Position Summary

The Later in Life Outreach/Client Support Advocate serves as a staff member at will of Domestic Violence Intervention Services (DVIS). Later in Life Outreach/Client Support Advocate will lead the initiative to increase understanding and coordinate the response to abuse against elders. Coordinate and facilitate meetings and training on the topic of elder abuse. Provide outreach and support to grant partners. Provide case management to people 50 and over with an emphasis on the LBGTQ+ community and staying within the grant guidelines.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Priority 1: Equity and Inclusion

• Reflect and understand how identities could give advantages in the workplace—even if they are not asked for or earned—while others might experience disadvantages. Reflect on how our position and power may shift depending on the environment, the people, or the institutions at play. Build the awareness and compassion that is needed and expected to create an equitable and inclusive workplace.
• Create an inclusive environment and behave in a way that ensures that clients and employees feel embraced, no matter what their cultural orientations are, respected and valued, engaged, and connected to the community, and safe from abuse and harassment.

Priority 2: Advocacy

• Provide assistance, advocacy, and moral support to adults 50 and over who are seeking to file an Emergency Protective Order, filing criminal charges associated with domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, and/or violation of Protective Orders.
• Provide case management such as initial assessment or initial screening; make referrals for services to various partners and agencies such as TPD Family Violence Unit, DVIS shelter, outpatient counseling, legal services, DHS Adult Protective Services, and Life Senior Services; supporting and providing resources for older survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and other elder abuse; working with survivors to determine risks and goals; conducting safety planning with every client. Maintain 25-30 client caseload.
• Provide advocacy and support to adults 50 and over at all DVIS sites including outpatient, hospital, shelter, transitional housing and the Family Safety Center. This position will be housed 50% of their time at the shelter to manage the “elder” clients within the Shelter program. The other 50% of their time will encompass time at the other locations/departments.
• Responsible for making follow-up calls to survivors.
• Coordinate the response and protocol for crimes against older survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and other abuse.
• Organize a multi-disciplinary team and facilitate meetings.
• Collaborate with the Finance Department to coordinate financial assistance via Client Assistance applications in adherence to DVIS and grant guidelines.

Priority 3: Education and Outreach

• Organize and facilitate training for law enforcement, DVIS, and other victim services providers related to providing services to elder victims.
• Provide outreach activities to community partners to develop and implement the goals and objectives of the Elder Abuse Grant.

Other Duties/Responsibilities: Other assistance to support the overall goals of the department and organization. DVIS retains the right to add or change duties and/or responsibilities at any time.

Supervisory Responsibilities: None

Budgetary/Fiscal Responsibilities: Acts as a good steward of DVIS’s resources.

Responsibility for Confidentiality: The nature of this work requires safeguarding against the release of confidential and proprietary information of DVIS and its clients.

Contact with Others: This position will interact with managers at all levels and staff members across the organization, in addition to members of external organizations and the public.

Documentation: Maintains up-to-date and accurate files for each client according to agency guidelines and current professional standards.

Meetings and Training: Attend meetings and training as requested by supervisor.

Education: Bachelor’s degree in social work, Gerontology, psychology, criminal justice, or in a related field, or any equivalent combination of education and/or experience.

Experience: Requires a minimum of two years’ experience working with victims of crime and/or domestic violence and/or older clients, and experience working with a nonprofit is strongly preferred, or any equivalent combination of experience, lived experience, and/or special skills.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

Intermediate computer skills, including Microsoft Office Suite, are required. Strong communication skills both verbal and written ability. Excellent analytical ability to synthesize complex or diverse information, experience, Experience with calculating and working with numbers, collecting, and researching data, and working proactively while balancing a variety of priorities and workload. Demonstrated ability to conduct community outreach and build strong community relationships. Familiarity with community resources and the criminal justice system.

Bilingual in Spanish preferred.

Knowledge of or experience working with social justice issues, specifically intimate partner and gender-based domestic and sexual violence, and racial, class, gender, sexual orientation issues, and intervention/prevention services strongly preferred. Requires dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion, excellent organizational skills, written and oral communication skills, attention to detail, and ability to prioritize work and tasks. Requires adaptability to produce and meet deadlines in a fast-paced, multi-task, and changing environment, with frequent pressure related to meeting deadlines and scheduling requirements. Must be able to work independently and as part of a team.

Requires the ability to embrace, support, and integrate DVIS’s philosophies to promote and demonstrate DVIS’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and anti-racism.

Experience applying an equitable analysis to all duties to achieve organizational goals and demonstrate DVIS’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and anti-racism preferred.

Diplomacy at confronting personal, individual, and internal discrimination requiring sharing and discussing personal identities relative to the work environment is strongly preferred.

Schedule Availability: Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. Occasional extended workdays.

Licenses/Certifications: Valid driver’s license; current CPR and First Aid certification preferred. Reliable transportation is required.

Physical Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made when requested to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Ability to communicate and understand in English effectively, in person, and in writing. Ability to hear adequately in person and by phone, in personal and group settings, and function with periodic distractions such as people, telephone calls, and noise.

Ability to work with, and process information from, a variety of individuals and media (e.g., computers, projected images, printed materials), and occasional sitting and/or standing for long periods of time.

Mobility is necessary to access various offices and a wide variety of settings. Mobility is necessary to perform a variety of tasks that involve intermittent standing, walking/traversing, sitting, stooping, kneeling, bending, and twisting, occasionally climbing stairs or using an elevator, and possibly reaching chest high and overhead for materials.

Ability to reach for, move, and/or lift up to 25 pounds and the use of hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls, including frequent repetitive movement such as extended periods of keyboarding.