Domestic Violence Advocate / 40 Hours / Bwh Passageway

Domestic Violence Advocate / 40 Hours / BWH Passageway

Passageway is the Brigham and Women’s/Faulkner Hospital’s (BW/F) domestic violence intervention program which incorporates the perspectives and experiences of women and others experiencing intimate partner abuse into its advocacy services. Passageway has become a leader in integrating domestic violence advocacy services and training for health professionals into the health care system through its four program components:

• Community Collaboration to ensure a strong network of services to address domestic violence within and beyond the health care setting
• Training/Education for multidisciplinary health care providers and hospital employees and community
• Evaluation to support the continuous improvement of care for domestic violence victims and effective training and education programs for health care professionals
• Comprehensive Advocacy and Counseling Services for patients, employees and community members who are abused

Passageway is an integral part of the BWH’s Center for Community Health and Health Equity. The mission of the CCHHE is to advance systems of care and community health strategies to eliminate health disparities and elevate the health status of the communities served by BWH. The CCHHE collaborates with many hospital departments, including clinical and research areas, and works in partnership with external organizations and community-based groups in addressing the social determinants of individual and community health, including efforts to improve the health, well-being and safety of patients, employees and community members experiencing domestic violence. This position reports to the Passageway Program Manager.

Specialized Advocacy Services for Domestic Violence:

Provide advocacy services to a caseload of community clients, patients and employees with the goal of increasing safety and empowerment. Counseling and advocacy services include:

• Confidentiality and compliance with professional ethics. Coordinates advocacy services with other services internally at the hospital and in the community.
• Provide assessment and clinical services to clients that address psychosocial, environmental, age-specific and cultural context in order to maximize emotional, social and physical well being.
• Identification, assessment of appropriateness, and linkages to community resources to optimize safety.
• Employs a range of clinical interventions to provide on-going supportive counseling services for all clients.
• Provide on-call coverage during work hours 1-3x a week, as the lead response to triage and immediately respond to any referral or consultation that comes into the program.
• Provide a range of legal information and options (including but not limited to immigration, restraining orders, criminal proceedings and probate matters) to clients as needed. Coordinate and foster ongoing relationship with community-based legal partners and resources.
• Initial and on-going crisis-intervention counseling as needed for all clients.
• Accompaniment to court and community meetings as appropriate.
• Group advocacy services for patients and community members to increase knowledge about domestic violence through the use of supportive psycho-education in a group-based modality.
• Initial and on-going risk assessment to assess the overall danger in the relationship as well as the danger present in particular situations (e.g. accessing medical care, going to court, contacting Passageway for services) and safety planning to increase overall and situation-specific safety.
• Information to clients, patients and employees to increase knowledge and understanding about domestic violence, its effects on health and well-being, and the systems and services available to increase safety.

Program Development, Consultation and Technical Assistance

• Foster effective relationships between providers and Passageway throughout BWH. Work collaboratively and effectively with providers as part of interdisciplinary medical team to ensure continuity of service delivery and promotion of Passageway programmatic goals.
• Attend multi-disciplinary meetings as necessary to ensure consistent standards of practice across departments within the hospital. Participate in and/or lead case huddles, informal and formal clinical case reviews as part of coordinated patient care.
• Provide consultation and technical assistance regarding screening for and intervening in domestic violence situations, risk assessment and safety planning, mandatory protective concerns, assessing the appropriateness of and accessing resources, increasing safety.
• As needed, partner with other CCHHE and hospital-based areas to provide presentations, workshops, seminars, and other education and awareness around intentional violence.
• Participate in research and program evaluation opportunities presented by partners and stakeholders as available and as directed by supervisor.
• Contributes information on needs of clients in her/his caseload to inform program development initiatives.

Community Engagement

• Cultivate relationships with community stakeholders and partners through collaboration, effective communication, and intentional outreach efforts as directed by supervisor.
• As needed, partner with community agencies to provide support groups, presentations and other education and awareness around intentional violence.
• Participates in community roundtables or projects to address gaps in services to victims of abuse, to address the institution’s response to domestic violence, trainings and workshops, support groups, etc.

Administrative Responsibilities

• Data entry for Passageway program evaluation purposes.
• Assumes additional program development or administrative responsibilities as directed by supervisor.

• Bachelor’s degree in social work or related field required; Master’s degree in social work or related field strongly preferred. Licensure preferred.
• Experience in assisting professionals to intervene safely with domestic violence.
• Bilingual Spanish/English fluency strongly preferred (speaking, reading and writing).
• Persons of color strongly encouraged to apply.
• Experience in working with multidisciplinary teams.
• Preferred two years working with victims of domestic violence.

• Ability to work with diverse groups of people (e.g. race, ethnicity, age, class, sexual preference).
• Comfort in bridging the hospital and community settings and demonstrated success in facilitating collaborations with diverse, multi-cultural populations collaboratively to respond to the issue of domestic violence.
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to manage multiple teams/projects in a fast-paced environment.
• Commitment to social, racial and gender justice issues.
• Excellent written, verbal communication and presentation/training skills; ability to assimilate information and communicate with various constituents.
• Must be comfortable using computerized word processing and database programs.
• Must have solid advocacy skills, excellent judgment and interpersonal skills. Must work effectively as a member of a team and collaboratively with other professionals within the hospital and community.
• Demonstrated knowledge of domestic violence issues.

MGB is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, or on the basis of disability.