Family Service Specialist

Child-Parent Centers, Inc. • Tucson, AZ

9d • $1,862 - $1,862 • Hybrid

About The Position

As a member of the Family and Community Partnerships (FCP) department, reporting to the Family Services Coordinator (FSC), the Family Services Specialist (FSS) is responsible for 6 family childcare providers and their compliance with local, state, and federal regulations such as licensing and ERSEA (eligibility, recruitment, selection, enrollment, and attendance), inclusive of the DES childcare subsidy system; safe environments; family engagement; and health and nutrition services. The FSS models reflective practice principles and coaches assigned family childcare providers (contracted partners) to support growth and development in health and safety, family engagement, other key areas to assure the delivery of high-quality comprehensive services to meet regulatory and contract requirements. Fosters partnerships with families by using relationship-based strategies and communication by respecting and encouraging the decision-making role of families and engaging them in goal setting and discussions about their concerns. Advocates for families and connects them to community resources, facilitates family participation in Policy Council, and organizes parent meetings.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree from a recognized educational institution with major in Social and Community Services, Human Services, Family Studies, Early Childhood, Health or agreed equivalent that supports design and implementation of high-quality services.
• Three to five (3-5) years’ experience in a position with similar responsibilities
• Submit a current AZ Department of Public Safety Level One Fingerprint Clearance Card prior to start date.
• Demonstrated proficiency using Office 365 (Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Bilingual (read, write, and speak) English and Spanish
• Able to pass a company paid physical exam prior to starting work.
• Able to pass a DES Centralized Background Check prior to starting work.
• Excellent driving record
• Must be able to travel to and from various sites as needed.
• Must be able to work late evenings and weekends.
• Must be able to travel outside assigned area in company-owned vehicle. This travel could begin before daylight hours and continue after sundown in some situations.
• Provide proof of immunizations: MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella), Tdap (adult Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis), and a clear Tuberculosis Self-Assessment.
• Ability to maintain a valid level fingerprint clearance card and annual DES Centralized Background Check.
• Must be able to prove the right to work in the USA by providing appropriate documents to complete the Federal I-9 form.

Nice To Haves

• Possess a master’s degree from a recognized educational institution in Social and Community Services, Human Services, Family Studies, Early Childhood, Health or agreed equivalent that supports design and implementation of high-quality services.
• Minimum of three (3) years’ experience in Family Child Care or with a licensing regulatory body, such as DES or DHS.

Responsibilities

• Recruit eligible children and families and assist potential enrollees in completing enrollment process and obtaining needed services.
• Initiate, participate, and collaborate with Family Child Care (FCC) providers in the completion and maintenance of enrollment records and waiting list of eligible children to ensure the program meets funded enrollment goals.
• Coordinate an application interview with interested families to apply for EHSCCP, support family in gathering required documents and preparation for enrollment into the program.
• Monitor attendance and partner with FCC providers to support families with regular attendance.
• Manage caseload of children to ensure the delivery of health services: medical, dental, nutrition, and sensory screenings to meet agency health goals within established timeframes.
• Perform sensory screening (hearing, vision); growth assessments (height and weight); blood lead; and anemia for children.
• Schedule home visits to perform sensory screenings for children that cannot complete them at FCC home.
• Work with families to eliminate barriers to health services.
• Coach families to advocate for effective healthcare services.
• Provide a monthly Health Notice indicating pending health status.
• As necessary, provide families with community resources to apply for a medical/dental home.
• Participate in the development of Health Accommodations Plans.
• Provide nutrition and health education to parents.
• Offer parent nutrition counseling or referrals to primary care physician/WIC for support.
• Refer to agency Registered Dietitian.
• Promote active parent involvement by planning, implementing and evaluating activities, such as parent meetings, workshops, and family home visits.
• Complete the Family Partnership Agreement to discuss with families their needs and goals.
• Assure families receive appropriate referrals.
• Document and monitor referrals for completion of delivery of services.
• Connect with community organizations to support families’ goals and needs.
• Coordinate a transition meeting for typically developing children involving parents, providers, the Education Services Specialist, and staff from other agencies, or Head Start centers including those from potential transition settings, will begin discussion of needs and options.
• Conduct FCC provider visits, a minimum of twice a month and include unannounced visits throughout the year.
• Partner with the FCC provider to identify goals and action plans.
• Coach FCC Provider to achieve and sustain long-term goals.
• Maintain communication and collaboration with FCCP, families and education specialists for children’s well-being and development.
• Ensure accurate documentation is submitted by FCCPs to the fiscal department in a timely manner.
• Identify self-growth, development goals, and strategies for achievement with support and input from supervisor.
• Commit and participate in consistent and planned meetings with supervisor to further professional growth by seeking feedback, reflecting on and assessing own practice, and taking advantage of opportunities to improve skills and knowledge.
• Enter, monitor, and maintain information in the ChildPlus.net database in a timely manner with a high level of accuracy.
• Monitor data on a monthly basis from ChildPlus.net, CPC’s Center Profile, and various reports generated by regulatory agencies to ensure compliance with standards.
• Use data to inform decision-making.
• Collaborate with Family Services Coordinator to monitor status, completion and compliance of: ERSEA: funded enrollment, attendance, DES enrollment, and other key areas
• Health and Nutrition Services: completion of 45- and 90-day timeframes, health status of each child, medical and dental home status, accommodation plans, and other areas
• Family Engagement: FPA completion, status of family goals, services received, referral status and completion, and other key areas.
• Safety: monthly baseline safety checks, action plans, follow-up and completion of pending items to ensure compliance with Head Start Performance Standards and other regulatory bodies for safety, and other key areas
• Participate on the EHSCCP team and contribute to the decision-making process for policies and procedures, planning, strategic initiatives, professional development, budget, governance, and agency self-assessment related to EHSCCP family services.
• Implement and monitor key management decisions in the areas of EHSCCP family services.
• Participate on the Comprehensive Services Unit team and contribute to the Cross-Department Collaboration team in support of integrated policies, procedures and services.
• Provide support and coverage for additional caseloads due to staffing shortages.
• Maintain family and or social service expertise including best practices, local, state, and federal initiatives through active membership in professional organizations and establishment of good working relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Link current research, resources, and program data to practice by discussing program quality issues and ways to advance practice.
• Meet regularly with the Family and Community Partnership Department to share information, collaborate, and promote a team environment.
• Collaborate with Program Services, Health and Nutrition, Site Supervisor, and other key positions to discuss services issues, identify, and resolve issues, and to discuss best practices in each respective area and align EHSCCP systems with existing HS/EHS grant systems.
• Partner with the EHSCCP Education Services Specialist to support and guide assigned FCC providers in the delivery of services to children. (approximately 30 children on caseload through 7 FCC providers)
• Facilitate the family’s participation in CPC opportunities (Policy Council), meet with families to develop and facilitate family and child goals through the FPA, organize parent meetings, and complete safety inspections.
• Create Partner-Site Program Improvement Plans based on observations during monthly visits.
• Monitor and track progress.
• Coach FCC providers to change practice and sustain long-term.
• Support identification of minimum standards for materials and resources for classroom and outdoor environments that are safe, well equipped, aesthetically pleasing, and reflective of the culture and practices of the children and families served.
• Advocate for resources to improve program quality by offering suggestions and providing information about needed resources during the program planning and feedback for budget development process related to education services.
• Participate in Policy Council and Advisory Group activities as assigned.
• Understand and model the agency's vision, mission, and philosophy within the agency and the community.
• Demonstrate approachability, ownership, accountability, and life-long learning.
• Use the agency's communication and problem-solving approach.
• Seek the perspective of others.
• Identify emerging issues and contribute new knowledge.
• Work to de-escalate when emotions and stakes are high.
• Maintain professional behavior and relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Use agency systems and technologies to accomplish work.
• Maintain a high level of attendance to support ongoing service delivery.
• Recognizes children's safety as the first responsibility of all staff and acts swiftly to ensure no child is unsupervised.
• Implement agency policies and procedures for safeguarding confidential or sensitive information about employees and/or program participants.
• Restrict access to paper or electronic documents to those with a need to know.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Paid Leave - 26 paid holidays, 5 days paid vacation after one year and up to 20 days each year thereafter, 8 days paid Personal leave first year, 9 days each year thereafter, up to 5 days paid Sick leave per year.
• Insurance benefits - Dental, Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Reimbursement Arrangements, Health Savings Accounts, PPO medical (3 plans), Vision, and Supplemental Life coverage for self, spouse, and child ($25,000 basic life and Accidental Death and Disability provided by employer).
• Supplemental coverages (Critical Illness, Hospital Indemnity, and Accident Insurance), and pet insurance.
• Retirement Plan - Agency contribution after years of services and hours of eligibility criteria are met.
• Employee 401k deferral once eligibility is met.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level