Family Support Specialists

Children's Hope Alliance•Morganton, NC

6h•Onsite

About The Position

Catawba Valley Healthy Families (CVHF), a program of Children’s Hope Alliance, uses the evidence-based Healthy Families America model to provide in-home visitation services to families who are pregnant or parenting children from birth to age five and live in Burke, Caldwell, McDowell, Catawba, or Iredell counties. The program supports families over three to five years, helping reduce stress factors and strengthen protective factors. The Family Support Specialist initiates and maintains intensive, long-term home-visitation services, beginning during pregnancy or within three months of a child’s birth. Services are family-centered and strength-based, with an emphasis on building trust, respecting diverse family structures and parenting practices, and identifying family strengths and concerns. The specialist develops individualized plans, supports families in setting and achieving goals, and provides activities, education, and connections to resources to strengthen parent-child relationships, promote healthy child development, and enhance family well-being. The position serves families across the CVHF service area, with a primary focus on Iredell and Catawba counties. Travel elsewhere in the service area may be required. The role includes regular home visits of at least one hour, being available to families on call 24/7, completing assessments and screenings, maintaining family records, and participating in team meetings, supervision, trainings, and occasional community outreach. The work involves frequent driving and activity in family homes as well as office-based computer and documentation work.

Requirements

Minimum of a high school diploma or equivalent.
Knowledge of infant and child development.
Experience working with or providing services to children and families.
Ability to diffuse difficult situations or confrontations and establish trusting relationships.
Knowledge of the dynamics of child abuse and neglect.
Ability to work with individuals and professionals from varied disciplines and embrace family-centered, strength-based services.
Acceptance of individual differences and experience and humility in working with culturally diverse families.
Willingness to build reflective capacity, including introspection, awareness of oneself in relation to others, and recognition of the value of supervision.
Proficient computer skills for communication, participant-record documentation, and accessing and interpreting information.
Valid North Carolina driver’s license and ability to maintain insurance coverage.
Must submit to and pass pre-employment drug screening, criminal, HCPR, and driving checks.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in Child Development, Early Childhood, B-K, Human Services, Social Work, or a related child and family field.
At least one year of experience related to the program, or an equivalent combination of training and experience.
Bilingual abilities in Spanish and English.
Infant Mental Health Endorsement.

Responsibilities

Engage referred families and schedule, administer, document, and score the Family Resilience and Opportunities for Growth (FROG) initial assessment.
Initiate and maintain regular, long-term contact with assigned families through home visits lasting at least one hour.
Be on call 24/7 to families, primarily responding to calls and texts, with occasional in-person support between scheduled visits as needed.
Build trusting relationships while honoring diverse family structures and parenting practices.
Develop and regularly update individualized Family Service Plans addressing identified needs and strengths.
Help families set and achieve meaningful goals, including supporting parents in creating a goal plan within 45 days of enrollment and updating it every six months.
Support parents in developing problem-solving and coping skills and advocating effectively for their families.
Provide parent education using Partners for a Healthy Baby, Nurturing Program, Growing Great Kids, and supplemental curricula.
Strengthen parent-child interactions and promote healthy childhood growth and development through targeted activities, observation, and the parallel process.
Administer family screenings, including intimate partner violence, depression, and child development screenings (ASQ-3 / ASQ-SE), and make appropriate referrals.
Connect families with community agencies and maintain knowledge of local resources that may support family well-being.
Assist families with scheduling and attending prenatal and postnatal care, well-child checkups, immunizations, and other appropriate appointments.
Attend CVHF staff meetings, weekly individual supervision meetings, group parent trainings, occasional community outreach events, and other required meetings and trainings.
Attend training upon hire and throughout employment; some training may involve travel and overnight stays.
Document all family contact, required screenings, family data, referrals, and other required information in the Family Wise Database and/or family files.
Work with the supervisor to create and regularly update each family’s service plan.
Perform other duties as assigned by the supervisor.