Director of Survivor Advocacy, Houston Office
New Yesterday
Job Description
Unbound Now is ending human trafficking by identifying victims, supporting survivors, seeking justice, and leading system change. We are motivated by our faith in Jesus and work each day as individuals driven by hope, oriented towards service, and committed to excellence. To learn more about our values, please read ourStatement of Faith.
Job Title: Director of Survivor Advocacy
Job Location: Local office, on-site (Houston, Texas)
Job Status: Full-time, Exempt-Grant Supported, with plans to seek continuance
Job Summary: The primary functions of the Director of Survivor Advocacy are to provide leadership and supervision for the advocacy team; ensure effective advocate training and excellence in service delivery; develop and maintain strong relationships with law enforcement, service partners, and other referral sources; monitor intake of new clients; and ensure timely and accurate documentation and data entry for grant reporting.
Compensation: Annual salary
Benefits: Unbound Now offers a generous benefits package including health insurance for employee and family with premiums covered by employer; employer-paid life insurance for employee; and the option to participate in Unbound Now's retirement plan (with 3% salary match after 90 days with a 1-year vesting period). Dental and Vision are available at employee expense.
Availability: Generally, Monday through Friday 8:30-5:30. Weekends, evenings, and holidays as needed. Frequent back-up/supervisory call. Anticipated 45-50-hour work week.
Travel: This position will require frequent travel within the area for partner meetings, training, and team/professional development opportunities, and occasional travel outside the service area for training.
Working Conditions: Work performed in a normal office environment or other professional environment. Work duties may occasionally be performed in an environment requiring exposure to weather extremes, fumes, odors, and noise.
Physical Requirements:
- Demands frequently require close visual attention and prolonged mental concentration
- Demands include sitting for long periods at a computer, repetitive hand motions from frequent keyboarding.
- Demands the ability to drive a car and, at times, respond on scene during all hours of the night as well as maintain proper insurance coverage
- Demands sometimes require the ability to lift loads to 50 pounds
Education and Experience
- Bachelors degree or higher in social work or related field
- Clinical licensure
- Supervisory experience
- Experience working with victims of human trafcking, victims of child abuse and neglect, or youth experiencing homelessness and/or addiction
- Demonstrated ability to provide trauma-informed care
- Demonstrated effectiveness in the application of MI and understanding of the stages of change model for human trafcking survivors
- Preferred 2-3 years of case management and/or crisis intervention experience
Job Requirements
- Mature Christian faith, as evidenced by participation in a local Christian church
- Thorough commitment to the vision, mission, and values of Unbound Now
- Provide at least three references
- Agree to and pass all required criminal background checks, including the DFPS criminal history check and abuse and neglect registry check
- Pass employment eligibility verication
- Demonstrated ability to work in a high-speed, professional setting
- Excellent leadership skills
- Strong administrative abilities
- Excellent communication, interpersonal, and supervision skills
- Experience working with survivors of human trafcking
- Culturally competent
- Ability and willingness to maintain the condentiality of sensitive information
- Ability to problem solve in the moment with advocates and provide coaching and resources as needed
- Participation in ongoing training
- Abide by Unbound Now policies at all times
- Willingness to use personal vehicle for Unbound Now purposes, reliable vehicle, with a current, valid drivers license and car insurance
- Submit expense documentation properly and within the required time frames per the companys expense policy
- Card Managers are responsible for reviewing each team members spend and assessing adherence to policy weekly, and following all Ramp Monthly Closeout Instructions and Process
- Submit travel reimbursements daily and approve TripLog weekly, adhering to all travel guidelines
- Review and approve timesheets bi-weekly, identifying whether grant allocations are met
- Complete all Unbound Now required training on time
Job Responsibilities:
- Maintain a strong line of communication with the Survivor Advocacy Program Director regarding any issues related to the local ofces Survivor Advocacy Program, as well as any issues of a programmatic nature.
- Rotate supervisory call with Lead Advocate, supporting advocates when they are responding to calls, unless the local structure allows for this requirement to be shared by two or more lead advocates and/or program coordinators.
- Ensure availability of immediate intervention and ongoing advocacy, case management, and emotional support for survivors of human trafcking
- Pursue high advocacy staff retention by actively shouldering advocate responsibilities during periods of high demand or emergency, and supporting advocates emotional and supervisory needs.
- Ensure that advocates communicate a service-oriented approach: an eagerness to offer case management in collaboration with associated service providers, so those seeking assistance are provided with help, even when they are ineligible for advocacy services or are seeking something outside Unbound Nows scope
- In coordination with the Survivor Advocacy Program Director, monitor compliance with policies and procedures and minimum standards for CSEY advocacy
- Develop and maintain good working relationships with law enforcement agencies and other service providers to ensure identication of victims and seamless referral for and provision of victim services
- In coordination with the Survivor Advocacy Program Director and Regional Director and Lead Advocate(s) where applicable, recruit, screen, hire, train, engage, supervise, and retain advocates
- In coordination with staff coordinating interns and volunteers, recruit, screen, train, engage, supervise, and retain advocacy interns and volunteers, if applicable
- Work with local coalition or task force as appropriate
- Schedule and document all required trainings for advocates and advocacy volunteers, including all onboarding and ongoing trainings
- Facilitate weekly advocacy team meetings.
- Provide training and support in the implementation of the OHTS tool.
- Ensure that case management is carried out in a manner that is relationship-based, trauma-responsive, and survivor-centered.
- Create clear expectations for advocates, ensuring that they know policies and protocol.
- Assess advocates skill sets and watch for/support in areas of weakness.
- Provide on-the-job training and model desired behaviors, alongside lead advocate(s).
- Ensure a minimum of every-other-week individual advocate supervision by phone or in-person. Virtual/Phonetic supervision can only occur once every 30 days.
- Ensure supervision within one week of any care coordination team meeting during which a victim assigned to an advocate has been staffed.
- Ensure that advocates are spending an appropriate amount of time with the survivors assigned to them.
- Review safety plans routinely.
- Document supervision - maintain a supervision le for each advocate. Specify the mode of communication in supervision documentation. Supervision should reect the application of the Stages of Change and Motivational Interviewing terminology.
- Review documentation of all advocates at least twice a month and document the review.
- Contact youth once a month and their parents/guardians once a month and document contact. Conrm records of contact and activities as reported by advocates and document conrmation.
- Meet with youth both during and upon completion of service to discuss their experience with the advocate relationship, including questions related to assessing the youths sense of safety and care within the program and with the advocate.
- Ensure compliance with DFPS MOU, and review and ensure completion of monthly and quarterly reports to DFPS (as applicable).
- With support of the Advocacy Program Support Specialist, where applicable, maintain the local ofces survivor advocacy calendar with on-call and time off schedules and weekly advocacy team meetings.
- Develop local survivor advocacy budget and spending protocols in coordination with the Survivor Advocacy Program Director and monitor compliance.
- Seek feedback from service partners.
- Monitor for red-ag or inappropriate behaviors and/or policy violations.
- Respond appropriately to allegations of abuse, including youth-to-youth sexual activity;
Take allegations seriously
Respond immediately - if there is a reason to believe behavior is abusive, report to authorities
Report to Ofce Director and the Survivor Advocacy Program Director immediately
Collect information, as appropriate
Develop and document the response and corrective action
Determine and meet the needs of the alleged victim, as appropriate Prevent further access by the alleged perpetrator
- Review regional data for programmatic grant reports.
- Support advocate participation in the monthly advocate resilience group.
- Conduct annual advocate performance reviews.
- Approve and monitor advocacy mileage, expense transactions, and advocacy staff timesheets.
- Meet regularly with other Unbound Now Directors of Survivor Advocacy and CSEY Advocacy Coordinators for peer support and to collaborate on advocacy projects.
Desired Outcomes
- Clients served with professionalism and compassion - both in terms of relational support and case management.
- High standards of excellence in advocacy services are upheld in local service regions, including in the areas of grant compliance and best practices.
- Excellent working relationships with law enforcement, care coordinators, service partners, and any other referral sources.
- Strong working relationship with the local advisor for the Governors Child Sex Trafcking Team.
- Compliance with Unbound Now policies and protocol and with Minimum Standards for CSEY Advocacy.
- Collaboration and congruence with other Unbound Now advocacy services in other regions.
Working Relationships:
Supervisor: Survivor Advocacy Program Director
Supervises: Lead Advocates, Advocates, and Survivor Advocacy Volunteers
Works with: Local Care Coordinators and MDTs, Governors Child Sex Trafcking Team local advisor, regional Unbound Now team, and Unbound Now Survivor Advocacy team
- Location:
- Houston
- Job Type:
- FullTime
- Category:
- Business