Client Advocate - Synergy House

Synergy Services; Kansas City (MO); On-site; USD 17,000 - 25,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Life insurance

Disability insurance

PTO

Paid holidays

401K with employer match

Job summary

Synergy Services is seeking a Client Advocate to support residents at Synergy House, a teen crisis shelter. This full-time, hourly role involves intake work, crisis intervention, safety planning, and providing advocacy to help clients meet treatment goals in a therapeutic setting.

Responsibilities include teaching life skills, coordinating with volunteers, documenting activities, and ensuring confidentiality.

Qualifications

• Associates degree or equivalent required; six months to one year related experience and/or training may be acceptable.
• Ability to read and interpret safety rules, operating instructions, and procedure manuals.
• Ability to write routine reports and correspondence; speak effectively before groups.
• Proficiency with basic math and data interpretation for daily tasks.

Responsibilities

• Complete intake and discharge paperwork for clients in shelter.
• Teaches basic life skills and addresses individualized needs.
• Provide client support and advocacy to meet case management goals.
• Transport clients as needed; dispense medications per guidelines.
• Maintain accurate documentation and client records; perform clerical duties.

Skills

Communication skills

Reading ability

Mathematical skills

Reasoning ability

Office software

Education

Associate degree or equivalent

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

If you’re looking to do truly life-changing work, consider joining our team! Synergy Services employs compassionate individuals committed to strengthening people, families, and our community through prevention, crisis care, shelter, counseling, advocacy, and education. Before you apply, take a few minutes to visit our Employment Page to explore all of our current opportunities, watch our recruitment video, and get a feel for the culture, mission, and people that make Synergy Services such a rewarding place to work: https://www.synergyservices.org/about-us/employment/

Position: Client Advocate

Program: Synergy House

Status: Full-Time, Hourly position.

Available Shifts

Day Shift

• Sunday - 8a-4p
• Monday - OFF
• Tuesday - OFF
• Wednesday - 9a-1p
• Thursday - 6a-4p
• Friday - 6a-4p
• Saturday - 8a-4p

Evening Shift

• Sunday - 4p-1a
• Monday - 4p-1a
• Tuesday - 4p-1a
• Wednes - 9a-1p
• Thursday - OFF
• Friday - OFF
• Saturday - 4p-1a

Shift Differential for Advocate Positions

$1 from 4p to midnight and $2 from midnight to 8a.

Description

Our teen shelter is an emergency crisis shelter for teens 12-18 years of age, providing a caring, therapeutic environment. Client advocates provide advocacy and crisis intervention services for our clients. Other responsibilities include: complete intake interviews, answering hotline, safety planning and facilitating community building activities with clients as needed.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Completes intake and discharge paperwork for clients in shelter.
• Teaches basic life skills to clients, addressing their individualized needs. Examples include behavior management, communication skills, cooking, recreation, parenting skills and budgeting.
• Provides support for clients.
• Provides advocacy and assistance with meeting case management/treatment goals.
• Provides transportation for clients as needed.
• Dispenses medications to clients according to med tech certification guidelines.
• Maintains accurate documentation and client records.
• Performs general clerical duties, answers telephones, and answers hotline.
• Assists with training of volunteers and utilizes volunteer’s time to help meet client’s needs.
• Attends internal and/or external trainings and workshops to meet the 40 hour per year licensing requirement as long as within department budget and staff/client ratios are met.
• Completes minor maintenance duties around the facility. Completes maintenance requests and forwards them to management as needed.
• Maintains client confidentiality.
• Maintains communications with other staff members – both written and oral.
• Attends and participates in weekly staff meetings/case reviews.
• Maintains a clean environment as necessary i.e. cleaning facility areas, office area, laundering linens and completing other household tasks as needed and/or assigned.
• Unloads, sorts, and organizes donations received by the program. Records donations on the appropriate form and completes a thank you card for the donor.
• Creates menus for the program and submits grocery request to designated staff.
• Prepares and cooks meals for clients as required.
• Acts as coverage advocate on call.
• Participation in Performance and Quality Improvement activity is required by each employee.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities

Directly supervises 1-2 volunteers in the shelter as needed. Carries out supervisory of volunteer responsibilities in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws.

Qualifications

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

EDUCATION And/or EXPERIENCE

Associate's degree or equivalent from two-year college or technical school; or six months to one year related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Language Skills

Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals. Ability to write routine reports and correspondence. Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers or employees of organization.

Mathematical Skills

Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals. Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs.

REASONING ABILITY

Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form. Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS

Position requires Med Tech Certification, CPR and Class E Chauffeur’s License within 30 days from the date of hire. Must also obtain current Food Handlers License if required for the position.

Other Skills And Abilities

The employee must be able to use general office equipment, type and have the ability to use computer software, including Microsoft Office.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; and taste or smell. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, and peripheral vision.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently exposed to fumes, airborne particles, or communicable diseases. The employee is occasionally exposed to outside weather conditions. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. While performing the duties of this job, the employee may be exposed to the risk of violence and secondary trauma.

Additional Requirements

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Must be at least 20 years of age, pass a background check and Family Care Safety Registry screening, fingerprint screen, drug screen, physical and have a valid driver’s license and proof of insurance. Position requires CPR, Med Tech Certification and Chauffeur’s License within 30 days from the date of hire.

Non-Discrimination

Synergy Services is an EEO employer. We firmly support the principle and philosophy of equal employment for all individuals, regardless of age, race/ethnicity, religious creed, ancestry, color, sex, disability (including pregnancy), national origin, marital status, political belief, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic testing and screening information, covered veteran status or any other protected category pursuant to applicable federal, state or local laws.

Benefits

All full-time positions are eligible for generous benefit package including medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, PTO, paid holidays and a 401K Plan with Employer Match. Some regular part-time positions are eligible for partial benefits.

Synergy Services is committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of belonging and representation. We feel our staff, interns, and volunteers are among our most valuable assets. We embrace and encourage the differences in life experiences, knowledge, self-expression and unique capabilities that our staff, interns and volunteers bring to their work at Synergy. These aspects strengthen our agency, community, and our work with clients.