Work Days: Monday – Friday, typically full year
Supervisor: Site Supervisor
Job Summary:
The Family Advocate is responsible for collaborating with all families in a family partnership process that identifies needs, interests, strengths, goals, services, and resources that support family well-being, including family safety, health, and economic stability. The Family Advocate will provide parents with opportunities to participate in their child’s education and engage in program activities.
Specific Responsibilities/Essential Functions:
1. Adheres to and follows:
• All state child care licensing requirements including reporting child abuse, following child health and safety procedures.
• All CAA of CC, Inc. & Head Start Program’s Policies & Procedures.
• Head Start Code of Conduct.
2. Family engagement expectations:
• Develop relationships with families and encourage trust and respectful, ongoing two-way communication.
• Document all contacts with the families in ChildPlus as an event, including all follow-up occurrences and notes.
• Ensure every family is provided the opportunity to participate in a Family Partnership Agreement. Documentation of efforts are added in ChildPlus as a family event.
1) Assist all families to identify individual and family strengths, including setting and meeting family goals. Family goals must be documented on a Goal Action Plan or Health Requirement form.
• Make consistent contacts with families based on attendance, family goals, health requirements, and needed documents.
• Provide families with community resources based on family needs to make referrals, including continuing education, employment training, and employment services. Document all contacts with the families and all follow-up in ChildPlus.
• Maintain a FA file for every child and follow the Family Advocate File Tracker form.
• Communicate with parents the importance of how to enroll in health coverage and dental care.
3. Plan parent activities to promote child learning and development:
Understand the role of families as the child’s first and primary teacher.
• Support and welcome parents to be active participants at the centers and in each classroom.
• Maintain an up-to-date Parent Information Binder.
• Inform parents of all upcoming events, meetings, activities, community resources and parent involvement activities.
• CAA Job Description Revised August 2020
• Plan and participate in Parent Committee meetings and plan the meetings at times that are respectful to the parent’s needs.
• Share with families the importance of regular attendance and provide support when needed.
4. Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment, and Attendance (ERSEA) requirements:
• Participate in Enrollment Day activities.
• Recruit and work to maintain the program’s funded enrollment and center waitlist.
• Take phone applications for families applying to the program.
• Collect the necessary documentation from families to complete the enrollment process.
5. All other responsibilities deemed necessary by your supervisor, including but not limited to:
• Classroom coverage and assist in maintaining ratio, as needed.
• Providing the classroom staff lunch breaks, as needed.
• Cover bus duties, as needed.
• Responsible for assisting and collecting program In-kind on a monthly basis.
6. Maintains professionalism at all times.
• Adheres to the agency dress code daily.
• Represents the agency in a positive manner.
• Maintains a positive attitude about their work and others during the work day.
• Assumes responsibility for meeting his/her individual professional development goals.
Education/Skills Qualifications:
1. Family Advocates hired after 2016 must have at a minimum a credential or certification in social work, human services, family services, counseling, or related field. The certification can be obtained within 18 months of hire.
2. Good written and oral communication skills.
3. Outstanding organization and problem solving skills.
4. Strong Computer skills.
5. Valid driver’s license/reliable transportation/automobile insurance coverage, and driving from site to site or trainings, etc.
Physical Requirements:
1. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; run; reach with hands and arms; climb stairs; balance; stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl.
2. The employee must be able to occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.
Working Conditions:
1. Work directly/indirectly with children including the various noises and behaviors associated with children from birth to 5 years old.
2. Ability to work in a fast-paced and often high-stress environment making quick, sound decisions while maintaining calm in potential emergency situations.
3. Working with children, staff, and families who at times will require patience and support.
4. Exposure to cleaning supplies utilized in the site.
Additional Requirements/Conditions of Employment:
1. Pass all background checks to acquire an ODJFS Background Clearance for childcare.
2. Physical exam and drug testing (updated when requested by CAA of CC. Inc.).
3. Training in First Aid/CPR, Child Abuse, and Communicable Disease provided by program.
4. Continuing Education credits or units.
5. Initial 90 day job evaluation followed by annual job evaluations.