Career Opportunities

The Lighthouse Child Advocacy Center Family Advocate Job Description

 

Position Description:

The Family Advocate is responsible for providing advocacy services to child victims and their families when sexual abuse and/or serious physical abuse has been alleged to the children and families being served by the Multidisciplinary Investigative Team (MDIT) and the Child Advocacy Center (CAC). The person in this position will be involved in coordinating intervention services that have been recommended by the MDIT members, identifying any barriers that may prevent the family from receiving services, and advocating for immediate service implementation. He/She will be present when children and families are at the Center and will serve to support and answer questions about the investigative process, victim rights, court process, and treatment options. The Family Advocate will monitor and maintain the case logistics and tracking of all cases at the CAC.

Duties and Responsibilities of the Position:

Duties and responsibilities include, but may not be limited to the following:

• Maintain strict standards of confidentiality.
• Make initial contact with the family once an interview is scheduled to answer any preliminary questions they may have.
• Establish contact with and provide support for victims and families at the Forensic interview.
• Provide crisis intervention for victims and families referred to them by law enforcement on those cases that do not involve a Child Protective Service (CPS) worker.
• Educate non-offending caregiver(s) about sexual abuse or serious physical abuse and the various systems that may become involved with their family.
• Perform a safety assessment of the family and develop and recommend a safety plan for the child victim and family.
• Answer any questions related to the investigative process and provide feedback to the assigned investigators.
• Coordinate with other victim advocates that may be working with the child and family, i.e. prosecution based victim advocates; Youth Services advocates, sexual assault advocates, and domestic violence advocates.
• Maintain contact with the victim and family throughout the investigation and beyond prosecution, if needed.
• Assist the family in accessing services recommended by the team.
• Attend court proceedings with the child and family if requested by the family or the law enforcement officer assigned to work with the family.
• Maintain and update case records in agency database, “Collaborate”.
• Assist with obtaining prosecution outcomes and entering into “Collaborate”.
• Attend case review and follow through with any recommendations of the team that would require the services of the advocate and enter appropriate information into the database from case review.
• Remain current with professional literature on child abuse issues.
• Assists with training sessions for community professionals regarding CAC operations and protocol.
• Other duties as may be assigned.

Education and experience:

An Associate’s Degree or Bachelor’s Degree in a human service field or criminal justice field is preferred.  However, previous experience in law enforcement, social work, mental health, and/ or experience as an office professional will be considered.

Knowledge, skill, and abilities:

Knowledge, skill, and abilities for this position include but are not limited to the following:

• A passion for helping others;
• Ability to work as team player with CAC staff members;
• Ability to work in a professional manner with members of many other agencies;
• Beginner (basic) knowledge of the dynamics of families where abuse and/or neglect is occurring;
• Knowledge of the stages of child development;
• Knowledge of community resources;
• Skills in providing crisis intervention services to families;
• Ability to analyze and evaluate outcomes related to families who accept advocacy services as compared to family’s who may not;
• Must have good oral and written communication skills;
• Must have good computer skills and ability to keep caseload up to date in agency’s database, “Collaborate”;
• Ability to analyze and evaluate the community’s resources for families and barriers that prevent families receiving prompt and/or immediate service;
• Cultural sensitivity to diversity issues.
• Specialized and on-going training will be provided.

Other requirements for employment:

The person in this position must have a cell phone, reliable transportation, valid driver’s license, provide proof of automobile insurance, acceptable driving record, and must pass a criminal background check, sex offender registry check, and child abuse registry check.

All positions at the Lighthouse Child Advocacy Center are grant funded positions and are contingent on continued grant funding.

Direct Supervisor: Supervisory Therapist

 

Competencies

To perform this job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:

• Interpersonal skills – Maintains confidentiality; keeps emotions under control; remains open to others’ ideas and tries new things
• Oral Communication – Speaks clearly and persuasively in positive or negative situations; listens and gets clarification; responds well to questions; demonstrates group presentation skills; participates in meetings
• Written communication – Writes clearly and informatively; Edits work for spelling and grammar; able to read and interpret written information
• Teamwork – Balances team and individual responsibilities; gives and welcomes feedback; contributes to building a positive team spirit; puts success of team above own interests; supports everyone’s efforts to succeed
• Ethics – Treats people with respect; keeps commitments; inspires the trust of others; works with integrity and ethically; upholds organizational values
• Organizational Support – Follows policies and procedures; completes administrative tasks correctly and on time; supports organization’s goals and values; benefits organization through outside activities; respects diversity
• Judgement – Displays willingness to make decisions; exhibits sound and accurate judgement; supports and explains reasoning for decisions; includes appropriate people in decision-making process; makes timely decisions
• Motivation – Sets and achieves challenging goals; measures self against standard of excellence
• Planning/Organizing – Prioritizes and plans work activities; uses time efficiently; sets goals and objectives; develops realistic action plans
• Professionalism – Approaches others in a tactful manner; reacts well under pressure; treats others with respect and consideration regardless of their status or position; accepts responsibility for own actions; follows through on commitments
• Quality – Demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness; looks for ways to improve and promote quality; applies feedback to improve performance; monitors own work to ensure quality
• Adaptability – Adapts to changes in the work environment; manages competing demands; changes approach or method to best fit the situation; able to deal with frequent change, delays, or unexpected events
• Attendance/Punctuality – Is consistently at work and on time; ensures work responsibilities are covered when absent; arrives at meetings and appointments on time
• Dependability – Commits to long hours of work when necessary to reach goals;  completes tasks on time or notifies appropriate person with an alternate plan
• Initiative – Volunteers readily; undertakes self-development activities; seeks increased responsibilities; looks for and takes advantage of opportunities; asks for and offers help when needed

 

NO PHONE CALLS, PLEASE.

HOW TO APPLY:  Please send a cover letter of interest and complete resume with reference contacts to wetzel_tylercac@yahoo.com.