Developmental Specialist - bilingual preferred

Alta Mira NM•Albuquerque, NM

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

Alta Mira is a non-profit organization that has been supporting individuals with developmental or intellectual delays or disabilities, and their families, since 1985. We provide services to all age groups. We support over 800 children annually through our Early Intervention Program and 1500 adults in our Family Support Services. We employ over 60 employees and 250 independent contractors. We are an excellent employer with a high level of schedule flexibility and very rich benefits. We are one of New Mexico’s Top Workplaces in the category of work/life balance. This is a full-time, 40-hour-per-week position.

Requirements

Bilingual in Spanish and English preferred.
Able to provide reliable transportation for home visits.
Able to work as a trans-disciplinary team member.
2 years’ experience required.
More than 2 years previous Early Intervention experience.
New Mexico certification as a Developmental Specialist 2, bachelor’s degree required.
New Mexico certification as a Developmental Specialist 3, master’s degree required.
Current New Mexico driver's license, or ability to arrange transportation to meet agency needs assigned.

Nice To Haves

Bilingual in Spanish and English preferred.

Responsibilities

Participate as a team member in initial and on-going developmental assessment activities with infants and toddlers in the areas of communication, play, cognition, fine and gross motor skills, adaptive behavior, and social/emotional skills.
Administer, score and interpret formal testing instruments as appropriate. Testing procedures are carried out accurately and reliably, and in a manner that is culturally, linguistically, and developmentally appropriate.
Integrate informal assessment, behavioral observation, developmental history and information regarding everyday routines and activities with formal testing information to reflect a holistic view of the child and his/her needs in the written evaluation report.
Review written evaluation report and give feedback to the SC regarding assessment information, grammar, spelling, and overall content of the report.
Support SC in completing ECO summary forms at the initial IFSP and subsequent IFSP meetings.
Carries out assessment procedures in a sensitive manner regarding the family’s everyday routines and activities.
Participate in eligibility determination.
Collaborate with families and other staff during team assessments.
Participate in planning an appropriate Early Intervention program for each child and family through the IFSP process (including the initial IFSP and subsequent reviews).
Actively participate with team members and parents in IFSP development (initial and annual) and reviews.
Partner with the family and other team members to develop individualized strategies which incorporate the family’s everyday routines and activities.
Partner with the family and other team members to determine the best support and services needed in order to help the family achieve their outcomes.
Build relationships with children and family which support a working partnership to accomplish the IFSP goals.
Assure Special Instruction services start within 30 days of the IFSP meeting. If services do not start within 30 days, documents reason.
Assure that Special Instruction services are delivered according to the IFSP. If there are missed visits or gaps in services, the reason must be documented.
Utilize appropriate listening, observation, and interviewing skills to identify the family’s/caregiver’s perceptions of their child’s abilities, strengths and needs.
Support the family as the primary decision-maker and promote their acquisition of knowledge, skills, and confidence in identifying and carrying out outcomes for their child.
Build on family strengths to design, coordinate, implement, and evaluate interventions that are individualized, naturalistic, and family centered.
Respond to family’s need for changes in their program (i.e. placement changes, attendance, transportation, and other service delivery issues.)
Share accurate information on developmental skills of the infant/child based on observations, developmental screening tools, and/or discussion with parent/caregiver.
Demonstrate awareness of the impact of disability on development; has the ability to identify resources and may assist parent in gaining more complete information on a variety of subjects that include etiology, characteristics, and classifications of common disabilities in infants and toddlers.
Model for family/caregiver strategies to support learning, including encouragement to access community resources and support.
Assist parent/caregiver in anticipating next steps in development.
Provides appropriate community resources and information when requested by parents.
Demonstrate the ability to help parents identify how to use appropriate toys and other materials that are available to them within their home and community activities.
Observe, reinforce, nurture the caregiver-infant toddler relationship to: Help parents understand their role in the social and emotional development of infants and toddlers. Help parents understand what they can do to promote health, language and cognitive development in infancy and early childhood. Help parents find pleasure in caring for their infants/young children.
Support and facilitate family and child interactions as primary contexts for learning and development.
Ensure that all intervention is consistent and embedded within the family’s everyday activities including community experiences.
Collaborate and consult with other team members to promote optimal child and family development and needed family services without duplication, gaps or delays.
Attend and actively participate in team and staff meetings.
Support the belief that a child’s development is too complex to be addressed by a single discipline and actively refer to and consult with others to understand, welcome, and coordinate the team’s approach to each child and family.
Monitor progress through observation and consultations with team members.
Work with the team and family to ensure that IFSP support and services are appropriate for the child and advocate for changes needed to meet the unique needs of the child and family.
Follow program procedures regarding documentation, billing, data, and timelines.
Provide support and/or consultation to community providers.
Serve as a consultant and resource to community settings regarding child development and strategies for inclusion.
Maintain family priorities when early intervention is provided in other settings.
Promote and articulate the role and knowledge base of the developmental specialist to service providers while supporting and offering strategies for inclusion of all young children and their families in community activities and supports.
Complete an Individual Contact Log for each planned visit according to the IFSP.
Complete Individual Logs according EI procedures.
Turn in Individual Contact Logs weekly.
Turn in all Individual Contact Logs by the end of the month.
Record telephone calls and other important events (not home visits) on Service Coordination Logs.
Turn in Service Coordination Logs by the last day of the month.
Adhere to all other established guidelines for billing and documentation .
Follow program procedures regarding documentation, billing, data, and timelines.
Utilize and return in good condition, agency / program equipment, as needed.
Perform other duties as required or assigned

Benefits

Paid Time Off – from 150 to 304 hours a year
Paid Sick Leave - 1 hour for every 30 hours worked
Paid Holidays – 5 holidays per year
Winter Break – agency is closed from December 24th through New Year’s Day (paid)
Educational Leave – 40 hours after 6 months of employment
Bereavement Leave – up to 24 hours
Medical – 3 plans to choose from through BCBS, ranging in premiums from $0 to $159.21.
Dental - free
Vision – vision through VSP at $2.05
SIMPLE IRA – Matched $1 for $1 by the agency for the first 3% of employees' annual pay
Group life and Long-Term Disability – agency pays for 25K
Individual life and Short-Term Disability – available, paid by employee
Mileage reimbursement - $0.725 per mile, if required to drive during work hours for work purposes
Discount Program
Employees can enroll their student loans in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness through the Federal government.