDT agencies, and/or legal guardian as they learn of it.
• Acquire and maintain deep knowledge of sex trafficking and trauma associated with this abuse, evidence-informed practice, sociohistorical context, policy, research, and evaluation methods relevant to case management and the child sex trafficking population, and shall use such information to ensure excellence in service delivery
• Assume personal responsibility for her or his professional development and competence and be enrolled in Trust-based Relational Intervention (TBRI) Caregiver training during their first two years of employment (trainings paid for by Traffick911).

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Must live within 40 miles of Downtown Dallas
• Lived experience preferred
• Spanish speaking preferred
• Ability to have a flexible schedule; often working nights and weekends
• Ability to work in fast-paced, intense, high-pressure environment
• Excellent attention to detail and dexterity to manage multiple clients simultaneously
• Demonstrated ability to communicate (emails, texts, phone calls) clearly, timely and consistently with many different partners
• Ability to work independently and to be a self-starter
• Demonstrated ability to calmly and effectively handle multiple crises
• Demonstrated competence in cultural humility
• Commitment to client empowerment through strength-based and trust-based principles 
• Unrelenting commitment to self-care and personal respite
• Broad knowledge and experience in working with traumatized populations 
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams
• Valid driver’s license, reliable vehicle, valid car insurance, willing to utilize personal vehicle (mileage reimbursement for job-related duties)
• Strong financial stewardship with proven capability in managing job-related expenses, budget tracking, and responsible resource utilization
• Excellent computer skills including Microsoft Office, Google Documents, etc. Traffick911 operates on Apple laptops.
• Adhere to policies related to boundaries with youth
• Attend required abuse risk management training
• Adhere to procedures related to managing high-risk activities and supervising youth
• Report suspicious or inappropriate behaviors and policy violations
• Follow mandated abuse reporting requirements

Education and Experience

• Survivors of trafficking and/or exploitation strongly preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree required with at least four years of professional job experience.
• Two years of professional experience working with traumatized youth preferred.
• Experience working with child sex trafficking survivors, adult sex trafficking survivors,
• Victim services, juvenile services, CPS, domestic violence, and/or experience serving other types of vulnerable populations.
• Experience with Apricot Essentials case management software or similar case management software preferred.

Critical Qualities

• Adhere to Traffick911’s Core Values and Code of Ethics (traffick911.com/mission-values)
• Mature Christian faith
• Professional
• Humble and resilient
• Pursues excellence
• Culturally aware and appreciative of differences
• Strong work ethic
• Innovative problem solver
• Ability to build trust and strong partnerships with others
• Courageous in pursuing opportunities and challenges
• Tenacious in achieving goals

Physical Demands

Job will be performed in Traffick911 office in Addison, TX as well as traveling to various counties surrounding Dallas/Fort Worth. Reasonable accommodation can be made to enable people with disabilities to perform the described essential functions.

This employee will serve in rotation for 24 hour on-call Crisis Response Team and will need to be able to respond within 60-90 minutes to first responder requests. Must be able to function and report for duty when awakened in middle of the night.

Benefits and Salary

• Traffick911’s benefits package includes group medical, dental and vision insurance; paid holidays, extended vacation time for ample self-care, and sick leave.
• Crisis Response Team members are compensated additionally for each day on call.
• Traffick911 encourages self-care for all employees and will fund the co-pay for personal counseling.

Job Type

Full-time exempt

Traffick911 exists with the sole purpose of freeing youth from sex trafficking by building trust-based relationships. This is accomplished by a 24/7 crisis response and the Voice & Choice Program Team walking alongside child sex trafficking victims and with Multi-Disciplinary Team partners. Traffick911 was founded in 2009 by a community activist who discovered that child sex trafficking was happening in North Texas. Over its history, the organization’s abolition efforts include training over 82,000 youth and adults face-to-face with prevention and awareness messages, training over 18,000 first responders, and directly serving over 1,300 survivors.

Mission: To free youth from sex trafficking through trust-based relationships

Vision: Communities free from relational brokenness

Values: Hope, humility, and humanity