Tulsa Educare is looking for a passionate BILINGUAL FAMILY ADVOCATE who wants to make a lasting impact on young children’s lives. Join a research-based early childhood education program that provides education, care and support to close the achievement gap of young, at risk children.
Under the supervision of the Director of Family Services; Primarily an educational position; Has an intentional role in supporting the parent’s role in developing strong, positive parent/child relationships by enhancing their understanding of their child’s development, health and learning and by strengthening the parent’s role in their child’s school and educational experiences through both group and individual strategies. Provide comprehensive parent education/training, family engagement activities, advocacy, case management, development of Family Partnership Agreement, parent involvement, transition activities, linkage and referrals for early intervention needs as well as social service requests. Work collaboratively with Educare Learning Network (ELN) and other community partners to ensure ELN requirements, DHS Licensing, NAEYC Criteria and Head Start Performance Standards are met.
ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS
The functions outlined in this job description are examples of the general nature of those performed by employees in this position. Any combination of these functions and responsibilities may be performed. The list is descriptive only and should be used for no other purpose. Management retains the right to revise job functions at any time. These functions are not to be construed as exclusive or all-inclusive.
- Use research-based data/strategies from evaluation information to drive program practices
- Understand and support core features of ELN such as importance of social emotional development, continuity of care, interdisciplinary approach, and reflective supervision and practice
- Provide detailed information to parents on the importance of their relationship with their child and how it relates to the child’s language, health, literacy, social development, learning, and future life success
- Provide “hands on” parent/child activities twice monthly to encourage positive child-parent interactions. Be involved in home visits and parent conferences in coordination with education staff
- Promote positive child development and social and emotional wellbeing through effective parenting, early intervention, outreach and referral for intervention
- Comply and lead or assist with efforts in creating parent involvement, family and community partnership and transition service mandates of the Head Start Performance Standards and program assessment
- Plan and assist with the facilitation of monthly classroom based parent meetings in coordination with the administrative staff or collaborative partners
- Participate in family/child review meetings and provide follow up with parents on family portion and communicate follow up with classroom staff
- Assist in establishing a connection to early intervention or disability programs to children/families that require the service
- Provide information on early childhood development materials and activities to parents
- In all service delivery, ensure that the ELN goals are promoted: 1) to support the parent-child relationship, 2) support the educational and social/emotional development of the child and the parent having a role, and 3) increase parent advocacy for their child
- Support and develop positive relationships within and among families; provide opportunities for parents to serve as peer mentors to new families or to new programs
- Recruit and empower parents to assume leadership and governance roles in parent groups or Policy Council (if applicable)
- Assist in promoting the health care needs of children and families including finding a medical home for continual health services; Provide community health resources on-site to connect families to common agencies that meet the parent/child needs; Consult with other staff as necessary regarding the clinical needs of the children and families
- Encourage economic self-sufficiency through adult education, training and employment
- Communicate to parents the core features and expectations of the Educare model during recruitment, orientation and shared governance platforms
- Complete Family Assessment and a Family Partnership Agreement within first 45 days of child’s start date
- Ensure non-English speaking and immigrant families have access to culturally and linguistically appropriate services
- Develop materials and implement transition events to assist children and families entering the program, transitioning from one classroom to another and provide families with transition information that will assist parents in having a better understanding of home-to-school learning and advocacy possibilities
- Collaborate with other staff and community partners to work together for the betterment of each family
- Maintain high daily attendance and enrollment within your school family team by contacting families after two consecutive absences from school
- Assess barriers with families, assist in barrier reduction, and empower parents in decision-making/ problems-solving skills
- Provide continuity of care to families to help children develop secure relationships
- Offer on-site family support to families and develop strong parent engagement
- Implement an interdisciplinary approach to build effective teams
- Collaborate with classroom staff to provide enhanced focus on language and literacy materials and/or events for children and families
- Collaborate with classroom staff to provide strong emphasis on social-emotional development for children and families utilizing Conscious Discipline
- Collaborate with classroom staff to provide enhanced focus on problem-solving and numeracy materials and events for children and families
- Integrate the arts into the program to strengthen social-emotional development, language and literacy
- Complete reports that will ensure appropriate service delivery to families and will assist in productivity monitoring
- Participate in ELN, reflective supervision, team meetings, multi-disciplinary and staff meetings/trainings as required
- Perform other duties as assigned
SUPERVISORY RELATIONSHIPS
Works under the direct supervision of the Director of Family Services. No supervisory responsibility
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
Must have strong interpersonal skills and be culturally sensitive. Knowledge of child development and community resources. Able to facilitate groups with strong communication skills and successful interpersonal relationship skills to maintain effective and satisfactory working relationships with intra-department and inter-department staff, vendors, clients, visitors, and contractors. Ability to follow oral and written instructions with ability to read, interpret, and present information efficiently and effectively. Must be able to accurately audit records and ensure compliance with written or oral guidelines. Must maintain strict confidentiality of extremely sensitive data, records, files, conversations, etc. Must adhere to TEI’s ISMART shared values: I-Integrity, S-Shared Purpose, M-Mutual Respect, A-Accountability, R-Reflective Practice, and T-Teamwork.
EDUCATION AND WORK EXPERIENCE
Bachelor’s degree in Child Development, Early Childhood Education, Family Studies, Social Work or related field and at least 5 years of relevant experience working with children and families. MS Office skills, database software skills, organizational skills, efficiency skills and excellent attention to detail with a demonstrated commitment to completing assignments on a timely basis. Bilingual (Spanish/English) required.
OTHER
Educational position with some local travel (exposure to normal traffic hazards). Work requires bending, stooping, lifting, squatting, kneeling, crawling, stretching, pushing and pulling throughout the day. Ability to lift and carry up to 25 pounds. Regular and reliable attendance required.
