Early Childhood Specialist (Liberty County)

COLLABORATIVE FOR CHILDREN • Houston, TX

13d • Hybrid

About The Position

Collaborative for Children is seeking an Early Childhood Specialist to champion young futures in Liberty County. This hybrid role focuses on building a caseload of eligible families in Liberty County, serving as their primary connector to local resources and partnerships. The specialist will provide parental coaching to improve school-readiness outcomes for children aged birth to five years. This involves assisting parents in their homes, community venues, and child care centers to enhance their understanding of child development and improve parenting practices. The goal is to ensure young children enter kindergarten curious, confident, and ready to learn, contributing to a stronger future labor force.

Requirements

• At least an Associate’s degree in early childhood education or related discipline is required.
• At least 3 years of related early childhood service experience.
• Experience with home visitation.
• Experience with Parents As Teachers (PAT) curriculum is highly beneficial.
• Knowledge and experience working with families navigating the Child Protective Services system is valuable.
• Candidates with English/Spanish fluency would be wonderful, but not required.
• Minimum: Associates degree with at least three years of related early childhood service experience, OR Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or related discipline from an accredited college or university.
• Working knowledge of child development and early childhood education evaluation and instruction.
• Demonstrated knowledge of establishing relationships and maintaining rapport with vulnerable families and their young children.
• Knowledge and experience working with families navigating the Child Protective Services system.
• Prior experience in adult learning and early childhood education theories.
• Ability to use internet for research.
• High level of professionalism and communication skills.
• Possess the ability to utilize time management strategies effectively, inclusive of attention to detail and the ability to prioritize tasks.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and competing deadlines with attention to detail.
• Computer skills with intermediate proficiency related to Microsoft Office software (i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Experience with email/communications/scheduling software (i.e. Outlook).
• Experience with digital platforms (i.e. TEAMS, ZOOM, etc.) desired.
• Must be able to work a 40-hour, Monday – Friday schedule.
• Schedule flexibility to accommodate occasional weekday evening hours.
• Must have reliable, personal transportation because this position requires driving to different locations in the Liberty County area and to greater Houston area for Collab related meetings.
• A valid Texas Driver’s License, and current vehicle insurance coverage.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with Parents As Teachers (PAT) curriculum is highly beneficial.
• Knowledge and experience working with families navigating the Child Protective Services system is also valuable.
• Candidates with English/Spanish fluency would be wonderful, but not required.
• Bilingual conversational fluency is desired because many of the families on the caseload will be non-English speakers.
• Experience with digital platforms (i.e. TEAMS, ZOOM, etc.) desired.
• Demonstrated use of generative AI tools very beneficial (i.e. Copilot, ChatGPT).
• Bilingual fluency in English/Spanish (oral and written).

Responsibilities

• Provide Core Curricula + Professional Resources + Goal setting home visitation services
• Utilize evidence-based curricula like Parents as Teachers (PAT), Conscious Discipline, and Footsteps2Brilliance to partner, facilitate, reflect, and coach participating families to strengthen their children's preparedness for school and prevent child abuse and neglect.
• Collaborate with CC teams to deliver supplemental curriculum activities and facilitate parent and child learning opportunities that support school readiness outcomes for children.
• Oversee, monitor, and evaluate the implementation of research-based curricula and frameworks to successfully meet children’s school-readiness outcomes and family support goals.
• Collaborate with each parent to establish goals to enable economic stability with an overall wellness mindset.
• Plan and present the Center of Excellence (COE) program at parent meetings, with social service organizations, and at other selected community and family-oriented events/spaces to recruit families with children from birth to five years.
• Use measured data to foster continuous improvement implementation plans to increase program effectiveness and support child outcomes.
• Serve as an expert on 21st-century STEAM learning and school readiness for community awareness, parental support extensions, and childcare center committees.
• Support Early Learning Programs and families with facilitation of services related to inclusive environments for all learners.
• Monitor and reduce stressors in family homes through home visitation.
• Provide high quality, effective family engagement services to families.
• Incorporate Collab core values into all support services for families.
• Ensure families experience a nurturing learning environment where their children can achieve school-readiness and 21st-century learning skills (e.g., virtual and in-person learning parties, group connections, and home visits).
• Provide group-based parenting education classes within COEs and the community for parents (prenatal to 5 years of age children).
• Prepare and customize each Center event according to the collective, consistent, and evident needs of the families.
• Prepare and participate in community fairs, parent fairs, conferences, and visibility events.
• Participate in Collab sponsored events, inclusive of weekend and evening partnership events (advance notice for scheduling is provided).
• Coordinate community program resources offering services to address needs of parents and their children.
• Assist with planning, preparation, and execution of group connection and learning party meetings.
• Work with various departments within the programs teams to develop and implement programming quality improvements and other initiatives within the home visitation program that drive positive outcomes for children.
• Strengthen community capacity and connectedness.
• Utilize the web-based tracking system(s) to record all relevant and required family documentation within specified timeframes and deadlines.
• Capture family-related information and referrals in the centralized data tracking system.
• Review, analyze, and measure day-to-day service delivery exchanges with enrolled families.
• Interface with technology to document work, analyze data, and support progress-monitoring systems for Early Learning Programs.
• Administer and complete all relevant assessments and evaluations within prescribed Collaborative for Children requirements.
• Provide useful referrals to community resources and other social services based on needs revealed in data.
• Collaborate with marketing to submit stories, anecdotal quotes, pictures, and comments resulting from rendered services.

Benefits

• Mileage reimbursement eligible.
• HDHP medical option that includes $1400/year employer-paid contribution to a Health Savings Account (HSA), prorated based on hire date.
• Lower deductible PPO medical option.
• Other insurance options: Dental, Vision, Voluntary Life/AD&D, Accident, and Critical Illness, AFLAC Cancer and Life policies.
• Employer-paid STD, LTD, Basic Life/AD&D insurance.
• 1:1 employer matching contribution up to 6% for retirement plan.
• Generous paid leave time: (Personal Time, Vacation and holidays).
• Section 125 Flexible Spending Account (FSA): Dependent Care expenses.
• Professional Development: Collaborative values high levels of performance and service over time. We invest in developing our people and nurturing their career trajectory success through coaching and ongoing skills and leadership development.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: Associate degree