Shelter Advocate

Overview

Provide direct services, including personal advocacy, crisis intervention, support and appropriate referrals to primary and secondary victims of domestic violence, intimate partner violence and stalking, and to victims and survivors of sexual assault and abuse and other crimes including the assessment of individual needs and options, emotional support, basic legal advocacy, and medical advocacy; facilitate victims/survivors’ awareness of the affective, behavioral, and cognitive effects of their experience and enhance their ability to cope/adjust;

provide crisis intervention, emergency shelter intakes, and medical support advocacy on evenings/weekends to victims/survivors on the hotline or in-person as back-up in rotation with all other direct service staff.

• Direct advocacy and case management to victims/survivors within the shelter facility. Staff will make every effort to spend structured time per shift with each adult shelter client; and as much unstructured time with adult shelter victims/survivors to ensure quality advocacy services are provided.
• Provide child/youth advocacy services to children in shelter, support parents to use appropriate behavior management techniques, including reinforcement, redirection, time-out, and logical consequences; provide service as back-up when necessary to children of victims/survivors attending support groups.
• Respond to shelter intake assessments/emergencies and check-outs that occur during and after business hours as part of the shelter support services team.