Family and Education Specialist

Job Description

Job Description

Overview

Join a Team That Changes Lives

For more than 170 years, Elwyn has been leading the way in supporting children, teens, and adults with autism, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and behavioral health challenges. As a mission-driven nonprofit, we’re here to create real change – helping people lead meaningful, fulfilling lives.

Now, we’re looking for passionate team members to join us. Here, your work will change lives – including your own. You’ll make an impact every day, find purpose in what you do, and grow in a career that truly matters.

At Elwyn, we take care of you while you care for others. We offer:

• Generous Paid Time Off
• Comprehensive Medical/Dental/Vision Benefit Packages
• Earned Wage Access/On-Demand Pay
• Paid On-the-Job Training
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Career Advancement Opportunities and Growth
• Flexible Schedules
• Retirement Savings Plan

Join us and be a part of something bigger. Apply today.

Responsibilities

The Family and Education Specialist is responsible for coordinating the admission of new students to Elwyn Davidson School, located in Media, Pennsylvania. This role oversees the referral, intake, and admissions processes while making recommendations regarding educational programming and placement.

The Family and Educ Spec collaborates with parents, referring school districts, charter schools, Intermediate Units (IUs), and other educational partners to facilitate referrals and ensure a seamless admissions experience. This position coordinates the collection and review of educational, medical, and demographic information to determine whether the student's Individualized Education Program (IEP) can be appropriately implemented at Elwyn Davidson School and prepares the educational team for each student's admission.

The Family and Educ Spec conducts school tours, facilitates meetings with families, students, Local Education Agency (LEA) representatives, and school personnel, and conducts student observations to support placement decisions. Additionally, this position develops and maintains collaborative relationships with both internal and external referral sources through regular communication, monitors referral trends, and manages school census to ensure enrollment goals, benchmarks, and timelines are consistently achieved.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Using knowledge of Special Education, assesses all children presented for admission and evaluates appropriateness of placement. Makes determination for placement and for educational programming for each admitted student.
• Develop and administer the school admission process from start to finish including forms, communication, process steps, tracking and reporting.
• Ensures all referrals are responded to in the established timeline
• Tracks progress against census goals and openings
• Reports trends using data and information gleaned from process management and the reporting database
• Generates regular and routine summary reports on admissions including fill rates, trend on admissions and denials including reasons, referral source, etc.
• Receive and review referrals by phone, email, or fax, and log referrals according to date received and respond, in writing, to submitting school districts within forty-eight (48) hours;
• Conduct a thorough review of the referred child's IEP, Record Review (RR), Positive Behavior Support Plan (PBSP), and Functional Behavior Analysis (FBA), and prepare assessments based on information and specific admissions criteria to make a placement determination;
• Conduct meaningful tours with families & potential students to discuss and showcase how Elwyn can meet the student's educational needs.
• Schedule, coordinate, and facilitate the student interview process including, but not limited to, student/family interviews, team interviews, providing parent handbook, promotional materials, and program information to referral sources including families and individuals interesting in placement planning, conducting student and family tours, and child observations to provide high quality and exemplary admissions and enrollment processes for children and their families
• Notify each family of admissions decision and send district and school personnel the child’s projected start date, or waitlist status (if not denied admission)
• Send admission packet to new families upon confirmation of placement and, with parent permission, initiate referrals to appropriate placements to ensure a seamless, clear, and timely admissions process for parents, children, and referring school entities
• Make non-acceptance determinations based on established exclusionary criteria and/or appropriateness for program placement by sending letters and making phone calls to Local Education Agency representatives (LEAs) explaining in detail why children may not be appropriate for educational placement at Elwyn, maintaining referral data on non- acceptance/exclusionary data to inform programming decisions, observing and recording referral trends, and assisting with secondary referrals to other more appropriate programs to ensure the best possible outcomes for the school and the child
• Collect and compile additional documents and information regarding the referred child including, but not limited to, medical reports, allergies, precautions, diagnoses, standardized tests, evaluation reports, IEPs, strengths and needs prior to acceptance to ensure an accurate, informed, and complete student profile with precautions sheet to ensure child safety, proper programming, placement, and planning
• Collaborate with school districts, charter schools, LEA's, Intermediate Units, etc. to assess possible referrals by reviewing student history and educational/allied health needs to assess appropriateness of placement
• Maintain a process of rolling admissions into Elwyn's Approved Private School (APS) programs including, but not limited to, maintaining an active and working knowledge of the daily census for APS programs, projecting graduations, new admissions, discharges/transfers, and other student leaves that create vacancies by working proactively with school districts to update them on slot availability, projected start dates, and waiting lists to clear the waitlist as efficiently as possible to maintain target census at projected levels
• Serve as primary liaison for referrals from Elwyn's residential programs. Coordinates with residential team, families, and local school district on educational options.
• Identify potential obstacles to placements for internal & external referrals and work with Sr. Director of Admissions, the Elwyn School Team, Elwyn residential leaders, etc. to look for new solutions that
• eliminate or reduce these obstacles
• Maintain an up-to-date and accurate directory of referents (LEAs/School Districts/IUs/Charter Schools) by working collaboratively with the Sr. Director of Admissions, Business Development, and IEP Coordinators, to drive admissions and to market the school programs.
• Conduct quarterly reporting, trend analytics, and statistical reporting to help drive targets, assumptions, and year end projections for the revenue cycle
• Lead consistent admission meetings with Elwyn Davidson School personnel to finalize educational placements, improve communicate, and collaboration on new students.
• Manage special circumstances impacting admissions and child placement including, but not limited to, the 4010 Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) conversion process, personal care assistant (PCA) contracts, acceptance letters for new students, monthly census report, expiring or expired dates on Reevaluation Reports (RR) and IEPs, troubleshooting calls from individuals, coordination with point persons at districts, re-locations from one district to another, and tracking charter school graduate transitions and hospitalizations to ensure a child's smooth transition into care and appropriate and accurate school year funding
• Represent the organization at professional conferences, seminars and other public events, and work with other service organizations engaged in placement activities to ensure Elwyn's reputation and positioning in the area as the oldest and largest Approved Private School (APS) in the state, leads and facilitates case reviews/roundtable presentations, as needed, for incoming students which is inclusive of relevant team member including nursing, educators, paraprofessionals, clinical teams, and school administrators, collaborates with clinical coordinators, provides clinical information for consideration and to inform decision making and programming
• As lead for all student admissions, plan and coordinate welcome day and orientation for each child and their family to acclimate them to the routine of the school
• Execute and mail contracts for accepted students to appropriate school districts/charter schools/LEAs
• Send Enrollment Packet to new families upon confirmation of placement
• Ensure student/family documents are maintained centrally for staff access and use by entering relevant admissions information into PowerSchool
• Perform other duties as assigned

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Education with certification. Pennsylvania Special Education PK-12 teaching certificate preferred
• Three (3) years' experience working in school admissions, teaching, and/or operations within the special education field with progressively increasing level of responsibility; demonstrated skills and specific knowledge of the PDE 4010/4011 Approved Private School Admissions and Enrollment process
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively as part of a team
• Demonstrated strong attention to detail
• Demonstrated strong time management and organizational skills
• Demonstrated excellent judgment with the ability to independently solve problems and make decisions with little or no need for direct supervision
• Demonstrated ability to anticipate future needed changes or identify problem areas and take effective actions
• Demonstrated advanced experience with Microsoft Office applications, including Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint to capture information, generate reports and create materials
• Experience with electronic records systems; PowerSchool and Blackboard preferred
• Must possess excellent customer interaction, collaboration, presentation, and written and verbal communication skills
• Strong internal and external customer service skills
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and manage and prioritize multiple, often competing, priorities