Summary
Prenatal and Early Learning Services’ program is a funded program through the Office of Head Start. Services are provided to expectant families as early as possible beginning in the first trimester of pregnancy. Additionally, services are extended through the Early Head Start home-based program model for children birth to three years. The Child Family Specialist walks side by side with expectant mothers/mothers of children birth to three to assist them in caring for themselves and their unborn child and extending their role as the child’s first and primary teacher. While promoting shared responsibility with parents for children’s early learning and development, the Child Family Specialist (CFE) also provides comprehensive services of nutrition health, disabilities/wellness, and family engagement strategies that are designed to foster parental/parenting confidence and skills in promoting children’s learning and development.
Duties
- Responsible for assisting with weekly recruitment/enrollment of Early Head Start families. Effectively implements ERSEA policies and procedures.
- Manage a caseload of 12 families through the annual program term.
- Provide weekly 90-minute parent mentoring sessions in the home for families with children 0-3. Provide bi-weekly parent mentoring sessions for prenatal families. Parents with high-risk pregnancies receive weekly mentoring sessions. Mothers in their 3rd trimester receive weekly mentoring sessions.
- Support families to ensure access to medical/dental insurance and medical/dental home for parent/child. Support expectant moms to maintain access to prenatal, postnatal, and newborn health care. Support parents to ensure their child is current with health requirements outlined in the Texas Periodicity Schedule. Ensure two-week Well Baby check is completed.
- Collaborate with participants to plan and implement activities to enhance the development of parenting and prenatal development skills that lead to healthy newborn outcomes and developmental growth for children ages 0-3.
- Assist in the development and achievement of Family Needs Assessment and Family Partnership Agreement (Goals).
- Provide encouragement, support, and referrals for adult achievement of educational and economic self-efficacy goals.
- Support parents to access community resources that support family well-being.
- Provide prenatal development education and child development education to help support the parent as their child’s first teacher.
- Use Parents Interacting with Infants framework to plan and implement peer-to-peer and parent/child caseload experiences based on the needs and interests of children and parents on the caseload. 10 socializations required for Prenatal Services and 22 required for Early Learning Services.
- Identify parents to represent Prenatal and Early Learning Services on Policy Council.
- Collaborate with Home Base Manager and parent leaders to plan and implement monthly Parent Committee Meeting.
- Meet 30-day (Insurance/Health Homes), 45-day (Developmental/Behavioral/Hearing/Vision), and 90-day (Health Determination) Head Start deliverables for all newly enrolled participants.
- Develop and maintain Child Portfolio and use data to assess children’s development three times a year.
- Complete Home Safety Checklist and PICCOLO observations with parents according to program schedule.
- Responsible for assuring quality, timely, and appropriate services for participating families.
- Partner with families to identify child and family needs and provide resources and referrals to meet those needs. Ensure families have the opportunity to share personal information in an environment in which they feel safe.
- Collaborate with health team to ensure newborns receive a 2-Week Well Child Visit.
- Generate in-kind contributions for Early Head Start.
- Responsible for accurate data entry of records into various data systems to include: mileage, timecards, Recruitment Logs, Socialization Logs, Home Visit Records, In-Kind Logs, and other designated records.
- Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams to support Policy Council, agency family engagement events, self-assessments, etc.
- Attend staff meetings and training as required by supervisor. Maintain at least 15 hours of continuing education annually. Actively participate in Construct Coaching.
- Maintain required certifications: Vision/Hearing, CPR/First Aid, Parents As Teachers, Teaching Strategies Gold Reliability, Food Handlers Certification.
- Facilitate referrals from other agencies to the Early Head Start Program.
- Stay current on best practices in home visiting and community resource/community data in Tarrant County.
- Other duties as assigned.
Requirements
- Home Visitor Child Development Associate (CDA). Associate’s degree in early childhood education preferred.
- 1-2 years’ experience in social services, and/or family engagement.
- 1-2 years’ experience in an early learning setting.
- Computer proficiency required.
- Ability to communicate and relate to many diverse families of limited income.
- Must be able to pass a pre-employment and/or periodic physical examination, annual TB skin test, and complete background check every 24 months.
- Reliable transportation with appropriate auto insurance.
Nice To Haves
- Bilingual abilities preferred.
- AA or BA degree in Early Childhood Education or related field preferred.
Benefits
Child Care Associates offers a competitive benefits package that is provided to all full-time employees that includes health, dental, and life insurance coverage. Additional voluntary benefits are offered to all full-time employees in addition to the core benefits package.
After completing one (1) year of service, the company contributes 4% of the employee’s earnings to the retirement plan. If the employee also elects to make a contribution to the plan, Child Care Associates will match half (50%) of the employee’s contribution up to 4% of base salary.
Child Care Associates provides other benefits outlined in the Staff Handbook, such as paid holidays and paid time off (PTO).
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