Housing Advocate

General Description: The domestic violence Housing Advocate works with survivors of domestic, family, or dating violence and their children to obtain the appropriate community resources with a specific focus on obtaining housing. Provides crisis intervention, danger assessment, safety planning, and empowerment advocacy by focusing on the whole individual. Facilitates recovery, growth, resilience, and healing by fostering trust and safety. Helps survivors achieve housing stability. The advocate also provides community awareness about domestic violence to improve the community response to the needs of survivors and their children.

We are a culturally diverse program and shelter, which means we serve survivors from a variety of backgrounds living closely together. It is important to be respectful of those differences and to provide culturally competent and sensitive services. By accepting this position, you agree to this policy.

Specific Duties:

1. Provide supportive services, including advocacy, and transportation as needed, to ensure survivors obtain housing and can access appropriate resources to achieve housing stability.

2. Provide domestic violence education.

3. Conduct assessments to determine the needs of survivors regarding housing and other resources.

4. Provide crisis intervention, danger assessment, and safety planning for survivors.

5. Assist in developing an individualized safety plan and service plan with survivors.

6. Assist with and/or facilitate empowerment and support group sessions as needed.

7. Advocate for survivors individually and as a group using systems intervention to obtain needed community resources.

8. Establish working relationships with local housing community, to include private landlords, and private and public housing agencies.

9. Attend housing partnership meetings, to include CAAS meetings through the Northlake Homeless Coalition.

10. Document all contacts and services with survivors in compliance with program policies and procedures.

11. Ensure all work activities follow program policies and procedures, grantor requirements, funding restrictions, and best practices.

12. Conduct outreach and community education and awareness activities as assigned.

13. Monitor/answer the crisis line when staffed at the shelter as needed.

14. Be available for on-call emergencies.

15. Secure a minimum of 30 hours of continual training annually.

16. Maintain and complete all operational logs and documentation required by the program.

General Duties:

· Provide trauma-informed services using best practices.

· Complete all file documentation accurately and in a timely manner.

· Abide by grantor policies and regulations.

· Complete reports as assigned by the Executive Director and Housing Supervisor.

· Any other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Skills required: Superior interpersonal skills. Excellent written and/or verbal communication skills. Ability to stay calm in crisis situations. Ability to assess situations and take appropriate action.

Required Qualifications/Experience:

· High School Diploma or equivalent.

· Ability to work flexible hours.

· Reliable transportation, automobile liability coverage, valid driver’s license.

· Experience in working with diverse populations.

· Ability to maintain confidentiality of survivors, locations, and information.

· Ability to maintain appropriate boundaries.

· Ability to perform household upkeep and cleaning chores.

· Physical abilities to perform job duties include the ability to push, pull, lift, and bend.

· Must be able to respond and move quickly in a crisis.

· Must be able to lift 20 pounds.

Preferred Qualifications/Experience

· Domestic violence survivor

· Bilingual

Travel: Occasional overnight and out-of-town travel required for training.

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Signature Date

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $16.00 - $20.00 per hour

Expected hours: 37.5 – 40 per week

Benefits:

• Paid time off

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift
• Holidays
• Monday to Friday
• On call

Ability to Relocate:

• Mandeville, LA: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: In person