Sojourner Advocate - Restraining Order - Bilingual

Sojourner Advocate - Restraining Order, Bilingual

Full-time (40 hours), Shift: Monday-Friday 8am-4pm with one day a week being 10am-6pm

Pay: $21.50 is the rate for fluent/bilingual in Spanish and English

Sojourner Family Peace Center employs dedicated, hardworking professionals who want to be of service to others and make a difference in Milwaukee and surrounding communities. If you have a desire to help support survivors and work with passionate colleagues, whose personal and professional experience is as diverse as the clients we serve, this may be the position for you.

Overview

This position will work within the Milwaukee County Restraining Order Office to support and assist victims from diverse backgrounds. The Advocate will work to help clients understand and navigate the civil and criminal court system processes, explore their options and rights when utilizing these systems, develop safety plans and access needed community resources. This position must maintain collaborative relationships with, but not limited to Court Commissioners, Clerical staff, Milwaukee County Sheriff Department and other advocacy staff.    

Total Rewards Program We Provide 

Competitive Pay, $21.50/hour

Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance

Short-Term Disability Insurance

Group Life Insurance

403B Retirement Plan with Generous Match

Comprehensive Wellness Program

Flexible Spending Accounts

Generous PTO Policy 

5 Wellness Days per year

10 Paid Holidays

Employee Assistance Program

Voluntary Benefits through Colonial Life Insurance

Professional Development Opportunities

What are the Job Responsibilities?

1. Collaborate with all Sojourner Family Peace Center staff to assist clients and ensure all safety planning, community resource and legal assistance needs are met, among others. Make client referrals to agency and community resources as needed.

2. Provide legal advocacy to victims of domestic abuse, harassment, juvenile harassment, individuals at risk and child abuse seeking temporary restraining orders and injunctions.

3. Accompany clients to legal proceedings as requested or necessary; become knowledgeable about basic proceedings in criminal, civil and family law in order to assist and support clients understanding and navigation of these systems.

4. Provide services including follow-up telephone calls, information and referral to other services, preparation for the final injunction hearing, and accompanying victims to court.  Document all contacts.

5. Complete intakes with clients to help identify individual needs and assist with the development of a personal action plan built on formal/informal supports and community resources outlining goals and expectations. Utilize independent critical skills to identify additional challenges such as AODA and mental health issues that can present at varying levels of severity.

6. Work with external partners such as the police, district attorney’s office and school systems among others, to maximize the effectiveness of restraining orders and injunctions for clients.

7. Maintain a full understanding of onsite FPC partners including what services are provided and how to make appropriate referrals. Know community resources and maintain active connections to them. 

8. Assess clients for emergency legal needs and refer them to the staff paralegal and attorneys at Legal Action Wisconsin or other legal resources.

9. Assist non-English speaking clients by walking them through all the steps of the restraining order filing process. Ensure language accessibility and utilize professional interpretation services when appropriate.

10. Remain informed about legislation, issues and concerns in court systems.

11. Collect, maintain and report client data, computerized and hard copy files.

12. Maintain client files, including outcome information. 

13. Assist with gathering and compiling advocacy statistics and assist with reports to funding sources.

14. Assist with training volunteers and interns.

Education and Experience

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in criminal justice, social work, human services, or relevant field. Preferred one-two years of professional experience in advocacy, case management, human resources or related field. Must possess basic knowledge of de-escalation techniques and utilize when necessary. Working knowledge and ability to perform Danger Assessment, LAP and other relevant screening tools preferred or ability to learn. Experience with the issue of family violence preferred.

Communication Skills

Strong written and verbal communication skills. Ability to read and comprehend instructions, correspondence, and memos. Ability to prepare letters, database entries, reports, memos, correspondence, and documentation. Ability to effectively communicate with vendors, clients and other employees of the organization. 

Reasoning Ability 

Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out detailed written or oral instructions. Ability to deal with problems involving a few concrete variables in standardized situations. Ability to communicate information and ideas by speaking and in written documents so others will understand. Ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.

Other Skills and Abilities

Must have transportation and travel as necessary along with work on-site in community based agencies located throughout the City of Milwaukee. Evening and weekend hours may be required. Must be able to work together with a team as well as work independently. The ability to communicate and interact with people from culturally diverse backgrounds is required.  Individual should have strong communication and organizational skills, be detail oriented and able to manage multiple projects simultaneously. Must be proficient in Microsoft Office. Ability to make and maintain community connections to resources. Must be able to work together with a team as well as work independently. Requires the ability to operate a variety of standard business machines, such as a computer and the job related software, a keyboard, calculator, telephone, FAX, photocopier, postage machine, shredder, etc.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit and use hands to finger, handle, or feel.  The employee frequently is required to talk or hear.  The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.  Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.

Work Environment

The position is an office-based position at the Milwaukee County Courthouse.

Apply using our online application system at http://familypeacecenter.org/careers. The review process will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. Please apply and upload your resume directly to our web site; we do not access resumes posted in Indeed.  

Sojourner complies with all federal, state, and local employment laws, providing equal employment opportunities without discrimination. In accordance with federal requirements, we will ensure that hiring, promotion, and workplace practices remain aligned with applicable laws and regulations.

Visit our Website at http://familypeacecenter.org