Legal Advocate

Who We Are

Asian Women United of Minnesota (AWUM) is a community-based, nonprofit organization committed to ending domestic violence by promoting safe and healthy relationships within the Asian Pacific Islander community. We are a leader in eliminating violence in the Asian-Pacific Islander community, and share the expertise of our best practices with others. Using the strengths of the API community, AWUM will uphold an environment free of violence, promote self-sufficiency for women, and foster nurtured and healthy children and families. Our intention is to fill in a gap by providing domestic violence shelter and support to Asian women, including those of Hmong, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Filipina, Chinese, Lao, South Asian, Korean and Thai descent. While AWUM employs staff who are specially equipped to serve the unique needs of these populations, our domestic violence shelter is open to all women.

Why You’ll Love Working Here

Asian Women United of Minnesota (AWUM) relies on compassionate, diverse, and talented individuals to ensure that we provide the best services possible to every woman and child who seeks our help. Whether you’re looking for a career, part-time job, or internship, working at AWUM is a deeply rewarding experience. Everyone who is involved with our mission is a part of changing lives, not just for one woman or one child, but for the entire community. We truly are changing the world, one person at a time.

Wages & Benefits

$21 – $24 per hour; Generous Paid Time Off (PTO) policies, plus nine paid holidays per year and two floating holidays; competitive health, dental, and vision insurance offerings. There is employer paid basic life insurance with the option for additional coverage paid by the employee. The employer pays for Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) and long-term disability insurance. AWUM sponsors a retirement plan with 4% employer match plus a 2% employer contribution after one year of service and immediate vesting.

Schedule

This role will include a period of training on-site at Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis. After the training period, the position is scheduled approximately 50% at Government Center and 50% at home (or offsite workspace.) AWUM pays for parking when position must report downtown. This role requires one day a week on Thursday’s to be in-person at House of Peace shelter to assist shelter participants with applying for OFP and advocate on their behalf.

A Typical Day in the Life…

A typical day as AWUM’s legal Advocate offers an opportunity to provide advocacy, consultation, and support to Hennepin County residents who come to the Domestic Abuse Service Center (DASC) seeking relief from domestic violence, and will include the following:

• Assisting clients in applying for orders for protection.
• Attending court hearings with clients.
• Advocating on behalf of each individual along with the human services system and others.
• Assisting in finding assistance with community resources.
• Maintaining accurate client records, case plans, progress reports, etc. as required for internal accountability and funding sources.
• Providing facilities coverage as needed or directed by the AWUM Program Director and/or DASC Supervisor at Hennepin County.

Who You Are

• You hold a bachelor’s degree in social work, psychology, sociology, criminal justice, etc., or have an equivalent combination of education and relevant work experience and one year experience with case management, legal systems, or family service.
• You are bi-lingual in an Asian language (especially Hmong, Vietnamese, Laotian) and English.
• You have knowledge of case management practices and advocacy.
• You are able to advocate on behalf of individuals with human services systems.
• You have the ability to maintain client confidentiality.
• Your verbal and written communication skills are effective.
• You can work respectfully and communicate effectively with different cultures, groups, and languages.

• Valid driver’s license, access to reliable transportation, and the ability to meet AWUM’s driving record requirements. Please note that if the license was not issued in the state of Minnesota, you have 60 days after becoming a Minnesota resident in which to apply for your Minnesota driver’s license or permit (not applicable for new hires living out of state).

Diversity and open expression are fundamental to the work of AWUM. We are passionate about building and sustaining an inclusive and equitable working environment where everyone can belong. Every member of our team enriches our work by exposing us to a broad range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and to discover, design, and deliver solutions. We welcome everyone to apply, especially those individuals who are underrepresented in our sector: individuals who identify as BIPOC, Indigenous or people of culture, LGBTQI+ and gender fluid or gender nonconforming, individuals with disabilities (both seen and unseen), veterans, people of any age or family status. We encourage you to apply even if you feel like you don’t fit 100% of the technical requirements. Equal Opportunity Employer: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, disability, marital status, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, familial status, genetic information or a protected veteran’s status.

Our organization has a partnership with Metropolitan Alliance of Connected Communities (MACC) to provide administrative services including management of the recruiting process. If you apply for this position, you may see references to MACC in some online materials.

AWUM participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. See E-Verify’s official poster at https://e-verify.uscis.gov/web/media/resourcesContents/E-Verify_Participation_Poster_ES.pdf. See E-Verify’s Right to Work poster at https://www.e-verify.gov/sites/default/files/everify/posters/IER_RightToWorkPoster%20Eng_Es.pdf.