Family Advocate - Head Start

About the role

The Family Advocate serves as a link between families, the staff at The Centers, service area personnel, and community resources. The role involves establishing positive relationships with caregivers and delivering high-quality, direct services to support the well-being and success of each family member participating in the Early Learning program.

Responsibilities

• Facilitates Family and Community Partnerships and assists with Program Governance, Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment, and Attendance activities.
• 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.
• Supports families in making a smooth transition into programs; connects them with appropriate community resources; provides or makes referrals according to need.
• Completes family pre-assessment within 90 days of enrollment and facilitates the Family Success Plan/Family Partnership Agreement process.
• Aids parents in setting goals and checking status according to required timelines. Leads monthly family engagement events with staff, families, and partner agencies such as Starting Point and UPK and submits parent planning documentation monthly.
• Recruits, facilitates, and documents center volunteers and donations. Educates volunteers on the value of their participation in the Early Learning Program. Attends community meetings and events, creating linkages to community resources staff.
• Aids parents in obtaining and maintaining publicly funded childcare benefits and navigating the Electronic Childcare system. Proactively recruits families to ensure funded enrollment goals are met at the site and throughout the agency; engages 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.
• Documents and tracks follow-up needs such as Family Partnership Goals, health, dental, nutrition, growth assessments, and hearing and vision concerns. Tracks and reports accurate attendance daily to ensure attendance can be analyzed and reported monthly.
• Supports families to address attendance barriers for children with an average daily attendance rate below 85%. Follows up on absences. Completes family contacts and all data entry and documentation associated with the family in the data management system in a timely manner.
• Collaborates with site staff to maintain center compliance and submit all documentation to the service areas as needed in a timely manner.
• Maintains center compliance in the Family Support service area and submits all documentation to the Family and Community Engagement Manager and other service areas as needed.
• Collaborates with site staff to ensure families and children are served and safe.
• Maintains center compliance in the Family Support service area and submits all documentation to the Family and Community Engagement Manager and other service areas as needed.
• Other duties as assigned.

Job Qualifications

• Bachelor's 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.

Job Duties & Responsibilities

• Family & Community Engagement:
• 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.
• Supports families in making a smooth transition into programs; connects them with appropriate community resources; provides or makes referrals according to need.
• Completes family pre-assessment within 90 days of enrollment and facilitates the Family Success Plan/Family Partnership Agreement process.
• Aids parents in setting goals and checking status according to required timelines. Leads monthly family engagement events with staff, families, and partner agencies such as Starting Point and UPK and submits parent planning documentation monthly.
• Recruits, facilitates, and documents center volunteers and donations. Educates volunteers on the value of their participation in the Early Learning Program. Attends community meetings and events, creating linkages to community resources staff.
• Aids parents in obtaining and maintaining publicly funded childcare benefits and navigating the Electronic Childcare system. Proactively recruits families to ensure funded enrollment goals are met at the site and throughout the agency; engages 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.
• Documents and tracks follow-up needs such as Family Partnership Goals, health, dental, nutrition, growth assessments, and hearing and vision concerns. Tracks and reports accurate attendance daily to ensure attendance can be analyzed and reported monthly.
• Supports families to address attendance barriers for children with an average daily attendance rate below 85%. Follows up on absences. Completes family contacts and all data entry and documentation associated with the family in the data management system in a timely manner.
• Collaborates with site staff to maintain center compliance and submit all documentation to the service areas as needed in a timely manner.
• Maintains center compliance in the Family Support service area and submits all documentation to the Family and Community Engagement Manager and other service areas as needed.
• Collaborates with site staff to ensure families and children are served and safe.
• Maintains center compliance in the Family Support service area and submits all documentation to the Family and Community Engagement Manager and other service areas as needed.
• Other duties as assigned.

Documentation and Progress Tracking

• 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.
• Tracks and reports accurate attendance daily to ensure attendance can be analyzed and reported monthly.
• Provides support to families to address attendance barriers for children with an average daily attendance rate below 85% and follows up on absences.
• Completes family contacts and all data entry and documentation associated with the family in the data management system in a timely manner.
• Collaborates with site staff to maintain center compliance and submit all documentation to the service areas as needed in a timely manner.

About The Centers

The Centers provide health, family, and workforce services at 11 locations throughout Greater Cleveland, creating life-changing solutions for people to lead healthier and more successful lives. We strive to be a service-oriented workplace that pioneers and co-creates solutions while fostering belonging in a community where our team members thrive. Our Early Learning Centers and programs provide high-quality care for children during the critical first 2,000 days of life by operating seven high-quality early learning centers, serving children birth through five years old, in Cleveland and the inner-ring suburbs. Because of our high standards, all sites achieved a 5-Star rating on the Step-Up-To-Quality Rating and have been recognized and selected to be part of Universal Prekindergarten (UPK) and PRE4CLE.

Wellbeing and Benefits

• Choice of medical and dental plans.
• Health Savings Account.
• Flexible Spending Account for Health and Dependent Care.
• Vision Support for continuing education and credential renewal.
• Life Insurance.
• Retail Savings (401k) with a company contribution.
• Mental Health Support.
• Employee Assistance Program.
• Calm Subscription.
• Short and Longterm Disability.