Prevention Advocate

Job Description

Prevention Advocate (Full Time- 40 hours a week)

Rebuilding Hope! Sexual Assault Center for Pierce County is seeking to hire a passionate and capable individual to serve as a Prevention Advocate.

Rebuilding Hope’s mission is to offer support toward healing through advocacy and therapy for those affected by sexual assault and abuse. Through education and collaboration, Rebuilding Hope improves the community’s response to sexual assault and abuse victims and challenges the behaviors and beliefs that promote sexual violence.

We are seeking candidates for this position who are passionate about enacting positive social change toward reducing instances of sexual violence in our community and who have the capacity to serve survivors seeking support following sexual assault or abuse.

Rebuilding Hope! is committed to developing a team of staff who reflect the diverse demography of our community and who represent the populations who are disproportionately impacted by violence. We strongly encourage members of our Black, 2SLGBTQIA+, culturally diverse, and differently-abled communities to apply. 

Nature of Work

This is a full-time position involving extensive contact with sexual assault victims, their families, and friends. This position will provide prevention education and advocacy services to the residents of Pierce and Kitsap Counties. The employee in this position has the ability to exercise independent initiative and judgment, subject to the policies and procedures of the agency and the direction of the Education Department Manager and the Deputy Director. This work involves providing remote and in-person prevention education curricula as well as direct advocacy services to primary and secondary victims of sexual assault.  This is a non-exempt position.

Primary Objective: Directly provide in-person prevention education, community education, professional training and technical assistance, and community outreach as a member of the Rebuilding Hope Education Department primarily in Pierce County (supporting Kitsap County requests when needed). Responsibilities of this Position are to be facilitated under the direction of the Education Department Manager, the Advocacy Department Manager, and, in the absence of Department Managers, the Deputy Director or other designee.

Responsible to: Education Manager

Prevention Responsibilities:

Prevention activities will focus primarily on, but are not limited to, Pierce County residents. Job duties will include:

• Building and maintaining relationships throughout the community, including systems and community-based professionals as well as community members;
• Remaining current with prevention literature and the principles/standards of sexual violence prevention;
• Updating and creating prevention curriculum and educational materials to ensure compliance with prevention standards according to the Office of Crime Victim Advocacy Database (Infonet) (“OCVA”);
• Presenting prevention curriculum and educational materials to schools and youth programs in the community and virtually as requested;
• Developing and improving methods of measuring the efficacy of prevention services;
• Inputting Prevention Education activities into the agency’s internal database as well as the OCVA and/or for any additional funders towards prevention education programming;
• Providing support in the facilitation of Advocate and Therapist Core Training at least three times each year under the Education Program Manager’s supervision; and
• Ensuring that all mandatory reports are made as required.

Advocacy Responsibilities 

Advocacy activities will focus primarily on but are not limited to, residents of Pierce County (with medical advocacy responses in Kitsap County). Job duties will include:

• Accepting and processing external and internal referrals to provide core sexual assault advocacy services (crisis intervention, information/referral, general, medical, and legal advocacy) to primary and secondary victims of sexual assault and abuse;
• Coordinating sexual assault advocacy services with community professionals in accordance with client confidentiality policies;
• Following up with clients on a case-by-case basis as scheduled;
• Providing referrals for unique needs not met by family including but not limited to Safety Planning, Housing, Mental Health, Legal, Clothing, and/or Transportation;
• Completing all paperwork and required data reporting as assigned in a timely, thorough, and accurate manner;
• Assisting in communicating appropriate referrals to the STEP advocate and Therapy Programs;
• Working collaboratively with the Client Access Specialist and other agency staff to provide support to clients and programs;
• Meeting victims at all major Pierce and Kitsap hospitals (or other approved facilities) to provide support and assistance during forensic rape exams and law enforcement interviews;
• Assisting Pierce County residents in filing for civil orders of protection (remote or in-person) and providing any necessary follow-up to the courthouse and client;
• Responding and following up with clients in a timely manner;
• Notifying the Advocacy Coordinator and/or chain of support when a conflict of interest arises in responding to a client call or in-person response;
• Supporting 24/7 Helpline as assigned and needed; and

Leadership

Job duties will include:

• Collaborating with and supporting other local advocacy programs or Rebuilding Hope staff members when requested and approved;
• Assisting in attending community awareness events when scheduled, offering the public information regarding agency history and available services;
• Assisting the Education Department in networking and outreach to external agencies and community professionals;
• Providing any necessary internal programmatic support; and
• Assisting with the ongoing development of this position.

Meeting and Training Requirements

Job duties will include:

• Completing 30+ hours of OCVA-mandated sexual assault training (provided by Rebuilding Hope or other approved Core training);
• Maintaining 12+ hours of ongoing training annually, to be approved by the Education Department Manager
• Attending monthly advocacy and prevention meetings and trainings with advocacy/prevention staff;
• Attending scheduled Rebuilding Hope staff meetings and additional Rebuilding Hope staff requirements, including staff retreats or internal staff training requirements; and
• Committing to an individual training and development plan with your supervisor that centers on cultural sensitivity, community diversity, equity, access, and inclusion concepts and practices relevant to your position and your representation of Rebuilding Hope to the community and clients we serve.

Administrative 

Job duties will include:

• Upholding all agency and Departmental Policies, including Confidentiality Policy and Mandatory Reporting Policy; 
• Completing all client paperwork and documentation, including call sheets, ROIs, and consent forms, in a timely, thorough, and accurate manner;
• Submitting all timesheets and requests for reimbursements to the Education Program Manager in accordance with the predetermined deadlines/due dates; and
• Responding in a timely manner to all program staff requests when scheduled for regular work hours.

Distinguishing Characteristics

The Prevention Advocate must demonstrate competency in the following areas: a working knowledge of the issues involved in sexual violence and how individuals recover from sexual assault, implementation of prevention strategies and principles in order to increase awareness and prevention skills throughout the community, strong communications and listening skills, ability to work with diverse groups, and commitment to SACPC goals and victim empowerment. The Prevention Advocate also must demonstrate leadership skills and the ability to work independently to work with long and short-term clients.

Qualifications

The Prevention Advocate must have extensive working knowledge and awareness of the basic issues involved in sexual violence, child sexual abuse, and trauma as well as how to work with multidisciplinary professionals relevant to child abuse intervention and investigations. This employee must demonstrate an effective ability to engage with clients, Rebuilding Hope staff, and community professionals, in person and virtually. Excellent oral and written skills are required. The employee must be comfortable presenting information on sensitive topics to youth and adult community members in a variety of settings, both formal and informal. Prior experience working with children in a professional setting is preferred. Strong knowledge and experience working with Microsoft Office and Google Drive/Apps is also preferred.  

The required experience and training for the Prevention Advocate includes a bachelor’s degree in Human Services or equivalent, plus at least one year of experience in providing advocacy, prevention education, direct human services, or a combination of four years of relevant education, training, and experience to include direct client or human services.

Transportation: The advocate must have their own means of transportation in order to attend County-wide and cross-county meetings and/or outreach and training activities; mileage is reimbursed for this position. 

Position Details:

This is a full-time, 40 hours a week, Non-exempt position. This position pays $26.50-$30.00/hour depending on qualifications and experience. This is a grant-funded position and is secured through December 2024 with a strong likelihood that funding will be sustained through 2025. We are an equal opportunity employer. Candidates must be able to pass a fingerprint background check that covers Washington state and national jurisdictions. Rebuilding Hope offers an excellent benefits package that this position is eligible for. Preference will be given to qualified candidates who can begin working on this position as early as May 20th, 2024. This position will be open until filled.