Youth Advocate

Job Description

Salary: $55,000/yr

Internal

Job Title:

Voice & Choice Advocate

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, Ellis, Parker and Hood 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 Vice President and Voice & Choice Supervisor, 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 eight 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.
• Collaborate closely with the Voice & Choice Community Program Coordinator to connect clients with community mentors and services.
• Serve in rotation on a 24-hour Crisis Response Team
• Traffick
  911 is responsive to crisis situations as they arise through the Crisis Response Team. This team rotates the responsibility of answering Traffick
  911s 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 Traffick
  911 Empowerment Team with Traffick
  911s Vice President, Voice & Choice Supervisor, Voice & Choice Community Program Coordinator, and other VCAs to coordinate services for clients.
• The VCAs work will be supported by the Voice & Choice Community mentor program which matches a vetted Traffick
  911 volunteer with a survivor (age 12- 24) to provide additional relationship-based emotional support and guidance.
• 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 Traffick
  911).

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Spanish speaking preferred
• Must live within 40 miles of Downtown Dallas
• 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…