Family Advocate

The Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization•Maywood Park, OR

1h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO) is a non-profit organization established in 1976 to serve immigrants, refugees, and the broader community in Portland, Oregon. Our mission is to welcome, serve and empower refugees, immigrants and people across cultures and generations to reach their full potential. The Parent-Child Interaction (PCI) Program is a home visiting program focused on early childhood relational health – partnering with families to help the children thrive. Parent-Child Interaction Program is a free, voluntary home-visiting service to support families with young children. It promotes healthy child development, strengthens parent Child interaction and family bonds. PCI Program provides home visits twice a month, 12 monthly group meetings and 6 field trips during the year. Family Advocate brings child development information and activities to do with the parent and child at each home visit using Parent as Teachers (PAT) Curriculum. PCI Program will help children to become ready for kindergarten and will help to enroll them into kindergarten. PCI Program accomplishes these goals through combination of home visits, parent-child groups, developmental screenings, and referrals provided by committed and professional staff. The Family Advocate (FA) provides parent education and developmental screenings to families with children birth to 5 years old. A Family Advocate (FA) will come to the family’s home to provide home visits twice a month. During a home visit, the FA will share child development information and activities for promoting positive parent-child interaction using Parent as Teachers (PAT) curriculum. The Family Advocate develops and delivers community-aware approach parenting education activities to meet the different needs of enrolled families through community-aware approach in-person home visits and/or virtual visits, applies developmental screenings to children, connects families with services and resources in the community, according to their needs and goals. The Family Advocate works in a multi-background environment to provide services that meet IRCO’s goals and objectives.

Requirements

Must pass a Background Check.
Bilingual in English and Ukrainian.
Reliable transportation.
Must possess a valid driver’s license, have verification of current auto insurance, and have full use of an automobile during work hours.
High School Diploma/GED required
Experiences in early childhood services, parenting education and assessment, infant and child development, nutrition, preventive health care and/or home visiting services.
Professional level experience providing outreach, information, referrals, and follow-up to clients
Experience working with young children and their families.
Must be familiar with service providers involved with parenting education, social services, health care, emergency services, and childcare.
Must be able to work in a multi-lingual work environment.

Nice To Haves

associate degree in social work or Early Childhood Education preferred
Knowledge of child development
Ability to build trust with families
Strong computer skills including proficiency in the Microsoft outlook, words and apricot database
Strong communication skills in a multilingual organization
Strong ability to work with multi-lingual staff in a team setting
Ability to utilize and keep track of assigned budget
Ability and willingness to learn new skills
Ability to use initiative and judgment in completing tasks and responsibilities
Ability to courteously meet and deal effectively with other employees, agency representatives, the public, families and others
Ability to function in a positive manner in a demanding work environment, to demonstrate a high degree of flexibility, to respond to priorities and schedules that change frequently, and to meet commitments

Responsibilities

Outreach and enroll families within Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington counties into PCI Program
Establish and maintain trusting relationships with families through regular home visits
Prepare and provide community aware approach home visits, Share parenting and child development information during one-on-one home visit
Prepare and bring age-appropriate activities during home visits
Provide parenting education, guidance, and support to promote positive parent-child interaction, using PAT curriculum and other approved curriculum and wraparound training and resources to support families
Partner with parents to promote kindergarten readiness
Teach parents life skills that promotes problem-solving, self-sufficiency, self-regulation, and advocate for the family
Guide and support parents to create their Family Goal Plan once a year
Engage families to actively participate in the program and conduct 2 home visits per month, per family
Plan and organize monthly group meeting or field trip
Complete developmental screenings Ages and Stages Questionnaires, third edition (ASQ-3) and Ages & Stages Questionnaires - Social-Emotional second edition (ASQ SE) and coordinate referrals for early intervention as necessary
Maintain accurate and timely documentation of home visits, screens, assessments and referrals
Provide monthly reports to supervisor at the end of each month
Participate in Early Learning Service/IRCO all staff meetings, monthly team meeting, one-on-one reflective supervision, training, committees, and volunteer activities to support IRCO’s goals and objectives
Provide referrals to community services and resources such health and dental clinics, family planning, low-income housing, nutrition services, rental and energy assistance, head start and childcare as needed
Provide interpretation services to parents and assist them with better access to mainstream service providers such as hospitals, clinics, WIC and social service programs
Translate training materials and brochures/flyers as necessary
Follow-up on referral made such as counseling, housing, etc. and support as needed for clients and their families

Benefits

Many flexible working arrangements and schedule
Amazing opportunity to work with people who come from all over the world
Work that helps your community
3 to 6 weeks of PTO per year
401k match of over 100% on first 5%, immediate vesting
3% match for student loans or college savings
12 Paid Holidays and 1 Floating Holiday
Medical & Dental insurance options with 90% coverage for employee AND Families, no deductibles
Employer Paid Life, Short term, and Long-term Disability Insurance
Flexible spending accounts