Partnership Family Advocate

The Centers•Cleveland, OH

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Family Advocate serves as a staff member at their assigned partner sites. This position performs a variety of direct service and administrative tasks. The Partnership Family Advocate facilitates Family and Community Partnerships, Program Governance, and ERSEA (Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment, and Attendance) activities. The family advocate serves as a link between families, other center staff, and service area personnel; develops positive relationships with caregivers; and provides high-quality, responsive services to promote the achievement and well-being of each family member directly involved in the life of children enrolled in the Early Learning Program. The Partnership Family Advocate is an active member of the Family Support Team. Frequent travel between partner sites will be required.

Requirements

BA/BS degree in Human Services related field.
Experience in social work field setting preferred.
Able to work occasional evening and weekend hours.
No record of child abuse or moral turpitude as determined by background check based on fingerprints.
Comfortable with the utilization of various technological platforms and data systems.
The ability to travel between sites independently.

Responsibilities

Follows Partnership sites' rules, regulations, and policies while working in the public-school environment, including procedures for entering and exiting the public-school environment.
Participates and represents the Centers at Partnership site meetings and school events.
Attends and participates in annual Partnership site parent orientation.
Conduct two Head Start home visits per school year to Partnership site families and students, and make additional visits to support children's needs, address attendance concerns, complete enrollment, and assist with family services and paperwork.
May be assigned to multiple Partnership school sites.
Establishes cooperative relationships with local businesses, agencies, and community organizations and completes and maintains up-to-date Community Partnership Agreements.
Conducts home visits as needed to address attendance concerns, completion of enrollment, family services, and other paperwork.
Support families in making a smooth transition into programs; connect them with appropriate Link families enrolled in the Early Learning program to internal and external community resources; provide or make referrals according to need.
Complete family pre-assessment within 90 days of enrollment and facilitate the Family Success Plan/ Family Partnership Agreement process.
Assist parents in setting goals and checking status according to required timelines.
Lead monthly family engagement events with staff, families, and partner agencies such as Starting Point and UPK and submit parent planning documentation monthly.
Recruits facilitate and document center volunteers and donations.
Educate volunteers on the value of their participation in the Early Learning Program.
Attends community meetings and events, creating linkages to community resources staff.
Assist them with obtaining and maintaining publicly funded childcare benefits and navigating the Electronic Childcare system.
Proactively recruit families to ensure funded enrollment goals are met at the site and throughout the agency; engage staff and parents for site-specific and organizational-wide efforts.
Collaborates with Early Learning staff to ensure the site is ODJFS and SUTQ compliant.
Attends agency-sponsored in-service training or seminars, training sessions, and meetings outside the agency as a method of gaining more experience and knowledge.
Collaborates with the Enrollment team to complete eligibility and enrollment documentation, which includes an eligibility checklist for each child/family file.
Maintains complete and accurate client files and case notes, records child health information, and ensures all required documents and signatures are obtained promptly.
Documents and tracks follow-up needs such as Family Partnership Goals, health, dental, nutrition, growth assessments, and hearing and vision concerns.
Track and report accurate attendance daily to ensure attendance can be analyzed and reported monthly.
Provide support to families to address attendance barriers for children with an average daily attendance rate below 85% and follow up on absences.
Complete family contacts and all data entry and documentation associated with the family in the data management system in a timely manner.
Collaborate with site staff to maintain center compliance and submit all documentation to the service areas as needed in a timely manner.
As a member of the site, collaborate with the site staff to ensure families and children are being served and safe.
Other duties as assigned.