Family Support Specialist

START EARLY•Beach Park, IL

1d•$51,825 - $62,000•Onsite

About The Position

Start Early Lake County provides high-quality care, best-in-class education, and a stimulating learning environment to children from birth to five years old in Lake County, Illinois. As a program that serves low-income families, Start Early’s research-based program helps children develop the literacy, language, early math, and social-emotional skills they need to succeed in kindergarten and beyond. We are recruiting individuals who want to join us in this mission and share a commitment to our core values of appreciation & respect, empowerment, diversity, excellence, learning, and communication. We are looking for a Family Support Specialist to join our team who is committed to creating meaningful experiences with the children and families of Start Early Lake County. The Family Support Specialist engages families of enrolled children in activities, practices, and services that support parents as the primary nurturers, experts, and teachers of their child in order to promote and sustain their child’s academic learning and development and life success.

Requirements

Bilingual Spanish Preferred (Must be able to read, write, and speak Spanish proficiently).
Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work, Human or Family Services, Counseling or related field.
Master’s Degree in Social Work preferred or within 18 months of hire, obtain a Gateways Family Services Credential or Social Work Credential.
Obtain 15 hours of continuing education annually.
Communicate effectively and work well with parents, staff, and various professional community groups.
Deep commitment in advancing diversity and inclusion into organizational routines and practices.
Optimally establish and maintain effective relationships with customers and gain their trust and respect.
Comfort and experience in handling risk and uncertainty to move work forward.

Responsibilities

Identify and develop community partnerships to help support family access to additional community resources in the following core areas: Activities/strategies that promote and enhance the parent-child relationship, Activities/strategies that engage parents in discussions about their child’s growth and development; Providing parents with information and opportunities to learn about concrete things they can do to promote their child’s learning. Activities/strategies that encourage parents’ involvement in the education of their child and in their child’s school both at Start Early Lake County and in the K-8 system. This includes helping parents recognize and expect “quality education”; know how to access quality elementary schools; and learn how to advocate for a quality education for their child; Activities and strategies that support parents in achieving family and community outcomes.
Develop and maintain meaningful, supportive and educational relationships with families to help promote self-sufficiency skills and positive outcomes for their children.
Collaborate with families to establish comprehensive Family Partnership Agreements.
Monitor progress toward family goal completion.
Recruit and enroll families into programs at Start Early Lake County.
Perform at least three forms of recruitment per month to increase interest in the program and to assist in building a waitlist or filling vacancies within 30 days.
Design, implement, and monitor family development initiatives; encourage parent involvement through regular family meetings and provide adult education opportunities throughout the program.
Conduct periodic home visits to assess the family's resources and needs.
Collaborate with the internal team to monitor, track, and coordinate services for children.