Senior Victim Advocate – EIE Campus Based Advocate/Educator

OCO•Oswego, NY

10h•Hybrid

About The Position

Oswego County Opportunities (OCO) is seeking an energetic individual to serve as a Senior Victim Advocate. This full-time position involves providing direct services to victims of domestic and/or sexual violence and other crimes in various locations, including OCO offices, other agency offices, program sites, public places, and consumer homes. The role requires independent intervention and care management, overseeing project functions, and adhering to Agency and Program policies, procedures, and funder regulations. The target population includes adults and young adults participating in 2-4 year higher educational programs, providing crisis intervention, accompaniment, advisement, and assistance throughout campus judicial/conduct processes for victims of sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. This role also involves building relationships with campus faculty, staff, Title IX Coordinators, student leaders, and others, creating visibility for services, planning outreach events, providing professional trainings, and educating students on relevant topics. The position requires maintaining client service records and educational session documentation, participating in hotline and on-call response, and assisting with social media and presentation material development.

Requirements

Have a desire to work with individuals and families and has a thorough understanding of the family development process and the OCO Service Delivery system.
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 have demonstrated ability to work with others in a warm, non-judgmental manner and be a positive role model.
Must be able to direct the work of others, set priorities, and problem solve.
Must exhibit professionalism, good judgment and maintain strict confidentiality with regard to client information.
Must exhibit a detailed knowledge of regulations, services, rights and responsibilities for the population served.
Must have the ability to work with populations with special needs, including those that may exhibit aggressive behaviors.
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 consumer
Must have a Bachelor's Degree in a Human Services area
Must have 1 to 3 years experience with children, youth, families or a special population
Any equivalent combination of education, experience and training.

Responsibilities

Provides crisis intervention, supportive counseling, advocacy and solution focused decision making to individuals and families experiencing victimization via the crisis hotline and in-person (at home, in the community, at court, the hospital, on campus, DSS, etc.)
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.
Informs consumers of available services in the community to meet their specific needs.
Assists with referrals and provides advocacy and assistance with completion of applications for a variety of individual needs, including, but not limited to petitions for orders of protection, child custody/visitation, Affidavits for assigned counsel or Orders to Show Cause, Victim Impact Statements, Public Assistance, OVS compensation claims, HUD benefits, the Child Protective/Adult Protective Services process, 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.
Develops and maintains 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 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 and with law enforcement agencies on a rotating basis as scheduled to the local emergency room or police department for victims of sexual assault
Case-manages on clients’ behalf with co-workers, supervisors, and community partners, including landlords, law enforcement, local courts, prosecutors, probation and attorneys as needed.
Safety plan for victims/survivors while maintaining staff safety in a variety of settings; in client homes, during accompaniments to court and law enforcement agencies, apartment viewings, and more.
Assists in training program staff and community partners in specialized topic areas as assigned related to domestic and sexual violence
Attends internal and external meetings as assigned and assists in meeting facilitation as required.
Maintains extensive 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 more.
Acts in a Leadership role, represents the agency to community partners and oversees program specific functions, as assigned.
Carries out project responsibilities as described in the attached addendum.
Collaborates with community partners in the development and implementation of joint protocols to ensure compliance with regulations and eligibility requirements.
Provides crisis intervention services to student victims of sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, stalking, including accompaniment, advisement, and assistance throughout campus judicial/conduct process.
Builds relationships with faculty, staff, Title IX Coordinators, student organization leaders, health center staff, resident advisors, and others.
Create visibility and presence of SAF services and advocate office hours on the SUNY Oswego and Cayuga Community College Fulton Campus.
Plan and participate in outreach and awareness events on the college campuses to raise awareness of victimizations, the rights of victims, and to increase victim’s access to services.
Provide professional trainings to campus partners and providers on topics including Title IX and the rights of students, confidential resources, and more.
Provide education to students classes and student groups on victimization, consent, bystander response, and more.
Document and maintain records of client services and educational sessions.
Participate in SAF office hotline answering and 24/7 on-call response.
Assist with the creation of social media graphics and messaging to increase awareness.
Assist with the development and updating of presentation/training materials