Family Advocate-Day of Screening

Description

The Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center is seeking an experienced Family Advocate - Day of Screening for the Advocacy Services Department.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

The Family Advocate works collaboratively with each family and the MDT (multi-disciplinary) team and provides clients with trauma informed, wrap around services that provide support for the life of the child’s case.

ABOUT DCAC: The mission of the Dallas Children's Advocacy Center is to improve the lives of abused children in Dallas County and to provide national leadership on child abuse issues. DCAC is a non-profit organization and the only agency of its kind in Dallas County, working in agreement with public and private agencies to investigate, prosecute, and provide healing services for child abuse cases in Dallas County.

We reduce the victimization of the child, remove barriers to investigation and treatment, and enhance criminal prosecution with our distinctive multidisciplinary and united approach to these complex and severe cases, all at no cost to our clients. Each year, DCAC serves over 13,000 children and their non-offending family members.

We are a national and international leader in the Children's Advocacy Center movement, recognized for our expertise in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of child abuse cases; cutting-edge clinical services and programs for the victims and their non-offending family members; and our community and professional training programs.

Everyone involved in DCACs work shares a common set of core values:

• We are child-centered, family focused and community driven.
• We act with dignity and compassion in all that we do.
• We recognize our staff as our greatest asset.
• We operate as a seamless team.  

Essential Duties and Key Responsibilities:

• • Conducts screenings with caregiver and client (when eligible/appropriate) using validated measures to assess for trauma symptoms related to reason for DCAC referral.
    • Prepares for screening appointment, ensuring all client intake paperwork is complete and entered accurately and timely into database.
    • Familiarizes self with case allegations, intake paperwork, family dynamics, safety concerns to assess and determine next steps for the screening appointment.
    • Meets with caregiver and client to discuss purpose and process of screening appointment.
    • Administers age-appropriate screening measure with caregiver and client, providing feedback and information for next steps.
  • Conducts risk assessments related to non-suicidal self-injury, suicidal ideation and behavior, homicidal ideation, and interpersonal violence; completes safety plans as needed; conducts follow up phone calls with caretaker within 24 hours of being seen.
  • Provides informal assessment for immediate family needs that addresses food, housing, clothing, toiletries, and physical and emotional safety.
  • Participates in Screening Triage Meetings to present all screenings conducted to determine treatment recommendations.
  • Conducts follow up calls following Screening Triage Meeting with caregiver to communicate recommendations and completes all required next steps:
    • Referrals to DCAC Mental Health Services.
    • Referrals to External Services.
    • Schedules next DCAC appointment, if necessary.
    • Submits clients for dismissal in ETO (Efforts to Outcome) database, if no services are needed.
  • Enters data and self-audits in client database and ensures accurate, professional data is entered in a timely manner and within guidelines and standards.
    • Regularly participates in peer review meetings.
• Provides on-call support after hours and on the weekend through a staff rotation.

Interaction with clients:

• Uses best practices, including an empathic tone and open body language to build rapport with clients.
• Uses structured frameworks for providing crisis interventions.
• Provides services in a trauma informed manner.

Supervision of Interns:

• Provides ongoing supervision and training to Children’s Programming and Family Advocate interns, as needed by:

• Participating in intern interviews.
• Assisting in observing and training new interns.
• Providing weekly or bi-weekly supervision to Children’s Programming and Family Advocate interns.

Cross-Training with other Family Advocates:

• Cross trains with other Family Advocates, Children’s Programming, Screening and On-Going Case management, to back up when needed.
• Uses crisis intervention and de-escalation skills, when necessary.
• Conducts and reviews risk assessment and safety planning for the child and family.
• Collaborates with DCAC MDT (multi-disciplinary) team to exchange information that are pertinent to the child’s case and safety:
  • Reviewing CPI (child protection investigation) safety plans, placements and other safety concerns.
  • Connecting with law enforcement regarding the criminal investigation of the child’s case.
  • Reaching out to the District Attorney’s office on the status of the trial and prosecution of the alleged offender.
  • Connecting with the REACH clinic and Medical Liaison Coordinator regarding any medical exams for the child.
  • Communicates and coordinates with the specialty partner agencies (T-911 and NFNL)
• Court Readiness and Court Accompaniment:
  • Becomes well versed in DCAC court readiness curriculum.
  • Provides court readiness sessions upon request.
  • Provides court accompaniment upon request.

Continuing Education:

• Completes a minimum of 24 hours of instruction, within the first six (6) months of hire, including but not limited to:
  • The dynamics of abuse,
  • The CAC model and the coordinated MDT response, including the civil and criminal justice processes and the medical evaluation process.
  • Working with non-offending caregivers (examples may include understanding the challenges non-offending caregivers face, communicating with empathy, etc.)
  • Time impact of trauma and trauma informed services.
  • The impact of crisis and crisis assessment and intervention.
  • Professional ethics and boundaries.
  • Assistance in accessing and obtaining victims’ rights as outlined by law.
  • The Crime Victims Compensation (CVC) program.
  • Court education, support and accompaniment, and,
  • Assistance with access to treatment, additional support services, and concrete resources.
• Completes the CACTX Family Advocate training program, including family advocacy 101-201 trainings (or equivalent) within the first year of employment as a Family Advocate.
• Completes continuing education each year in topics relevant to family advocacy, child abuse and or victim services.
• Employees who are bilingual (English/Spanish) are required to complete translation training through TIN (Translation Interpretation Network).
• Completes all compliance trainings required by DCAC.

Other Duties:

• Attends and participates and/or assists at the annual Crimes Against Children Conference.
• Attends and engages in supervisory meetings and team meetings.
• Attends monthly agency staff meetings.
• Participates in special events for children and families.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

Education and experience: bachelor’s degree or higher in human services, social work, counseling, psychology, sociology or related field and two (2) years of experience in a client facing, case management role working at a domestic violence shelter, residential shelter or another Child Advocacy Center OR an equivalent combination of experience, knowledge and skills and five (5) years in a client facing position to substitute for a college degree.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:  

• Knowledge of developmental states of children, family dynamics, inter-partner violence, trauma, and child maltreatment.
• Skilled in effective communication with a diverse community of stakeholders including medical professionals, law enforcement, CPI (child protective investigation) the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, DCAC staff, clients, and families.
• Skilled with working with children and families, particularly with youth who have experienced significant trauma.
• Skilled in client de-escalation and conflict resolution.
• Ability to maintain client confidentiality.
• Ability to actively engage in consultation regarding difficult case situations.
• Ability to maintain a personal trauma resilience plan.
• Ability to navigate multiple systems and reduce barriers to treatment for the child.
• Possesses ability to effectively communicate amongst team members while managing time constraints in a high stress work environment.
• Ability to establish and maintain professionally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks and a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
• Excellent presentation and communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Demonstrated ability to work with all levels of employees, board members, partners, and community.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

Work Location: All work must be performed in the office due to client confidentiality.

Mental and Physical Abilities: Duties are usually performed seated with occasional periods of standing or walking. Limited physical effort is required associated with lifting and carrying objects (less than 25 lbs). 

Working Conditions: Work may be performed but is not limited to an office environment.

Essential Functions: This job description should not be interpreted as all-inclusive.  It is intended to identify the essential functions and requirements of this position.  The incumbents may be requested to perform job-related responsibilities and tasks other than those stated in this job description.

Core Values:

Must demonstrate/live our organization’s core values: 1. Put the child first in all we do, 2. Operate as a part of a seamless team, 3. Work with a servant’s heart.

DCAC is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and we believe in an inclusive culture. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Salary : $2,700 - $50,000