Shelter Services Advocate in Orlando, Florida at Harbor House of Central Florida

JOB SUMMARY: The Shelter Services Advocate Provides support, advocacy, crisis intervention, and shelter services to adult and child survivors of domestic violence, primarily residing in the emergency shelter.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Participates in maintaining a clean work and shelter environment by assisting with daily cleaning duties.
• Monitors and maintains a safe, welcoming, and secure environment for all throughout shift; performs scheduled safety walk-throughs daily.
• Notification and implementation of safety procedures in the event of threats to survivors and the shelter facility.
• Conducts basic intakes and discharges of all shelter residents; as well as facilitates shelter tours for new arrivals.
• Provides advocacy, problem-solves with survivors of domestic violence with appropriate feed-back, both on the crisis line and in the shelter setting.
• Ensure survivors are provided supplies and replenishes/stocks inventory.
• Participates in team service management and communicates with peers, case managers and supervisors.
• Transports survivors residing on campus in agency vehicles.
• Conducts weekly house meetings and monthly support groups.
• Enter participant data and services offered into agency database.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

MARGINAL DUTIES

• This position description has excluded the marginal functions of the position that are incidental to the performance of essential job duties. Employee(s) will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job-related duties requested by any person authorized to give instructions or assignments.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• Ability to respect and adapt to differences in perspective, backgrounds, and beliefs.
• Ability to cover the agencies Crisis Line, whether for breaks, lunches or full shifts and assist with calls when experiencing high call volume.
• Ability to support survivors residing in the shelter program with services they may need for their animals in the absence of the Kennel Advocate.
• Ability to assist and oversee shelter activities for survivors and their children.
• Ability to support survivors residing in the other campus programs.
• Ability to provide and maintain accurate client and service records that meet audit requirements.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relations with various community agencies, coalitions, and agency staff.
• Ability to effectively prioritize and work independently in a manner conductive to high productivity with little or no supervision.
• Ability to work in an environment with moderate noise levels and many interruptions.
• Ability to use most office equipment along with a valid driver’s license to use Agency Vehicles as needed.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Frequently standing, sitting, and walking.
• Some stooping, lifting and bending.
• Talking, hearing, seeing, repetitive motions.
• Occasionally required to reach with hands and arms and/or lift up to 25lbs.
• These requirements may not be all inclusive. All duties and responsibilities are essential job functions and requirements and are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities. To perform this job successfully, the employee will possess the skills, aptitudes, and abilities to perform each duty proficiently. Some requirements may exclude individuals who pose a direct threat or significant risk to the health or safety of themselves or others.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

• Education: Minimum of a High School Diploma or GED, Associate's Degree or higher preferred.
• Experience: one year of crisis intervention experience preferably in a domestic violence program or minimum of two years in a client care or customer service-related field.
• Discretion: Professional experience may be substituted for formal education at the discretion of the Chief Executive Officer.
• Licensing: Valid Florida Driver’s License with a clean record for the past 5 years. Must be 21 years or older to meet agency insurance requirements.
• Skills: Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint). Ability to learn organization-specific software, including databases and content management systems. Strong communication and advocacy skills. Ability to manage multiple priorities and work independently while prioritizing tasks in a fast-paced environment with attention to detail.
• Training Requirements: Completion of CORE Competency training within 90 days of hire. Additional mandatory training is required on an annual basis per Agency Policies & Procedures.

• Participates in maintaining a clean work and shelter environment by assisting with daily cleaning duties.
• Monitors and maintains a safe, welcoming, and secure environment for all throughout shift; performs scheduled safety walk-throughs daily.
• Notification and implementation of safety procedures in the event of threats to survivors and the shelter facility.
• Conducts basic intakes and discharges of all shelter residents; as well as facilitates shelter tours for new arrivals
• Provides advocacy, problem-solves with survivors of domestic violence with appropriate feed-back, both on the crisis line and in the shelter setting.
• Ensure survivors are provided supplies and replenishes/stocks inventory
• Participates in team service management and communicates with peers, case managers and supervisors.
• Transports survivors residing on campus in agency vehicles.
• Conducts weekly house meetings and monthly support groups.
• Enter participant data and services offered into agency database.
• Performs other duties as assigned.