Medical Advocacy Partnership Program Specialist

Description

Position Title: Medical Advocacy Partnership Program Specialist 

Core Hours: Full-Time, 40 hours per week

Supervisor: Manager of Community Outreach and Response 

Department: Community Outreach and Response

FLSA Status: Exempt 

FLSA Exemption Test: Professional Exemption

Starting Salary/Hourly Rate: $48,000/year 

Last Updated: 10/1/22

Our Mission

Safe Berks provides a safe haven and support for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault through education, advocacy and a relentless commitment to prevent abuse. We are dedicated to fostering an inclusive environment where individuals can be their true selves and feel empowered to stand up to all forms of oppression.

Our Values

SAFETY

We believe that freedom from physical, emotional, spiritual and psychological harm is a basic human right of all individuals. We know that domestic violence, sexual assault, oppression and privilege include power-based tactics that affect physical, emotional and psychological safety and we work to help survivors heal the wounds caused by power-based violence.

RESPECT

We value the dignity of all individuals while appreciating our differences and celebrating and honoring our diversity. Respect is reflected in the way we treat our clients, ourselves and members of the community. We believe our work requires us to reach out to marginalized individuals and communities and to create space to celebrate and nurture them.

EMPOWERMENT

We believe empowerment begins with recognizing and knowing that individually and collectively Safe Berks clients, staff and volunteers have the strength to make necessary change and to accomplish our goals. We recognize that success is defined by each individual given their experience, talents and culture and we celebrate this success.

EDUCATION

We will educate ourselves and our community to reject and prevent violence and oppression in our own lives and in the lives of the people around us. We recognize that our mission and values are transformational, and we must work with intention to break down social and cultural norms that continue to divide us.

HOPE

We believe that hope is key to our existence, to our ability to persevere and to achieve goals. We recognize that our work fosters hope and resilience and improves physical, emotional, spiritual, and psychological well-being.

Equity and Inclusion

Safe Berks is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment where all staff, residents, clients, board members, and volunteers feel safe and empowered to stand up to oppression of all kinds. We believe that the collective sum of our individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, creative outlets, innovative approaches and solutions, unique capabilities, and talent that our employees exhibit in their work represents the quality of our life-saving services. Reflective of the community we serve and embrace, we celebrate differences in age, color, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity, or expression, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, and other characteristics that make our employees unique.

Position Standards

• Direct Service Delivery Standard
• Employee demonstrates a commitment to exceptional service for all individuals seeking assistance from Safe Berks and does so in a manner that is trauma-informed and in line with agency values of safety, respect, empowerment, education, and hope. Employee always maintains confidentiality according to agency requirements, consistently follows agency policies and procedures, and makes good decisions within the boundaries of their position expectations.
• Conduct and Behavioral Standard
• Employee responds to changing circumstances by being innovative and adjusting behavior to fit different situations. Employee performs work with a calm demeanor in stressful situations. Even in situations that may cause employee personal discomfort, they are able to be flexible and understand and balance others diverse views and beliefs.
• Essential Skills Standard
• Employee has strong communication skills, which are essential to the work of an advocate. They express oneself clearly and effectively when speaking and writing. Employee practices active listening by facilitating two-way communication and ensures that information is understood by all parties. They share information in a timely manner using the most appropriate method and follows up with individuals requesting additional information, referrals, or assistance.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities (includes but is not limited to the following):

1. Foster and maintain relationships with healthcare professionals and their staff.
2. Participate in healthcare related task force or other meetings as required.
3. Provide guidance within the healthcare system to improve policies and procedures regarding the awareness of and response to domestic/intimate partner violence and sexual assault.
4. Collaborate with various teams or individual professionals to strengthen relationships with Berks County healthcare entities.  
5. Prepare, schedule, and facilitate/co-facilitate trainings for healthcare providers and their staff at various healthcare facilities throughout Berks County.
6. Participate in an on-call rotation, including nights and weekends.
7. Provide direct service to patients/survivors in a healthcare setting. Depending on the needs of the survivor, this assistance includes internal and external referrals, information about the criminal justice system and protection orders through the civil court process, advocacy regarding the safety and health of the survivor and their family, healthcare advocacy, and empowerment counseling.
8. Provide coverage for the Rapid Response/MAPP advocates at the Berks County Courthouse as needed/required.
9. Assist/support other staff members of the Community Outreach and Response Department by tabling community events and/or providing outreach programming to social service and other community partners as needed.
10. Maintain record keeping relevant to program services. 
11. Maintain annual minimum training requirements mandated by funding sources (PCADV requires 8 DV training hours and PCAR requires 6 SV training hours).
12. All other duties as determined by supervisor. 

Requirements

Educational & Experience Requirements:

Employment Experience (amount and kind)

• Three (3) to five (5) years’ related experience in human services or health care field. 

Education (general level required or specific courses)

• Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice, Social Work, Psychology, or related field required 
• Degree can be substituted for equivalent experience
• High school diploma or equivalent required

Essential Physical Requirements:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to satisfactorily perform each of the essential duties. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or physical or other abilities required. 

Other Requirements:

• Completion of a background check request; FBI, State Police, and Child Abuse Clearances obtained within required timeframe under Act 153 through agency vendor
• Completion of 66-hour Sexual and Domestic Violence Training provided by agency
• Valid driver’s license and insurance are required to travel to client sites

Safe Berks provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty or status as a covered veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws. Safe Berks complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfers, leave of absence, compensation and training.

If you have any questions about open job opportunities please contact Mindy Peiffer, Human Resource Manager, at MindyP@SafeBerks.org.