Community Services Intern

About SafePlace Olympia

SafePlace is a nonprofit organization providing crisis intervention, advocacy, and support services to survivors of domestic and sexual violence. We are committed to anti-oppression work, social justice, and trauma-informed care in all aspects of our services.

Position Summary

The Community Services Intern is responsible for providing confidential, survivor-centered support and advocacy to individuals who have experienced domestic and sexual violence who are seeking support with safety planning, medical advocacy, systems advocacy, crisis intervention, emotional support, and information/referrals for other community resources. The Community Services Intern also works collaboratively with SafePlace Community Education, Outreach and Prevention Program to support the facilitation of educational sessions, support group, or outreach activities in the community. All staff and interns ensure that they are providing best-practice advocacy to survivors and receive required training, debriefing, and support for their role. This position may provide services in person at the SafePlace business office in downtown Olympia, over the phone taking crisis or screening calls.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide trauma-informed, culturally responsive support to domestic and sexual assault survivors of all genders and backgrounds.


• Be consistent, dependable, and reliable in attendance, according to the agreed schedule.


• Assist with safety planning, crisis intervention, and emotional support to callers and in-person clients.


• Maintain accurate and confidential communication and documentation in accordance with organizational policies and state/federal guidelines.


• Collaborate with staff to ensure up-to-date knowledge of best practices for advocacy and community resource knowledge and information.


• Respond to calls from forensic nurse examiners to provide phone advocacy to victims receiving sexual assault or non-fatal strangulation forensic exams.


• Provide back up support to facilitators of groups, education sessions, prevention sessions or outreach activities.


• Participate in regular supervision and required training.

Direct Advocacy – 45%

• Provide trauma-informed, culturally responsive support to clients. 


• Conduct crisis intervention, emotional support, safety planning, and provide resource referrals. 


• Implement program protocols in screening, intake, and advocacy services. 


• Support curriculum implementation during support groups.


• Support education, outreach, or prevention activities at local businesses, campuses, or community events.


• Maintain survivor-centered, confidential, and non-judgmental advocacy.

Documentation & Reporting – 15%

• Complete accurate, confidential documentation according to organizational policy. 


• Record call data, amount and type of service, referrals, and other required statistics. 


• Ensure data entry follows state and federal confidentiality guidelines.

Collaboration & Communication with Staff – 15%

• Consult with SafePlace supervisor regarding best practices and updates to community resources. 


• Communicate shift issues, crises, or concerns to supervisors in real time. 


• Participate in team communication, debriefs, and check-ins.

Training, Supervision & Professional Development – 15%

• Complete required Advocacy Core Training and agency-specific training. 


• Participate in ongoing training (20 hours annually if volunteering over one year). 


• Attend supervision meetings and engage in debriefing for emotional resilience.

Administrative, Reliability, and Organizational Responsibilities – 10%

• Maintain healthy boundaries and adhere to ethical and confidentiality standards. 


• Remain reliable for scheduled shifts and provide timely communication if unavailable. 


• Uphold SafePlace values: quality, respect, self-care, diversity, integrity, and confidentiality. 


• Review policies, procedures, and resource updates as needed. 

Qualifications

Required:

• Background in social work, social services, criminal justice, or related field. One year’s experience working with survivors of trauma, sexual violence, or marginalized communities, or any equivalent combination of education and experience.


• Commitment to social justice, anti-oppression, and survivor-centered practices.


• Strong communication and emotional resilience skills.


• Ability to maintain confidentiality and clear boundaries.


• Completion of 30+ hours of domestic violence and sexual assault advocacy training is required prior to working directly with survivors.

Preferred:

• Fluency in a second language (especially Spanish, ASL, or other commonly spoken languages in Thurston County).


• Familiarity with local resources and systems (legal, healthcare, housing)in Thurston County.

Interpersonal & Communication Skills

To perform this job successfully, an individual must possess the following interpersonal skills:

• Bring and maintain a strong commitment to fulfill agreed on volunteer shifts with a high level of enthusiasm and engagement with the program team.


• Ability to respond to crisis, set limits, and maintain healthy boundaries.


• Ability to manage challenges and conflicts with confidentiality, fairness, and respect with clients from diverse backgrounds and experiences.


• Ability to maintain a positive attitude and resilient demeanor when working with traumatized clients on the phone or in person.


• Open to learning and applying best-practices in advocacy-based counseling and trauma-informed care.


• Strong reliability and responsiveness during scheduled shifts and provide timely communication to supervisor if unable to do so for any reason.


• Engage with supervisor, teammates, staff, volunteers, and clients in a positive and professional manner.


• Embraces the following SafePlace values in all interactions with staff, volunteers, and clients:
  
  
  
  • Quality – provide quality services to clients and promote a positive atmosphere for
  
  
  • Respect – recognize that the foundation of relationships with others is respect for individual rights and
  
  
  • Self-Care – recognize the need for self-care as a priority for maintaining resilience.
  
  
  • Diversity - value, acknowledge, and integrate diversity into serving the wide array of cultures in our community
  
  
  • Integrity - endeavor to build relationships with clients based on integrity and honesty.
  
  
  • Confidentiality - hold client and agency information in the strictest of confidence creating a culture of trust.
  
  
  
  

Reasoning, Math, and Technical Skills

To perform this job successfully, an individual must possess the following reasoning abilities:

• Ability to identify and solve problems and deal with a variety of variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.


• Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule.


• Ability to identify gaps in standardized procedures and formulate proposed.


• Ability to compile statistics and report them in an understandable.


• Basic computer skills using Office 365. 

Training Requirements

By state mandate, this intern position is required to complete Advocacy Core Training and specific agency and program training, which includes shadowing with agency staff prior to providing direct services to clients. If intern placement continues past one year, then the intern must receive 20 hours of on-going direct service training a year, which must include at least 15 hours advocacy, 12 hours of sexual assault training.

Practicum Supervision

SafePlace does not currently have internal MSW or MFT supervision capabilities. This internship is for community-based (not clinical) services. If it is of interest for MSW students, placement can be arranged with an external MSW practicum supervisor.