Jobs Board

Location:

Chicago, IL

Salary:

commensurate with experience

Required Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Social or Behavioral Sciences field preferred. Previous experience in domestic violence services or advocacy preferred. PC literate with experience in word processing. Bilingual Spanish/English strongly preferred.

Job Title: Resource, Information, and Services Advocate
Supervised by: Support Services Manager
Classification: Full-Time, Non-Exempt
Start Date: Immediately

ORGANIZATIONAL SUMMARY
Between Friends envisions a community without domestic violence where equality, safety, and justice exist for all. Between Friends provides a safe, supportive and empowering environment for individuals and families in crisis. Between Friends’ counselors and advocates empower individuals to make their own decisions and choices, rather than making choices for them. To address domestic violence as a community issue, Between Friends offers comprehensive prevention programs to educate youth and adults about the dynamics of healthy and unhealthy relationships and how to prevent domestic violence before it begins. To learn about our programs, go to http://www.betweenfriendschicago.org

TEAM SUMMARY
The Counseling & Support Services team believes that every survivor is the expert about their life and that healing happens in relationship with others. That’s why we emphasize creating a supportive, collaborative, and culturally-informed & humble environment where clients can find healing and advocates can thrive.

We use an empowerment-based, trauma-informed approach that focuses not only on our clients’ challenges, but also on recapturing their strengths and resiliency. Our goal is to help our clients feel safer and more connected to themselves, their children, and their community.

Our team of advocates & counselors bring a diversity of backgrounds and expertise including bilingual/bicultural Spanish, creative arts and somatic therapies, economic counseling, and skills in a variety of trauma-informed modalities. If you’re looking to be a part of a warm and mindful team that values supervision, work-life balance, and growing together, then you’ve found the right place.

POSITION SUMMARY
The Resource, Information, and Services Advocate is responsible for providing telephone support on Between Friends’ hotline, performing community outreach activities, maintaining agency resources, conducting intakes for Between Friends’ programs, and coordinating the A Night Out program, which provides survivors and their children with hope and healing though special events in the community.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Program (75%)
Receives, routes, and responds to calls from survivors of domestic violence and others seeking support and assistance.
Provides callers with information, emotional support, safety planning, and referrals.
Screens, schedules, and enrolls potential clients into the Counseling & Support Services Program.
Trains and supervises volunteers who provide coverage on the hotline.
Helps survivors of domestic violence to understand their rights and the legal remedies available to them under Illinois Domestic Violence Act.
Assists clients in filing for victim’s compensation.
Provides outreach to the community, including identifying and developing partnerships with local organizations, especially in the Latinx community.
Provides childcare as needed.
Coordinates, schedules and/or facilitates special A Night Out events for survivors of domestic and intimate partner violence and their children.
Collaborates with agency staff and clients to develop the annual series of special events.
Recruits, screens, supervises, and elicits feedback from A Night Out Program volunteers, staff, and clients.
Works collaboratively with partner organization staff to recruit survivors to attend planned A Night Out events.

Administrative (20%)
Maintains case documentation and submits necessary information to the Support Services Manager, Court Advocacy Manager, and Director of Survivor Services for statistical reporting.
Updates and maintains agency resource referral guide.
Works with the Support Services Manager and the counseling team to coordinate the counseling schedule to meet the needs of the clients and the agency.
Maintains calendars and appointment book for Counseling & Support Services Program.
Creates new, and maintains existing, partnerships with partner organizations.
Coordinates with partner and other organizations to schedule trainings for counseling team.
Works with the Senior Court Advocates and advocacy team to coordinate services with potential clients.
Translates outreach and other materials for the Spanish speaking community (if fluent in Spanish).
Completes all required statistical reports.
Enters data into the InfoNet database.
Supports the development of policies/procedures relevant to the A Night Out programming.
Evaluates the A Night Out programming by creating & tracking relevant outcome measures and monitoring results. Implements program improvements based on data collected.
Completes monthly/quarterly reports relevant to the A Night Out program.

General (5%)
Participates in the on-call crisis line rotation as needed.
Participates in a variety of coalitions and committees to form collaborative responses to domestic violence.
Participates in agency events as needed or required.
Provides services as determined by Board of Director’s policies.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:
This position operates primarily in a professional office environment that is not fully accessible .
This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, scanners, filing cabinets, and fax machines.
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear.
Workplace is a smoke- and drug-free environment.
Equal Opportunity Employer. Decisions and criteria governing the employment relationship with all employees are made in a non-discriminatory manner, without regard to race, ethnicity, creed, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, citizenship status, military service and/or marital status, order of protection status, handicap, disability, or any other factor determined to be unlawful by federal, state, or local statutes.

BENEFITS:
Comprehensive benefits package (with some employee contributions) includes medical, dental and vision insurance.
Full time employees are eligible for a 20 paid day sabbatical after completion of five years employment.
24 days of paid time off accrued during the first year, and 11 paid holidays.

TO APPLY:
Submit thoughtful cover letter including why you are interested and qualified for this position, resume, and salary requirement to: careers(at)betweenfriendschicago.org.
Please write your name (Last, First) and Resource, Information, and Services Advocate in the subject line of your e-mail.
Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
No phone calls please.