Get Involved

We accept application once a year, beginning at the start of the fall semester, with a deadline typically at the end of October. Please check back each fall semester for our next application period.

Unfortunately, there is not. SOS training provides the critical information and skill development for anyone who wishes to serve as an advocate on our 24/7 crisis service and present SOS programs.

Students who would like to join but will be abroad this year are encouraged to apply the following fall semester and plan accordingly to be available for training during the next Winter Session.

Yes, if you are planning to remain in the area for the rest of the year after graduating. A great deal of time, energy and expense goes into planning training, so we ask that advocates commit to at least a year with SOS before moving on. This protects the organization from not losing our most valuable resource too soon—our advocates—so that we can continue to provide the services we offer. It also enhances the value of your experience by allowing you opportunities to practice your skills on the 24 hour crisis helpline and presenting programs.

There are some clear expectations of time commitment that are fixed, while others are more flexible. Members are in control of when, and how often, they sign up for their commitments in SOS

• Mandatory training: The two weekends of training in January (30 hours) are mandatory. Students cannot join SOS unless they can commit to both of these two weekends.
• Additional Training: The semester following your training, there will also be the option of completing 10 additional hours of training to make you eligible for a national advocate credential. This portion is not required to join SOS.
• Meetings: SOS holds meetings every other week (about twice per month, sometimes more). It is important for members to attend in order to participate in group planning and decision-making, to allow members the opportunity to process contacts they have had and to stay abreast of what is going on in the organization. Of course, your academic commitments come before SOS, but volunteers are asked to commit to attending half of these in a given semester (about once/month).
• Duty Shifts: An individual duty shift lasts for a 24 hour period from 7 p.m. of one night until 7 p.m. of the following night. Advocates are asked to sign up for at least one duty shift every month. In some months, like January and June through August, many members are at home, abroad or engaged in full-time internships that make it difficult to take shifts. In these months, it is helpful when those available members can take more shifts to ensure that the schedule gets covered. Beyond these basics, the commitment level is up to the individual—some members wish to take more shifts to get more experience or to work toward the next level of certification, while others may prefer or need to take less in a given month. There are provisions built in to cover shifts when advocates have a sudden emergency, death in the family, breakup, illness or other hardship.
• Programs: There isn’t a specific minimum number of programs that advocates are asked to do. That said, it is the responsibility of the group to ensure that program requests get filled. The commitment level is up to the individual—some members wish to get a lot of programming experience, while others may prefer or need to take less in a given month.
• Interviews: Each November we interview new applicants wishing to join SOS. All advocates are asked to participate in at least one interview night, and we may need some advocates to volunteer to do a second night in order to interview all applicants.

Shifts are not assigned. Each advocate is in control of what dates they sign up for duty, and how many to take on. Shift sign-up is managed through an online platform. The goal is always to have a month filled about a week prior to the start of that month.

• Find your people: Many advocates report having found their place at UD in SOS, finding a fit in this meaningful community and making lifelong friends. If you are passionate about victim advocacy, ending sexism and sexual/relationship violence, helping others, educating or effecting change in the world, the members of SOS might be your people too!
• Resume-builder: if you are interested in going into victim advocacy, sexual violence prevention, counseling, domestic violence prevention, public policy, nursing, social work, social services, medicine or criminal justice, the experience you gain as an advocate will be a huge selling point on your resume.
• Practical skills: Many advocates learn helping and communication skills through their work in SOS that assist them in their own personal relationships, work relationships and in their classes. In addition, advocates become more comfortable giving presentations and hone their facilitation skills.
• Life-changer: Many advocates report having found their true passion and career focus through their participation in the group. In fact, SOS alumni have gone on to work professionally in Delaware in victim services at the Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Rape Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) or Know Your IX, or to work in higher education as faculty or Student Life professionals. Alumni have also gone on to medical school, law school or to seek advanced degrees in public policy, criminal justice, sociology and more.
• Certification: SOS training is an National Advocate Credentialing Program pre-approved course. Trainees who successfully complete all 40 hours of SOS training will be eligible to apply for certification in victim advocacy through the National Organization for Victim Assistance’s NACP at the Provisional Level. With additional experience and training, advocates may seek NACP certification at the Basic, Intermediate or Advanced level. In this way, SOS training and experience is an asset for those intending to pursue a career in victim services or advocacy.
• Fun and connection: SOS meetings provide not only dinner to members, but also a safe space for everyone to be who they are and feel accepted.

Survivors can be awesome and powerful advocates for other survivors, after they have gone through an active healing process and reached a place of readiness to help others. Survivors’ own vulnerabilities can be exposed or triggered when working in this role. It is important for you to consider:

• What have you done to engage in an active healing process? How do you cope with crisis and stress?
• If you have triggers, how do you manage them?
• What has brought you to the point where you feel the next step for you is advocacy work?

Survivors may be asked to engage in a second interview to explore these themes. It is dangerous to the health and wellbeing of survivors who are not, in fact, ready to be advocates to try to serve in that role, and it is dangerous to the health and wellbeing of those survivors who call SOS seeking help to have survivors serving as advocates who are not fully emotionally and psychologically prepared for this role. It is with all parties’ best interests at heart that we approach this topic when we are interviewing candidates.