Family & Community Services Director

Early Learning Essentials•Springville, UT

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Responsible for providing leadership and direction agency-wide to ensure the delivery of comprehensive family and community services to enrolled children and their families. Ensures delivery of services in accordance with the Head Start Program Performance Standards, the 2007 Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act, the Parent, Family and Community Engagement Framework and supports the agency's school readiness plan. Develops, coordinates, implements, monitors, and evaluates all aspects of the ERSEA and Family & Community Services area. This includes directing how the program determines eligibility, enrolls children, and tracks attendance. Develops and implements a selection criteria, and carries out recruitment and enrollment efforts; maximizing community awareness of services, building community partnerships, promoting parent and male engagement activities, providing Parent Committee and Policy Council support, overseeing the publication of a monthly parent newsletter, as well as other communication with parents. Designs family services in a way most likely to achieve the outcomes articulated in the PFCE Framework. Ensures families receive required home visits, engage in a family partnership process, and are made aware of community resources and are encouraged to utilize them to meet their human service and health needs in order to move families toward PFCE outcomes. Functionally supervises the Family and Community Services Coordinator, Parent Engagement and Transitions Coordinator, ERSEA Coordinator, and service area Administrative Assistant.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Social Services, Psychology, Family Studies, Human Services or a related field, as determined by the agency, from an accredited college or university is required.
A minimum of five years' work experience in non-profit agency operations management and supervision, or an equivalent combination of experience and education.
Demonstrated ability to organize, direct and coordinate operations in personnel supervision, communications, and budget management.
Ability to speak Spanish is required.
Strong communication skills, both verbal and written.
Demonstrated ability to minimize defensiveness and reach mutual agreement and/or understanding when addressing parent concerns when they arise.
Ability to manage multiple tasks and to develop solutions to problems with limited supervision.
Ability to use a computer to collect, record, retrieve data and prepare reports.
Plan, organize, coordinate, and administer activities.
Ability to plan, formulate and execute record keeping procedures in accordance with assigned duties.
Ability to prioritize and manage workload and strict deadlines.
Polished analytical skills having the ability to draw conclusions based on data and the ability to use data and sound judgment to drive decision-making.
Knowledge of community resources and how to access services for children and families.
Well versed in family dynamics.
Ability to work independently and as part of a team to establish and maintain effective working relationships with staff, direct reports, Board members, community groups, and other related agencies and people.

Nice To Haves

A Master's degree and/or CSW are preferred.

Responsibilities

Ensures Head Start Program Performance Standards and indicators outlined in the 2007 Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act in areas of oversight are being met on an ongoing basis and supports the agency's school readiness plan.
Develops and updates the service area policies, procedures, and training plans and monitors ongoing compliance and implementation of Family Services policies and procedures.
Collaborates with the Leadership team to write grants for program services.
Annually participates in the creation of the program Self-Assessment and annual report.
Uses Community Assessment and Self-Assessment data to identify community strengths and needs related to family services.
Participates in the development of program goals, outcomes, and intended impacts, and creates family service objectives and activities to support their achievement.
Helps in the preparation of the Head Start grant and other grants as requested by the Executive Director.
Directs the implementation of the Parent, Family and Community Engagement Framework agency wide.
Works with the Parent Engagement and Transitions Coordinator to articulate program-wide that parent engagement is a shared responsibility with all those who support children's learning and directs the agency's focus on positive family engagement outcomes and tracks agency's progress to that end.
Works collaboratively with the Education and Child Development Director and Health and Nutrition Services Director to develop strategies and direct the work of engaging parents and families in their children's development, learning and health and nutritional needs.
Directs the process by which Family Advocates form goal-oriented, positive, culturally responsive and respectful relationships with families.
Participates in the development of an annual budget for the services and programs in which the Family & Community Services Director is primarily responsible and manages service area budgetary expenditures.
Assures procurement activities are consistent with fiscal policies and procedures.
Collaborates with the Finance Director to assure service area expenses are reasonable, necessary, allowable and allocable.
Assures service area Coordinators are monitoring expenses of Family Advocates related to family activities and Parent Committees and that expenses are reasonable, necessary, allowable and allocable.
Collaborates with HR to ensure that staffing needs are being met by determining needs, interviewing and training new FS staff.
Ensures Family Service staff are receiving ongoing training, coaching and professional development.
Collaborates with FS Coordinators to develop an annual training plan which meets all training requirements of the HSPPS and ensures FS staff have the skills and knowledge necessary to be successful in their positions.
Provides annual pre-service trainings for FS team and entire agency.
Provides monthly in-service trainings for FS team and overseas monthly community partner trainings.
Ensures that appropriate documentation is maintained of all FS trainings.
Oversees the annual Individual Professional Development Plan creation for all FS staff and ensures regular follow-up is occurring.
Provides ongoing supervision and coaching for FS coordinators and FS Administrative Assistant.
Supports service area coordinators in their supervisory responsibilities with Family Advocates.
Assures file reviews and/or electronic data records and other ongoing monitoring of direct services is conducted and documented.
Directs and oversees the recruitment/enrollment process to ensure the timely enrollment of eligible children.
With ERSEA Coordinator: Ensures the enrollment selection criteria is approved by the Policy Council and Board of Directors and is in-line with Head Start Performance Standards and fully supported by community assessment data.
Ensures that the income verification process meets Head Start Performance Standards.
Ensures that all staff members verifying income receive required training and pass reliability testing prior to taking or reviewing eligibility.
Ensures that ERSEA training is provided to all other parties required by HSPPS.
Certifies that only children meeting eligibility and enrollment criteria are enrolled.
Collaborates with the Disabilities and Mental Health Director, Manager and Coordinators to participate in the child-find process and ensure at least 10% of cumulative enrollment slots are designated for children with disabilities.
Collaborates on actions to support children with extreme behavioral concerns.
Works collaboratively with the Education & Child Development Director, Disabilities and Mental Health Director and Coordinators to assign children into classes and establish initial class lists.
Oversees ongoing enrollment to fill slots that become vacant within 30 days.
Works with the Health and Nutrition Services Director and Coordinator for health and nutrition needs of children as it pertains to enrollment and short-term exclusions.
Ensures that program is at 100 % funded enrollment throughout the program year.
Prepares monthly enrollment and attendance status reports for Board and Policy Council and enters end of month enrollment data on the Head Start enterprise system or delegates report to ERSEA Coordinator.
Supports service area coordinators and Family Advocates in their work monitoring child absences to ensure overall classroom attendance does not fall below 85% in each month, and that children whose cumulative attendance falls below 90% are supported in improving attendance.
Ensures reasons for absences are investigated and recorded in Child Plus.
Directs the process by which Family Advocates form Family Partnership Agreements with each family.
Maintains comprehensive, accurate, and confidential records of all enrolled children and families and ensures all efforts to assist the family are entered in Child Plus.
Develops data collection methodologies to measure family outcomes.
Supports Family Advocates in their efforts to provide professional case management and prevention services to assist each Head Start family in becoming self-sufficient and having the resources to meet their human service and health needs.
With the Family and Community Services Coordinator ensures Family Advocates: Assess individual families' strengths and needs. Conduct required orientations and home visits to assigned Head Start families. Provide and document the appropriate follow-up of assessed needs. Discuss and support parents in the goal setting process and track status of those goals.
Oversees and monitors bi-monthly Parent Committee meetings and activities and monthly Parent Committee Officer Planning meetings.
Maintains complete written reports of Committee activities.
Works with the Parent Engagement and Transitions Coordinator to: Assure Parent Committees are formed early in the year and are constituted as required by regulations. Assure that Parent Committees elect Parent Committee Officers, with special attention to filling Policy Council (PC) representatives and alternates at each site. Provide annual orientation training to Parent Committee Officers. Assure Family Advocates attempt to replace PC representatives and alternates in a timely fashion when a vacancy occurs and that they are providing support to parents to meet their responsibilities as PC members. Assure parent committee planning meetings are properly documented for parent volunteer in-kind hours on a monthly basis. Ensures that Parent Committee budgets are utilized in accordance with program and federal fiscal policies and procedures.
Work with the Parent Engagement and Transitions Coordinator to promote parent and male engagement in the Head Start program according to Head Start Performance Standards.
Supports service area Coordinators and Family Advocates with the planning, preparation and participation of Head Start family activities.
Strategizes innovative ways in which parents are encouraged to volunteer in the program and to participate in Head Start activities.
Assures Family Advocates are providing support for documenting parent volunteer time including time at home or the classroom.
Oversees and directs the provision of the elected parenting curriculum in collaboration with the Disabilities and Mental Health team.
Reviews monthly parent newsletters prepared by the Parent Engagement and Transitions coordinator and ensures that program information is communicated to parents in their primary language whenever possible.
Works collaboratively with the Education and Child Development Director to develop and implement a systematic procedure for transferring, with parental consent, Head Start program records for each participating child to the parent or the school in which such child will enroll.
Supports the work of Family Advocates and Teachers in their collaborative efforts to help parents (including grandparents and kinship caregivers, as appropriate) to understand the importance of parental engagement in a child's academic success while teaching them strategies for maintaining parental engagement as their child moves from Head Start to elementary school.
Assures transition activities are developed by the Parent Engagement and Transitions Coordinator to facilitate parent engagement in transitions.
Prepares a monthly system report for the Comprehensive Services Deputy Director and the Executive Director and presents enrollment and attendance statistical information to the Board of Directors and the Policy Council.
Conducts a yearly self-assessment of the service area and collects PIR information.
Develops plans of action.
With the leadership team, analyzes the community assessment to formulate service area and agency goals, and together, decide what program options would best meet the needs of the community.
Coordinates the creation of the Family Services section of the Annual Parent Survey and reviews it to ensure the information gathered will give data for the area self-assessment.
Coordinates to have the survey distributed to parents at the last home visit and Parent Teacher conference.
Develops Family Outcomes report to include in Self-Assessment and annual report to the public.
Gathers and analyzes PIR information relative to family services.
Supports the Parent Engagement and Transitions Coordinator's efforts in assessing and enhancing PFCE practices in the program utilizing the Markers of Progress as a resource, with the goal that activities be carried out throughout the entire organization.
Participates in community activities to maintain good public relations for ELE/Mountainland Head Start, Inc. programs, services and activities.
Oversees the development and maintenance of service area specific Memorandum of Understanding to increase families' access to community services.
Approves content for the areas of the website for which Family Services have primary responsibility and assures it is up to date.
Directs the agency's suspected child neglect and/or abuse training and reporting system and conducts all reporting to DCFS and/or proper authorities.
Works collaboratively with HR to ensure that all staff members receive this training upon hire and on an annual basis.
Works collaboratively with the Comprehensive Services Deputy Director, the Executive Director and other service area Directors to resolve elevated parent concerns following ELE's communication approach.
Works collaboratively with the Comprehensive Services Deputy Director, the Executive Director and other service area Directors as a leadership team to ensure all service areas are working together to provide seamless comprehensive services and staying true to the agency's mission and vision.
Supports the achievement of in-kind goals by actively participating in the solicitation of in-kind services and donations to the Head Start program including, but not limited to, encouraging community members and organizational contacts to volunteer, provide donations of professional services, supplies, and anything else needed to support the Head Start program.
Expected to provide temporary assistance in the classrooms to meet minimum child to staff ratios, or to ensure the safety of children, in the absence of enough Education and Child Development Service Area staff. Staff from any service area working or present at a center when the need arises will be called upon first, with Administrative Office staff being utilized if insufficient staff is present on site.
Expected to assist the agency in maintaining safe and healthy environments for children and staff by immediately reporting health and safety risks/concerns or potential concerns to a leadership staff member and/or via our internal work order system and follow up with appropriate staff in a timely or appropriate manner.
Other job-related duties as assigned may be necessary to carry out the responsibilities of this position.