Summers off.
No insurance during summer layoff months.
Bilingual preferred.
Pay: $16.72
IPERS
Summary:
Utilize parent and family engagement strategies and program services to support family well-being and promote children’s learning and development. Collaborate with families through a family partnership process to help achieve identified family outcomes. Communicate with parents about their child’s health needs in a timely and effective manner. Provide families through home visits and other means, knowledge of and access to community resources designed to assist them in attaining self-sufficiency.
Supervisory Responsibilities: No
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
· Assist in recruitment and enrollment of children, including the completion of applications and registration packets.
· Organize and facilitate assigned parent groups and assist in planning and conducting center activities.
· Recruit parents to serve on Policy Council, following by-law procedures.
· Conduct home visits with enrolled families.
· Develop relationships with parents and structure services to encourage trust and respectful, ongoing two-way communication.
· Help create welcoming program environments that incorporate the unique cultural, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds of families in the program and community. Implement intentional strategies to engage fathers or father figures into the program.
· Provide parents with information about the importance of their child’s regular attendance, and partner with them, as necessary, to promote consistent attendance. Monitor and track classroom attendance by personal contact or home visit.
· Establish and implement a family partnership agreement process that is jointly developed and shared with parents in which staff and families review individual progress, revise goals, evaluate and track whether identified needs and goals are met, and adjust strategies on an ongoing basis.
· Allocate resources based on the urgency and intensity of identified family needs and goals.
· Be knowledgeable of community resources and make referrals to families when needed.
· Ensure each parent is offered the opportunity to attend a parenting class with research-based curriculum offered through the Crittenton Center.
· Conduct family engagement services in the family’s preferred language, or through an interpreter, to the extent possible, and ensure families have the opportunity to share personal information in an environment in which they feel safe.
· Communicate with parents about their child’s health requirements in a timely and effective manner.
· Assist the health component in gathering data, following up on physicals, dental, and other health appointments through tracking and an accurate record keeping system in Child Plus.
· Provide transportation in Agency owned vehicles to families and children when necessary.
· Be responsible for assigned Agency vehicle, following all transportation and safety policies.
· Document all contacts, follow-up, and referrals. Maintain accurate, complete, objective, and confidential records using Child Plus and THO databases.
· Attend monthly case management meetings for current caseload of families.
· Provide support to classrooms when needed and provide coverage in the absence of another staff member when requested.
· Conduct child care for parents during program events such as Policy Council meetings.
· Ability to work some evening hours.
· Adhere to the confidentiality policy and code of ethics set forth by the Head Start program.
· Support the economic well-being of families, tracking education and employment goals
Other duties as assigned. Duties described are intended to show the general nature and level of work being performed. This is not to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified.
Qualifications:
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Must possess ability to organize and facilitate groups. Willingness to assist in planning and conducting center activities and programs is required. Must have attention to detail, be organized, and possess accurate record
keeping skills. Must have access to vehicle and proof of valid insurance and driver’s license, and be willing to obtain a chauffeur’s license. Favorable results of a Motor Vehicle Record check and Background check are
required. Must pass Tuberculosis skin test (TB) and physical exam. Will need to acquire certification in CPR, Mandatory Child Abuse Reporting, and First Aid within 180 days employment. Must have philosophical agreement with agency's mission, goals, and objectives.
Education and/or Experience:
Family Advocate I (Level 3) - Must possess a high school diploma or equivalent and one year in a comprehensive pre-school or social service program. Must have within eighteen months of hire, at a minimum, a credential or certification in social work, human services, family services, counseling or a related field.
Family Advocate II (Level 5) - Possess an associate or bachelor degree in a human service related field.
Job Type: Full-time
Base Pay: From $16.72 per hour
Benefits:
- Dental insurance
- Flexible spending account
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Professional development assistance
- Retirement plan
Work Location: In person
