LGBTQ+ Advocacy Specialist at YWCA Clark County in Vancouver, WA

Description

Status: Full-time

Hours: 40 hours per week (32 work, 8 company-sponsored time)

Schedule:  Monday-Thursday 9am - 5pm

Company Sponsored Time: We offer a 4-day, 32-hour work week, and YWCA will provide this role 8 hours of Company Sponsored Time for you to use on Fridays to maintain work-life balance while maintaining pay at 40 hours a week

Pay Range: $24.96/hr + $1 bilingual differential

Benefits: Visit our Benefits and Perks Tab by Clicking Here 

The LGBTQ+ Advocacy Specialist is responsible for supporting and advocating for survivors of domestic violence with an emphasis on serving LGBTQ+ survivors. Working closely with the Director of Community Services and Outreach this position provides leadership in SafeChoice to ensure that advocacy services are gender inclusive and staff are knowledgeable in providing culturally responsive services to LGBTQ+ survivors. Other responsibilities include participation in YWCA Clark County’s internal LGBTQ+ Equity Committee, providing outreach and education on domestic violence and LGBTQ+ survivors, and facilitation of domestic violence support groups. Some evenings may be required.  

We’ve identified the day-to-day responsibilities linked to each position. In addition to the position specific responsibilities provided below, each YWCA Clark County employee must share responsibility for upholding and modeling the organization’s core value on a daily basis.

General 

• Assure that participants, staff, volunteers and community partners are treated with respect and dignity regardless of race, ethnic background, gender or socioeconomic background.
• Gain approval for, track, and engage in activities that meet the organization’s 1% for Social Change requirement.
• Think through the lens of racial equity and its intersections with poverty. Use the core principles of anti-racism and grounding those principles in all daily tasks
• Incorporate the YWCA’s commitment to social justice by understanding how racism, sexism, classism and other oppressions intersect and are embedded in institutions. Seek opportunities for continued learning about racial, gender and class equity.
• Proactively maintain yearly domestic training requirements as required. 
• Be present for and appropriately participate in staff meetings as required.
• Establish and maintain a record of impeccable dependability with regards to punctuality, following call-out procedures, and adhering to the policies, practices, and guidelines set by the organization and SafeChoice. 
• Ability to be flexible with the schedule and day-to-day tasks, and prioritize appropriately.
• Do your best to support co-workers and supervisor by communicating absences and requesting time off in a timely manner. 

Direct Services Advocacy

• Provide empowerment-based, domestic violence advocacy on walk-in basis.
• Provide culturally responsive advocacy that honors the lived experiences of every survivor accessing support services. Effectively communicate available resources that support cultural values, beliefs and customs. 
• Respond to survivors on domestic violence hotline calls.
• Connect participants with relevant community resources to address needs related to domestic violence, including dv education, dv protection orders, safety planning, housing, and financial assistance.
• Serve as the primary contact for community partners that provide LGBTQ+ specific services, and provide culturally responsive domestic violence advocacy to survivors who prefer to work with the LGBTQ+ Advocacy Specialist. 
• Effectively and respectfully work with people from diverse backgrounds and with diverse needs.
• Maintain appropriate personal/professional boundaries with participants and co-workers to maintain clear, open, and unbiased lines of communication. 
• Provide support to participants who are filing protection orders. When attending protection order hearings, this position must be able to effectively:
• Make contact with participants who have asked for assistance. 
• Stand with the participants while they are speaking with the judge. 
• Answer questions, without providing legal advice, about protection order related processes and procedures. 
• Facilitate domestic violence support groups, including an all genders group 
• Provide training and support for new group facilitators 
• Provide evening support group coverage as needed 

Program Support

• In collaboration with the program director, ensure that advocacy services are gender inclusive and staff are knowledgeable in providing culturally responsive services to LGBTQ+ survivors.
• Attend community events to support outreach and education efforts as requested.
• Co-facilitate trainings and conduct presentations on domestic violence, oppression, dynamics of intimate partner violence in LGBTQ+ relationships, and cross-cultural advocacy for staff, volunteers and community partners. 

Requirements

There is a strong social justice component to all positions within YWCA Clark County, requiring critical thinking through the lens of racism and intersections with poverty. Knowing the core principles of anti-racism and grounding those principles in everyday work are required job skills and core values:

• Communicate respectfully and in a solution-oriented manner with diverse groups of people. 
• Address and respond to people in crisis in a calm and compassionate manner. 
• Maintain appropriate personal and professional boundaries.
• Adapt work and communication style as needed to meet the needs of survivors.

Related Education: A.A. /A.S. degree in a related field or position equivalent experience in addition to the experience requirements listed below. 

Strong problem solving skills: resourceful and able to resolve challenges while knowing when it’s time to stop and ask questions or seek additional guidance. 

Strong technological skills: effectively use common software programs (like MS Office, Excel, and PowerPoint) to fulfill position related expectations. 

Strong soft-skills: with little to no prompting, adapt work and communication style to mitigate and/or de-escalate crisis, and to best support our participants.

Related Experience - At least six months experience:

• Working or volunteering with LGBTQ+ populations.
• Providing empowerment-based advocacy, preferably domestic violence advocacy. 
• Providing outreach and education, preferably about domestic violence and/or anti-oppression. 
• Facilitating trainings, support groups, and/or educational sessions. 

Required Knowledge

• Knowledge and understanding of the issues, needs and interests of LGBTQ+ youth, adults, and knowledge of the spectrum of gender identity and transgender issues.
• Understanding of intersecting oppressions, empowerment, and the dynamics of domestic violence.
• Proficient in MS Office products.

Don't meet every single requirement after reading through this post? You may be just the right candidate for the role or future roles, and please know we value lived experience! Studies have shown that due to white supremacy culture, systemically oppressed communities are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. YWCA Clark County is dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways.