Safety Advocate (Security role)

Since 1984, Larkin Street Youth Services has helped more than 75,000 young adults in San Francisco with outreach, shelter, housing, education, employment, healthcare, and other services.

Today, Larkin Street Youth Services is the largest provider of housing and services to homeless youth in the Bay Area. We serve 1,500 youth annually, operating or partnering to provide more than 500 emergency shelter, transitional, supportive, and subsidy-based housing beds at several unique sites across San Francisco.

Working at Larkin Street, no matter what department, means making a real difference in the lives of young people experiencing homelessness. Our team is skilled, diverse, and passionate. Our culture encourages achievement and professional development, as well as teamwork and self-care. Our focus is always on the young people at the heart of our mission and to nurture potential, promote dignity and support bold steps by all.

For more information about us, visit www.larkinstreetyouth.org.

 

WHAT YOU'LL DO:

Under the guidance of the Operations Manager, the Safety Advocate provides a safe environment for clients, staff, volunteers, and guests of Larkin Street Youth Services. This role responds to on-the-ground crisis and emergencies to increase safety in and around Larkin Street’s housing programs, drop-in center, and offices. You will be joining a team that takes a trauma-informed perspective to their work. Safety Advocates de-escalate behaviors and risks with compassion and care.   

This is a full-time position, eligible for full benefits.

Your responsibilities:

• Monitor and anticipate potential safety and security problems, and attempts, through de-escalation techniques to prevent or defuse them before they become critical. 

• Maintain updated awareness of clients with restricted or modified access to services. 

• Redirect and ensure the exit of ineligible clients to secure the safety of the space, 

• Respond to emergency calls from assigned areas as needed. 

• Safely deal with or assist in dealing with any emergency situations. 

• Always maintain a high level of awareness of one’s surroundings. 

• Observe and identify unusual/irregular occurrences that may require closer examination to ensure the safety of the facilities and the persons in them. 

• Observe and safely intervene as appropriate in crises to ensure the safety of staff, clients, volunteers, and other visitors. 

• Monitor assigned area to identify safety hazards, reports safety hazards, and intervene according to established procedures. 

• Comply with all Larkin Street’s safety requirements, policies, and requirements to ensure a safe work environment for all. 

• Check and secure buildings at the beginning and end of each day as instructed. Checks assigned areas (rounds) as needed. 

• Participate in emergency response and disaster preparedness training and drills. 

• Respond to crises and emergencies with urgency, occasionally needs to ascend/descend stairways quickly. 

• Safely and effectively de-escalate disruptive and/or aggressive persons using acceptable physical de-escalation and crisis prevention techniques. 

• Support special events and activities as assigned, including set up and breakdown and monitoring the event and/or workshop itself. 

• Attends and supports with restorative re-entry meetings with clients 

• Support in bag searches and metal detection “wanding” as needed. 

• Assist with janitorial services to maintain a clean and safe environment for work and community access including daily upkeep of the exterior of the facility which involves litter abatement and power washing.  

• Courteously assist guests and clients, giving information, responding to quest