Family Advocate I
Company: Head Start Inc
Location: Billings
Posted on: April 19, 2024
Job Description:
Description:Are you passionate about making a difference in the
lives of children and families? Join our team as a Family Advocate
with Head Start, Inc. and be a part of a mission-driven
organization that values your dedication and commitment. Enjoy
competitive pay, 15 paid program holidays (including Thanksgiving,
Winter, and Spring breaks), summers off, generous PTO, and a
comprehensive benefit package that supports your well-being. Take
the next step in your career and help us empower families and
promote early childhood education for a brighter future! JOB
SUMMARY:Recruiting and identifying eligible children for program
enrollment; in partnership with families, develop and support plans
that describe families' strengths, resources and needed services;
connect families with opportunities that support their
well-being.ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
- Assists in recruiting children and their families to ensure
full program enrollment and appropriate waiting lists.
- Establishes mutually respectful partnerships with parents by
maintaining consistent contact with families via face-to-face
meetings, phone calls, letters, etc.
- Supports families in their efforts to achieve their family
goals by helping them identify needs and develop plans to meet
those needs and by assisting families to follow through on
plans.
- Collaborates with Head Start, Inc. staff, School District
staff, Mental Health staff and community agencies to provide
complete services for children and families.
- Develops a working knowledge of community services available to
low-income families, identifies resources and makes referrals as
needed while assisting families in accessing community services and
resources; follows up on the effectiveness of referrals.
- Using a strength-based model, provides short term individual
and family crisis counseling, emergency assistance, and crisis
intervention to address identified needs.
- Assists parents in becoming empowered advocates for themselves
and their children.
- Seeks parent input in developing and implementing activities to
encourage parent involvement in Head Start, Inc. activities.
Supports families to identify and engage in volunteering with
programs and community activities.
- Seeks parent input to identify, develop and implement or link
parents to educational activities that are responsive to identifies
parent needs.
- Develops plans for families to navigate their transition into
and out of the program. Provides families with appropriate
information, training, and connections to future care and/or
educational settings to help facilitate the transition into and out
of the program.
- Utilizes data generated from the Family Matrix to plan for
individual parent and family needs.
- Documents contacts and services provided to meet program
requirements.
- Adheres to defined procedures for identifying and reporting
incidents of suspected child abuse and neglect.
- Meets weekly to bi-weekly with teachers to discuss and
strategize pertinent issues related to children and families.
- Assists in classrooms as needed.
- Attends meetings and trainings as required by supervisor.
- Using program software, tracks appropriate information required
for Head Start reporting purposes. USING ACTIVE SUPERVISON TO KEEP
CHILDREN SAFE:Head Start, Inc. uses the strategy of Active
Supervision to ensure that no child is left unattended while in the
care of Head Start, Inc. Incidents of children left unsupervised
must be immediately reported to the Executive Director. All Head
Start, Inc. employees are responsible for the safety of children in
our program. Active Supervision requires focused attention and
intentional observation of children at all times. All employees who
care for children position themselves in classrooms, on
playgrounds, in hallways, on buses, on field trips and in any space
where children are present so that they can observe all of the
children: watching, counting, and listening at all times. They also
use their knowledge of each child's development and abilities to
anticipate what he/she will do, then get involved and redirect them
when necessary.PHYSICAL DEMANDS:The physical demands described here
are representative of those that must be met by an employee to
successfully perform the essential functions of this job.
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with
disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing
the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk,
listen, stand, walk, and sit. The employee is also often required
to use hands to manipulate objects, tools, or controls, reach with
hands and arms, balance, bend, stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl, and
move quickly to respond to children's health and safety needs. The
employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 35 pounds and
occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision
abilities are required for the job include close vision, distance
vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the
ability to adjust focus. WORKING CONDITIONS:The working environment
characteristics described here are representative of those an
employee encounters while performing the essential functions of
this job. While performing the duties of this position, the
employee works in busy classrooms or a shared office environment,
travels by vehicle, may be exposed to changing weather conditions,
and works in varied environments. The noise level is usually
moderate. COMMENTS:This description is intended to describe the
essential job functions and requirements for its performance. It is
not an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and
requirements of this position. Other functions and duties may be
assigned as determined to be necessary for overall job
accomplishment. Requirements:EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
REQUIREMENTS:A four-year degree in Social Services or related
field. A minimum of two years of experience working with low-income
children and families is preferred. Bilingual candidates,
especially fluent in Spanish, preferred. Compensation details:
20.28-23.32 Hourly WagePId9d75ad6a94a-31181-34177638
Keywords: Head Start Inc, Billings , Family Advocate I, Other , Billings, Montana
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