Agency & Contact Information
Agency Name: The Family Connection, a program of COTS
Address: 608 1/2 Morgan St./Santa Rosa, CA 95401
Phone: (707) 579-3630
Supervisor: Sara Jones
Email: sara.thefamilyconnection@cots-homeless.org
Fax: (707) 573-1228
Website: http://www.cots-homeless.org
Internship Description
Job Title: Family Support Team Member
Compensation: unpaid
Internship Length: 1 year
Hours Per Week: Minimum of 10 hrs/month required, number of hours per week varies. During school semester time spent averages 5 hrs/week.
Population:
Adults,
Children,
Families
Focus: Possible focuses are:
Crisis Intervention,
Domestic Violence,
Education,
Homeless,
Mental Health,
Substance Abuse
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 the volunteer training and weekly 3 hour seminar (length is 9 weeks of the first semester). There are 7 seminars in subsequent semesters that are held every other week.
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, clear fingerprint and background check. If driving is required, must have minimum 5 years driving experience. Being able to drive is not required, but inability to do so makes it more difficult to help the family.
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 Intern 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. Nothing beats experiencing the thrill of helping people make big changes in their lives.
This internship was updated 8/12/08
