Homicide Survivor Victim Advocate (covers Benton, Iowa, Poweshiek, Tama, Linn counties)

POSITION SUMMARY

Provide crisis intervention, short-term counseling, support groups, and advocacy, to survivors of homicide and victims of violent crimes. Provide community education and outreach in order to advocate for victims of crimes and increase community awareness and need for such programs.

TIME COMMITMENT & SALARY

Salaried

PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Maintain the confidentiality of the program without compromise according to Iowa Code Chapter 236
• Provide both on-site and mobile counseling and advocacy to survivors of homicide and violent crimes
• Offer individual short-term counseling to survivors of homicide and violent crimes, and to refer any person who has other pending issues not related homicide and other violence crimes.
• Provide and submit to the Program Director accurate, statistical information on a monthly basis as mandated by local, state or federal grants
• Facilitate support/educational or healing groups for survivors of homicide and violent crimes.
• Provide education/workshops on impacts of homicide and related services; this includes speaking engagements and community outreach
• Participate in "on-call" status as required by your Supervisor; will include weekend and evening hours
• Oversee practicum students and volunteers on an as needed basis

COMPETENCIES

• Values: Demonstrate Waypoint’s core values every day you are at work: have compassion, instill ownership, empower people, and embrace diversity.
• Dependability: Show up to work on time, every time. Keep your commitments. Take responsibility for your own actions. Understand implications of your decisions.
• Communication: Demonstrate the ability to treat others with respect and consideration when working with a variety of personalities and leadership styles. Listen and seek clarifications. Communicate internally and externally in a positive tone.
• Professionalism: Take pride in how you present yourself. Motivate yourself to bring your best every day. Develop strategies to achieve organization goals.
• Adaptability: Be able to multitask in a changing and evolving work environment to best fit the situation. Demonstrate support for innovation and for organizational changes needed to improve the organization's effectiveness.

BENEFITS

The benefits below are for full-time, 30+ hours/week, unless noted otherwise.

• 12 Paid Holidays (Regular part-time employees receive holiday pay - prorated)
• 10 Days PTO first year of employment
• $25K Life Insurance paid in full by Waypoint
• Certified Public Service Loan Forgiveness Employer
• $400/month towards Waypoint’s medical insurance through Wellmark
• Short-Term Disability
• Employee Childcare Discount at KidsPoint
• Dental & Vision Insurance
• FSA & HSA
• 401K & Match
• EAP

• Four year Human Services degree or equivalent work/life/volunteer experience
• Completion of Victim Counselor Training within first six months of employment (training provided by program); become a Certified Homicide Specialist within the first year of employment
• Understanding of the dynamics of violence and experience with victims of violence from a viewpoint of empowerment
• Understanding of root cause of violence.
• Demonstrate sensitivity to working with families from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds
• Understanding of the interlocking nature of other forms of violence and oppression (sexual, racial, homophobic, economics) and a commitment to confronting all forms personally and in the program
• Must be skilled at public speaking, community engagement and coalition building
• Must be skilled at crisis intervention and be able to handle stressful situations
• Must be able to respond to on-call emergencies within 30-45 minutes
• If a Waypoint/DHS Non-Law Enforcement Records Check is required, must receive a negative report