Why work at House of Ruth Maryland?
At House of Ruth Maryland, you have the ability to expand your knowledge, promote change, and work alongside career oriented individuals while unleashing your own potential. We foster an environment of mutual respect, curiosity, and endless opportunities. So what are you waiting for?? Come join us and become a part of something special!
Position Summary: The Level I Contact Center Advocate provides world-class, trauma informed customer service to individuals contacting House of Ruth Maryland via our 24/7 crisis hotline, or online chat. The Level I Contact Center Advocate is part of the Contact Center team, and is responsible for ensuring that every contact – both victims and community members supporting victims - are offered the support, information, referral, crisis intervention counseling, and safety planning consistent with HRM standards.
When individuals contact HRM, they present as scared, hopeful, worried, angry, concerned and hurt. The Level I Contact Center Advocate assesses each victim’s situation relative to lethality, danger, and service needs to provide appropriate safety planning and referrals. The Level I Contact Center Advocate is an empathetic problem-solver, who exercises superior communication and interpersonal skills when interacting with contacts, and is a skilled professional with excellent crisis intervention and customer services skills. The Advocate is responsible for developing professional working relationships with their teammates, other HRM programs, and internal and external staff members to ensure the timely, effective and seamless provision of services.
This position is a full time member of the Contact Center team and is considered an essential staff position, required to work in weather emergencies and holidays as needed. Contact Center staff are expected to be flexible, with up to 25% adjustment from regular work schedules at times to cover essential crisis services.
Standard Schedule: Varies (see below)
Position 1 Monday - Friday 12am - 8am
Position 2 Monday - Friday 8am - 4pm
Position 3 Monday - Thursday 12pm - 8pm Friday 10am - 6pm
Position 4 Monday - Friday 4pm - 12am
Position 5 Saturday - Wednesday 10am - 6pm
Primary Responsibilities:
- Interfaces with victims, survivors, and community members to provide trauma-informed crisis intervention, safety planning, resource referral, and advocacy services to remedy domestic violence, sexual assault, and other social problems unique to victims within Baltimore and the surrounding area
- Maintains departmental quality assurance standards and trauma-informed principles during live responses to incoming calls, chats, and walk-in contacts during designated shifts
- Attends department-specific training and meetings to maintain knowledge of advocacy best practices, internal and external resources for clients, and community resources and trends
- Demonstrates inclusiveness during interactions with differently-abled persons and individuals with varied sexual, gender, racial, ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds
- Provides resources and facilitates a “warm handoff” during referrals to other agencies on behalf of callers seeking access to external recovery services
- Advocates on behalf of high-risk clients to internal stakeholders across programs to facilitate emergency housing options, including emergency shelter and hotel stays
- Performs daily data entry to document each contact and other administrative tasks as needed for essential Contact Center or site functions. This may include filing call reports, organizing call center spaces, responding to voicemails, etc.
Experience/ Requirements:
- Bilingual fluency in English and Spanish
- High School Diploma/GED
- One year of paid or voluntary experience in either call center, customer service, retail, hospitality, or work with vulnerable populations required. Phone or chat-based experience is highly preferred.
- Demonstrated ability to work quickly and calmly in a crisis required
- Demonstrated ability to make decisions that de-escalate conflict and resolve a crisis effectively required
- Excellent oral and written interpersonal skills with a solid ability to relate to various individuals, including victims, children, donors, business leaders, and human service providers. Particular emphasis on communication over the telephone and computer
- Demonstrated ability to work independently and juggle multiple competing tasks and timelines required.
- Must pass Criminal Background Check
Highly Preferred Qualities:
- Knowledge and understanding of intimate partner violence
- Knowledge of local human services programs/ agencies and housing resources
- Knowledge or ability to learn database management systems
- Demonstrates personal traits consistent with victim advocates, including active communication, empathy, trauma-informed care practices, and service-coordination
|
Click here for technical assistance.
