Agency & Contact Information
Agency Name: The Family Connection (a program of COTS)
Address: 705 Rohnert Park Expressway, West; Rohnert Park, CA 94928
Phone: (707) 585-6500 Ext 2
Supervisor: Sara Jones
Email: sara@cots-homeless.org
Fax: (707) 585-7852
Website: http://www.cots-homeless.org
Internship Description
Job Title: Family Support Team Member
Compensation: unpaid
Amount/Type:
Internship Length: A mininmum of 2 semesters is required. Ideally you will be able to spend a full year with the family you serve which would probably entail a 3 semester commitment.
Hours Per Week: Number of hours per week varies; during school semesters,
time spent averages 3 to 4 hrs/week. (This includes the Supervision seminar.) A
minimum of 10 hours a month spent with the family served is required.
Population:
Adults,
Children,
Families
Focus: Main focus is Homelessness (Substance Abuse, Mental Health, Education, Domestic Violence are also focused on in the Supervision Seminars and may, or may not, apply to the Family you serve.)
Setting:
Community Agency, the home of the family served
Duties: Working with a team of 3 to 5 helping support a family moving out
of homelessness. Support may include providing transportation, watching
the children when the parent has a meeting, helping the family move into
new housing, assisting with budgeting, tutoring and participating in
social activities. Weekly contact with the family and attendance at the
monthly team meetings is mandatory. Intern must attend 9 hours of
volunteer training and the Supervision seminars. (There are 8 weekly seminars
the first semester with 5 seminars in subsequent semesters that are held
approximately every three weeks and a couple of seminars during the summer.) The training and first semester Supervision seminars are on
Wednesday nights. Subsequent seminars are determined by students' schedules.
Qualifications: Strong interpersonal skills, ability to maintain confidentiality, willingness to relate to people of different socio-economic backgrounds. Must be at least 18 years of age and clear background check. Must have minimum 5 years driving experience and clear driving record check in order to drive any client. Being able to drive the family members is not a requirement but not being cleared to drive will probably make it more difficult to help the family. If yoiu do not have a car, working with another COTS' program will probably be a better choice. (Please see the COTS listing above.)
Additional Information: Working with this agency will give students
exposure to many social services and an opportunity to learn about the
issues that lead people to seek help from these services. The Supervision
seminar also explores many issues and systems related to homelessness,
(e.g. mental health, boundaries, recovery from addictions, the criminal
justice system, economics and class).
There is an abundance of support through the seminars and through being
part of a team that works together to help a family. Much of the
scheduling is flexible. If a 2 semester commitment is more than you want to make, please check out the COTS listing above to see other Internship options. Nothing beats experiencing the thrill of helping
people make big changes in their lives.
This internship was updated 7/25/11
