Primary Location: Hillside Commons, Oswego.Flexibility required to work in public locations throughout the community to meet the need of the individual.Typical Schedule: 37.5 hours per week, Monday - Friday 8:30am - 4:30pmJob Summary:OCO's Services to Aid Families (SAF) team is seeking a Sr. Advocate to provide advocacy services to individuals and families experiencing homelessness or in need of transitional housing resulting from their victimization related to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, child abuse, or other crimes. The selected candidate will provide direct services to support victims in reaching goals including attaining safe and stable housing, budgeting, employment counseling, and/or re-entry into the workforce.Job Duties and Responsibilities:
- Provides crisis intervention and advocacy to individuals and families experiencing victimization using a strength-based, trauma-informed approach via phone and in-person at community locations and home visits.
- Develops comprehensive assessments and individualized service plans and coordinates service activities to help consumers meet their needs and protect their rights in a variety of civil and legal processes.
- Provides advocacy between Transitional Housing participant and landlord to ensure tenant rights, understanding lease agreements, and to foster positive relationships between tenant and landlord.
- Works in collaboration with a wide variety of service providers and community support agencies to engage consumers and assist them in connecting to needed services. Provides referrals, advocacy, and assistance with completion of applications for a variety of individual needs, as well as monitors the provision of these and other services to primary and secondary victims.
- Follows strict protocols for safety when working in public on behalf of victims including protection of the confidentiality of staff.
- Provides the teaching and coaching of life skills such as safety planning, civil/legal systems, positive problem-solving, healthy relationships; facilitates education and prevention education in the community.
- Provides or arranges transportation to enable consumers to connect with the courts and police agencies, medical providers, DSS caseworkers, and other needed resources in the community.
- Provides on-call 24-Hour Rape Crisis Response crisis intervention related to the forensic medical exam and or medical treatment on a rotating basis as scheduled to the local emergency room for victims of sexual assault
- Case-manages on clients' behalf with co-workers, supervisors and community partners including law enforcement, local courts, prosecutors, probation and attorneys as needed.
- Plans safety for Victims of Domestic Violence and Crime while maintaining staff safety in a variety of settings; in client homes, during accompaniments to court and law enforcement agencies, apartment viewings, and more.
- Maintains records for individual client-related services, as well as a variety of documentation used to report program outcomes, provide data in the agency data management system; and complete documents for billable services and grant reports.
- Acts in a Leadership role, represents the agency to community partners and oversees program specific functions, as assigned.
Job Requirements:
- Must have a desire to work with individuals and families and a demonstrated ability to work with others in a warm, non-judgmental manner.
- Must exhibit a detailed knowledge of regulations, services, rights and responsibilities for the population served and a thorough understanding of the family development process
- Must have the ability to work with populations with special needs, including those that may exhibit aggressive behaviors.
- Must complete and maintain all regulatory training/education for NYS DOH Rape Crisis Certification and Domestic Violence Advocate privilege.
- Must be able to work independently and be self-motivated, resourceful, organized and adaptable in carrying out job duties
- Must be familiar with the geographical layout of the county and have knowledge of civil/legal systems and human service resources in the county
- Must have good oral and written communication skills and have excellent documentation and reporting skills.
- Must possess skills for complex data entry and have the ability to read and interpret complex information and manipulate data.
- Must exhibit professionalism, good judgment and maintain strict confidentiality with regard to client information.
- Must be flexible with work schedule in order to meet the needs of the program; must participate in 24 hour on-call emergency services on a rotating basis.
- Must have acceptable health to carry out the responsibilities of the position.
- Must have a valid NYS Driver's license with driving record within policy and access to a properly insured, reliable vehicle for regular travel and transporting consumers.
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor's Degree in a Human Services area preferred; and
- 1-3 years' experience in Human Services/Victim Assistance programming with a wide variety of ages and populations; or
- Any equivalent combination of education, experience and training.
About Oswego County Opportunities:Ranking among Oswego County's top ten largest private employers, OCO carries out its mission to inspire partnerships and provide services that empower people, support communities, and change lives through more than 50 programs serving 15,000 people each year.OCO's Employee benefits include:
- Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance (available to Full-Time staff)
- Generous Paid leave (sick leave, PTO, holidays, etc.)
- 403B Deferred Annuity Retirement Plan
- Term Life Insurance
- Employee Assistance Program
Click here for more info about OCO's Services!Oswego County Opportunities, Inc. provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, creed, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.