EHS Family Services Specialist
Job Summary:
Under the supervision of the EHS Family Services Supervisor and the direction of the Early Head Start Director of Family & Community Engagement. The EHS Family Services Specialist provides support and technical assistance to EHS partners in the content areas of family partnerships and engagement, community resources and collaborations, support service delivery, training and mentoring, monitoring and reporting, and providing best practices in working with families.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
1. Relevant Content Expertise:
• Maintains relevant content knowledge and disseminate such knowledge by providing on-going quality assistance
• Research for current materials in field to support families in the above-mentioned service areas.
• Enters all required child and family information, including case notes in ChildPlus Software system.
• Provides resources and referrals to families as requested to support family partnership plans
• Coordinates family education efforts for regional and program wide opportunities.
• Supports and assists with program wide events and site-based family activity nights as requested by supervisor
• Recruits speakers and provides resources for family events as indicated by the results of the parent education and interest surveys
• Contributes resources and assists with updating the parent education and interest survey resource page on the agency web site annually
• Attends Policy Council Meetings as required
• Attends all Parent Committee meetings in assigned areas
• Informs families and staff about resources available through donations and assist with the distribution of items
• Provides support and resources to families transitioning out of the program
• Be aware of, understand and be able to articulate:
o Current community service resources
o Head Start performance standards
o Other regulations/protocols for the provision of quality services
2. Family Services:
• Recruits and enrolls eligible families for Early Head Start services
• Provides support and coordination for parent orientations
• Ensures all information is properly entered ChildPlus Software System
• Monitors, evaluates and ensures training of classroom and community volunteers
2. Family Services
• Provides staff training in areas of parent education and family engagement and community resources
• Provides support and referrals for crisis intervention as needed
• Organizes and supports the center-based Parent Committees
• Supports Policy Council representatives in their role and encourage acquisition of leadership roles within the program and the community
• Promotes family literacy
• Encourages and supports fatherhood involvement
3. Quality Assurance:
• Provide results of regional monitoring efforts to EHS VP/EHS ERSEA Director/Regional Manager on a regular basis to ensure. Compliance
• Conducts home visits (as necessary) and share observations/findings of site visits with Director of Family & Community Engagement and EHS Family Services Supervisor.
• Ensures follow up and screenings requirements are met in accordance with time lines in
• Contributes to the development of action plans for continuous quality improvement
• Assists with the coordination of the annual program self-assessment and the follow-up reporting
• Assists with the development and maintaining written policies and procedures that are in compliance with Head Start Performance Standards
Experience and Training:
• Bachelor’s degree in social services or related field is minimum education requirement
• Minimum of two years of related experience
• Knowledge of community resources
• Experience working with diverse populations
• Bilingual strongly preferred
• Must be willing to travel all areas, as needed, within the South Florida areas to perform required tasks and provide own reliable transportation. Requires a valid Florida Driver’s License, a good driving record and automobile insurance, as required by the Early Learning Coalition driving policy
• Training, education and/or experience may be substituted for certain minimum qualifications
• Notice to Applicants: This position requires background screening through the Florida Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse. For more information about background screening requirements, visit: https://info.flclearinghouse.com