Family Advocate

Position Summary:

The Family Advocate III is responsible for ensuring positive family and child outcomes through strong family partnerships and community engagement. Family Advocates connect their work to a child and a family getting ready to be successful in Kindergarten and in life. They support the center in meeting and exceeding Head Start Program Performance Standards and other relevant regulatory requirements, maintaining detailed records across relevant areas. This position reports directly to the Program Director and is supported by the Central Leadership Team.

Essential Duties

With support of the Program Leadership, and Central Team, the Family Advocate works to ensure the following:

Strategic Oversight

• Understand and promote the organization's Mission, Vision, and Core Values to ensure alignment with organizational policies and procedures
• Provide leadership in implementing family engagement strategies that align with Head Start Program Performance Standards.
• Ensure that family engagement practices are regularly monitored and evaluated for effectiveness.

Family Engagement

• Adhere to the Family Engagement policies and procedures as outlined in the Early Childhood Policy and Procedure Manual
• Pursue positive goal-oriented relationships with families in support of strong family and child outcomes
• Provide necessary support to families based on their strengths and needs, including but not limited to appropriate referrals, moral support and coaching, accompanying to appointments, and other forms of direct assistance
• Regularly monitor COPA reports to ensure data is accurately captured in timely manner
• Track and monitor children's medical records and work with parents to ensure continuity of care
• Support children and families through the special needs process
• Conduct a minimum of two home visits per year, per child, with additional visits as needed
• Participate in child case conferences and parent teacher conferences where required
• Support families during a crisis
• Facilitate parent workshops
• Recruit new families for our program through tabling, advertising in the school community, and hosting recruitment events

Community Engagement

• Foster effective and strategic community partnerships in order to meet the needs of families
• Identify opportunities for parent workshops and link families to relevant resources
• Represent Children's Aid at relevant neighborhood events, such as community/resource fairs, etc.
• Seek and maintain current knowledge of services offered in the community that can benefit families
• Share highlights of families, kids, staff, and community partners
• Educate and engage our online social media community with the EC Instagram committee

Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment, Attendance

• Identify eligible families and support them through the application and enrollment process at Children's Aid
• Familiarize with eligibility and enrollment requirements for program models relevant to funding streams at respective sites
• Monitor children's attendance and provide supports to minimize absences
• Maintain accurate and complete records in both physical and electronic files. Ensure confidentiality of client records and information at all times

Record Maintenance, Screening and Assessment

• Adhere to the Assessment and Screens policies and procedures as outlined in the Early Childhood Policy and Procedure Manual
• Provide feedback to the team with respect to child and family development that may require additional focus
• Oversee and maintain accurate records on each child

Data Analysis

• Collect, analyze, and report on data related to family engagement and child outcomes to inform continuous improvement efforts.
• Utilize data to identify trends, gaps, and areas for improvement in family services and support.
• Ensure that all data is accurately recorded and maintained in compliance with organizational and regulatory standards.

Professional Development

• Maintain comprehensive knowledge of Head Start Program Performance Standards (particularly the Parent, Family and Community Engagement Framework and its requirements), DOH regulations, city guidelines, and CA Early Childhood policies and procedures
• Participate in offered trainings, workshops, in-service days, and/or all-staff conferences
• Maintain proof of attendance in professional activities
• Complete all Early Childhood required trainings
• Engage in self-assessment and reflection coaching experiences such as completing self-assessment surveys, video recording, coaching, and collaboration sessions.

Minimum Qualifications: The Family Advocate must have qualifications that satisfy Federal Head Start requirements, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Article 47 regulations.

Depending on one's education and certification, a Family Advocate may fall into one of the following categories:

Family Advocate I: Must possess a High School Diploma and a *Family Development Associate (FDC) credential.

Family Advocate II: Must possess an Associate's Degree or equivalent credits (in any area*). Depending on the nature of the degree and relevant experience, it may be required to have a Family Development credential (FDC) or be enrolled in a FDC credential program that will be completed within 18 months, which is a condition of employment that cannot be extended.

Family Advocate III: Must possess a Bachelor's Degree (in any area*). Depending on the nature of the degree and relevant experience, it may be required to have a Family Development credential (FDC) l or be enrolled in a FDC credential program that will be completed within 18 months, which is a condition of employment that cannot be extended.

Family Advocate IV: Must possess a Master's Degree in Social Work.

*Staff who work directly with families on the family partnership process have within eighteen months of hire, at a minimum, to obtain a Family Development Associate credential or Degree in social work, human services, family services, counseling or a related field.

Key Competencies:

• Experience advocating for families and a passion for doing so
• Advanced bilingual speaker in English and Spanish
• Excellent, verbal, written and non-verbal communication skills
• Self-motivated with a professional approach, resourceful and reliable
• Very strong computer skills, outlook calendar, data entry, and database experience
• Excellent organizational and time management skills
• Energetic and a strong collaborator, with great capacity to prioritize and juggle multiple projects efficiently
• Must abide by privacy laws, including HIPAA, etc.

A review and final determination of credentials and qualifications are reserved for the site's Program Director and the Children's Aid VP.