Client Advocate

Advocating Opportunity (AO) is unique among legal service providers for trafficked and exploited persons providing comprehensive legal services to all people who have experienced human trafficking regardless of age, gender, or nationality.  Services are provided through a human rights-based, trauma-responsive, client-centered, approach to working with clients and combating human trafficking and exploitation.  This approach focuses on the individual circumstances, needs, and rights of trafficked and exploited persons, respects the individual’s autonomy, agency, and rights, is empowering and non-judgmental, and connects the rights of the individual to prosecution of traffickers and exploiters, when available. AO uses its Resilience Model and strives to incorporate principles of transformative justice, anti-racism, anti-oppresession, intersectional approaches, harm-reduction, trauma-responsive healing, healing centered engagement, and learning with humility into our daily work.

AO is inclusive, working with trafficked and exploited persons at any stage of their recovery until they choose to leave services. AO works with existing services in the community so resources are conserved and services are not duplicated. This ensures that trafficked persons receive efficient, coordinated services which are individually tailored to each client’s needs. AO is committed to employing individuals who will uphold agency standards. AO is an equal opportunity employer.

Client Advocate

Position Summary: Client Advocates will be socially conscious individuals who are passionate about and committed to ending human trafficking and exploitation through holistic, trauma-responsive services such as outreach, education, legal services, and whole person advocacy.

Client Advocates are instrumental in assisting clients with developing individualized and client-led goals and plans. Client Advocates work with trafficked persons of all backgrounds and age groups and focus on building intentional and transformational relationships and assisting clients in their overall growth and recovery. Using AO’s uniquely developed Resiliency Model, Client Advocates will help clients to identify both short-term and long-term goals and needs. They will then support clients in creating an individualized case plan and identify the means and processes necessary to achieve these goals. Client Advocates, while working full-time, will be expected to work non-traditional hours depending on client needs and agency meetings or trainings, such as beginning and ending work later in the day. These hours will vary from week to week and some flexibility is both required and given to ensure clients are properly served and Client Advocates are supported. Travel will be necessary for clients who are outside of the county where AO’s office is located. Client Advocates report to Senior Client Advocates. 

Key Responsibilities:

  • Understand, practice, promote, and uphold agency values, mission, and vision
  • Understand and use best practices and trauma-responsive, resilience-based interventions to stabilize clients as part of the process of meeting their needs
  • Provide crisis management and emergency services
  • Complete client intake and interviews
  • Support clients by ensuring clients have access to social services, healthcare services, legal services, mentorship, and coaching, both through AO and with community partners and resources
  • Support clients as they learn to effectively advocate for themselves in variety of settings
  • Attend client hearings, appointments, meetings, and other events to support clients effectively and provide transportation for clients as needed
  • Assist in development and achievement of individual, client-led goals and plans including achieving and maintaining:
    • Overall well-being and quality of life
    • Optimal physical and mental health
    • Success as defined by each client
  • Maintain regular appointments with all assigned clients to support each client’s progress towards their goals
  • Advocate for each client with other community service providers which may include ongoing education regarding the effects of trauma on a client’s behavior

Desired Skills and Experience:

  • Case management and case plan development experience, assist clients in developing client led case plans, setting goals and working alongside them to help them meet those goals
  • Experience working with those who have endured or are recovering from trauma, underrepresented populations, and individuals from varying socioeconomic backgrounds, particularly foreign nationals
  • Ability to work collaboratively with other individuals and agencies
  • Conversational proficiency in bilingual-Spanish, other languages considered
  • Be prepared to navigate social systems through the lens of immigrant experience, legal barriers and cultural humility
  • Leadership in the creation and growth of networks of partner agencies who also understand trafficking or engage in training, develop streamlined referral processes both to AO and from AO to partner agencies, and create matrixes of other non-trafficking specific service providers who can assist AO clients, regardless of legal status. 
  • Familiarity with existing services to ensure that AO and partners are not duplicating services.
  • Possess general knowledge of immigration legal processes and pathways or lack thereof for target populations, understand fraudulent practices and help protect clients from unethical immigration practitioners or processes.
  • Understand benefits eligibility and application processes for populations served, ie undocumented, T-Visa holders, derivatives, refugees and asylees
  • Be willing to advocate persistently and zealously for clients, especially for their right to access benefits and receive appropriate services, including language access and culturally appropriate services. 
  • Build trust and working relationships with survivors, enable them to work through legal processes related to reporting their trafficking as well as applying for a visa or other form of relief
  • Act as liaison with community partners for AO and AO clients 
  • Understand sex trafficking, labor trafficking, coercion; differentiate trafficking from non-trafficking exploitation; and be able to effectively communicate those differences
  • Assist in recruiting immigration attorneys and firms to provide pro bono or low bono immigration legal services to survivors.  
  • Understand the basics of T-Visas, Continued Presence processes, removal defense, and ICE advocacy and be ready to advocate for clients throughout those processes.
  • Willingness to be present with clients and advocate for them in ICE or USCIS settings and assist in establishing and develop relationships with appropriate law enforcement as needed for client advocacy (prosecutors, HSI, FBI, etc)

Minimum Qualifications:

  • Master’s degree or equivalent in social work, counseling, psychology, international relations, nonprofit management, criminal justice public administration or a related field; less than a master’s degree considered, depending on specific experience
  • Knowledge of both labor and sex trafficking and exploitation 
  • Proficient in Microsoft Office, Google Suite, LawLab or other legal software, Wire, and other software or willing to learn

To apply, please email your resume and a letter of interest to: [email protected] or visit our website http://www.advocatingopportunity.com/positions 

 

Advocating Opportunity is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.