Front Line Advocate

The NYC Family Justice Centers (FJCs) are an initiative of the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence to reduce barriers faced by survivors of domestic and gender-based violence (GBV). GBV can include intimate partner and family violence, elder abuse, sexual assault, stalking, and human trafficking.  The NYC Family Justice Centers are co‐located multidisciplinary service centers providing vital social services, civil legal, and criminal justice assistance for survivors of domestic and gender-based violence and their children—all under one roof.  Arab American Family Support Center is co-located at the FJCs and partners with the Mayor’s Office, the District Attorney’s Office, and other civil legal and community-based organizations to provide a safe and welcoming place for victims to receive various services.  AAFSCNY staff at the FJC provides crisis intervention, case management services, advocacy, information and referrals, and practical assistance to survivors, providing client-centered safety assessments and risk management plans.  

Clients will be greeted by the Front-Line Advocates at the Reception Desk in the Hospitality Suite. The Front-Line Advocates will check clients in for a scheduled appointment or briefly assess a walk-in client’s initial reason for the visit, help determine the appropriate next steps and monitor the Hospitality Suite and waiting areas to ensure that client needs in the front of the FJC’s are being met. 
 

Essential Duties:  

• Staff the Reception Desk welcome all clients to the FJC in a respectful and friendly way and use telephonic interpretation, as needed.  

• Answer the telephone and provide information and referrals as needed. 

• Call back voicemails left on the FJC’s main phone line and do virtual screenings as needed.  

• Provide clients with FJC-related documents as directed by ENDGBV/FJC administrative staff, explain the mission and operations of the FJC and what services are available. 

• If it is determined that a client is not eligible for FJC services, provide service referrals and warm hand-offs/linkages.  

• If the client has children eligible to use the FJC Children’s Room, explain the option of the Children’s Room and contact the FJC Children’s Room staff to register the child into the room.  

• Coordinate and manage client flow, including notifying on-site staff when clients arrive for appointments (via phone, Instant Message (IM) or in person), determining appropriate next steps for an effective client visit, assisting on-site staff with scheduling future appointments for clients, directly linking clients to additional on-site and off-site services and assessing urgent client needs and notifying appropriate personnel to address such needs.  

• Maintain communication with clients while in the front reception areas and hospitality suites to answer questions, provide information, provide updates about estimated wait times and assist with practical needs, including but not limited to, making copies of important documents, accessing public computers, and accessing the FJC food pantry, clothing closet and MetroCard’s.  

• Monitor the Hospitality Suite and Reception areas to ensure materials are updated and well organized and that the space is organized and inform FJC administrative staff if any reception area client supplies are running low. 

• Notify and maintain communication with FJC administrative staff and AAFSC supervisor if a client is distressed if a client asks to speak to a supervisor and/or if the client is experiencing a physical or mental health emergency.  

• Work collaboratively with the reception staff at the relevant FJC’s District Attorney’s Office to refer appropriate clients and make appointments for those clients, as needed.