Family Educator (Orange County)

Job Description

Job Description

Title: Family Educator (Orange County)

Salary Range: $24.72 per hour

Status: Full-Time, Non-Exempt, 35 hours per week

Supervisor:  Program Coordinator

Function:  Family Educators provide weekly home visits and facilitate two or three parenting groups per year. Family Educators also provide case management and supportive counseling to families referred by the Department of Social Services and/or may be involved with preventive agencies.

The primary focus of this role involves conducting home visits, advocating for families, and empowering them to attain self-sufficiency. During these visits, you will encounter diverse home conditions, encompassing overcrowded living spaces and substandard housing. As a skilled professional, you will navigate through challenges such as mental health concerns and substance use issues within the families you serve. Poverty often looms as a backdrop, impacting the families' well-being due to limited resources and socioeconomic barriers. Regular supervision will be provided to ensure you receive the necessary support and guidance to address complex family dynamics and challenging situations. Training on the program curriculum will equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively engage with families, guiding them on their journey towards stability and improved outcomes.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in social work or related field is required.
• Possession of a reliable vehicle and valid NYS driver’s license is required.

• Working knowledge of community resources in Orange County (training provided). 
• Candidates who are bilingual in English and Spanish are preferred.
• Experience in Child Welfare or related field strongly preferred. 
• The ideal candidate will be able to adapt to and manage frequently changing client needs, including client home conditions, mental health needs, substance use, and potential client trauma history.
• Excellent communication and customer service skills. 

Job Responsibilities:

• Teaching, advising, coaching, and supporting families in mastering parenting skills through home visits and/or group facilitation.
• Maintaining a flexible schedule so that home visits can occur in the early morning or evening hours if needed based on client needs.
• Provide transportation to parents and children for visits and services in personal vehicle, as needed.
• Maintaining accurate visit records, documentation, and reports on a timely basis. 
• Collaborating with DSS preventive and CPS workers, and other service providers to ensure family cooperation with mandated services and child service needs. 
• Ability to work with people from many different racial, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds.
• Possess strong teaching/coaching skills; meet the needs of family members with effective solutions. Possess compassion and empathy. Ability to work irregular hours on short notice.
• Modeling nurturing attitudes and behaviors in all contacts with program participants and teammates while acting in congruence with Nurturing Program philosophy, methods, and Standards of Practice. 
• Provide excellent and thorough customer service to all family members. 
• Possess ‘out of the box’ thinking and resourcefulness. 
• Ability to work effectively when under extreme pressure. 
• Ability to work independently; but relate issues to manager appropriately. 
• Attend supervision meetings, staff meetings, and training as required. 
• Complete client-facing and administrative duties as assigned by supervisor based on program need.
• Other duties as assigned.

Skills and Abilities:

• Computer literacy 
• Strategic thinking
• Organizational skills 
• Client focus 
• Time management 
• Bilingual (English/Spanish) preferred 
• Strong interpersonal skills, communication and public speaking skills
• Attention to detail

Essential Requirements:

• Candidate must have the ability to work flexible hours.
• Must be able to work indoors and outdoors and travel to different areas within Orange County. 
• This position requires knowledge about, understanding of, and an ability to work with children and families, with expertise in early childhood development.

Family Educators enthusiastically support, practice, and communicate the agency’s mission and statement of values. 

Benefits:

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• 403(b) retirement plan with employer match up to 5%.
• Generous paid vacation, holiday, sick and personal time package (2 weeks’ vacation in first year, 13 paid holidays per year, 12 sick days per year and 4 personal days per year).
• Access to Family Services’ Compassionate Leave Program where employees can donate/receive unused time off.
• Group term life and long-term disability insurance.
• Supplemental life insurance & accidental death and dismemberment coverage (AD&D).
• Supplemental insurance through Aflac.
• Employee assistance program (EAP).
• Pet insurance.

Our Mission : To support people, strengthen families, and nurture safer, healthier communities.

Our Agency Values

Integrity - Being honest and trustworthy

Compassion – Extending empathy and understanding to others

Hope - Believing in the strength of the human spirit and heart, to emerge and thrive in the face of challenge

Diversity – Promoting a vison of community comprised of wide-ranging assets

Respect - Treating all individuals with dignity and without judgement

Community - Recognizing and reinforcing the importance of our world as being comprised of people of differing strengths and perspectives

Justice – Promoting social and economic equity and fairness

Quality – Striving for excellence in every aspect of our work

Work Environment: As a Family Educator, most time will be spent conducting home visits, advocating for families, and helping families become self-sufficient. Family Educators are required to have supervision on a weekly basis and be able to take direction from either supervisors and/or co-workers based on the situation. Training on program curriculum is provided.

Family Services, Inc. complies with federal and state disability laws and makes reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact View email address on us.fitly.work.

Family Services is an equal opportunity employer. We follow federal, state, and local laws prohibiting discrimination in hiring and employment.

Must be authorized to work in the United States without work sponsorship.

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