Bilingual Family Development Advocate

Family Development Advocate

Conducts basic social casework and coordinates related parent involvement services, including guiding parents in their children's education and development, coordinating health, nutrition, mental health, disability and parent involvement related services for families, and being the point person for family case management.

Under the Head Start/Early Head Start Center Based Option, the Family Development Advocate (FDA) will provide the required family and community engagement services related to health, nutrition, mental health, disability, social services and parent involvement. The FDA will interact with the public and provides customer service by phone, email and in person, maintains program databases and recordkeeping files, prepares correspondence, reports, records and other paperwork, provides written translation or spoken interpretation for non-English clients, provides case management services to families and children, and supports outreach, recruitment, selection and enrollment activities.

Essential duties of the position include:

• Obtain child and family information and complete service area forms accurately and completely in their entirety upon acceptance of the child and family into the program.
• Identify children with special placement considerations.
• Manage a caseload of up to 55 children at a given time.
• Conducts family assessment of each enrolled family by identifying family strengths, interests and needs.
• Assist enrolled families in developing Individualized Family Partnership Agreement Plans, research on resources and support the plans including periodic follow ups.
• Conduct vision and hearing health screenings for enrolled children.
• Conducts follow ups with the required health screenings per required periodicity of the Bright Futures Guidelines.
• Maintain ongoing communication and follow-ups with in-house Service Area Managers and outside Health providers to obtain necessary health requirements.
• Conducts home visits with designated site staff to follow up on required family and health services as needed.
• Develop a plan of action with families who are having challenges with absences.
• Participate in planning and conducting Parent Committee Meetings with Parent Committee and site Staff.
• Ensures that Parent Committee Minutes are translated and posted by the due date as required.
• Participate in planning and facilitating Parent Education Workshops.
• Monitor Parent Bulletin board once a month during parent meetings to ensure current events and required postings are maintained for related Head Start/Early Head Start information.
• Participate in Multidisciplinary Team Meetings as needed.
• Work closely with service area staff to address parents' concerns or complaints.
• Track family goals and produce weekly, monthly and quarterly reports on family development progress.
• Advocate on behalf of parents with public and private service agencies to acquire needed family services.
• Report signs of child abuse, neglect or unsafe living conditions to the proper authorities for appropriate action to ensure the safety of children.
• Use computers, especially MS Office, Email and Internet, to store data, communicate, write reports and conduct research.
• Data Entry of activities as required in Child Plus database.
• Maintains orderly records, including electronically.
• Provide translation and interpretation services for non-English speaking parents.
• Attended staff development training to acquire skills and increase knowledge to enhance the quality of services.
• Supports and ensures the achievement of recruitment and enrollment goals.
• Assists in accomplishing the program's non-federal match through the access of community resources (services, donations, discounts, and/or goods).
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills, and Experience):

• Education and Work Experience
• Associate's degree OR
• A Family Development Credential and high school diploma or GED
• 1-year minimum experience in social work or family development, preferably in an early childhood development setting.
• Experience providing social services to families and basic knowledge of social work, particularly in the context of early childhood development.
• Knowledge and Skills
• Bilingual in Spanish is required (written and orally).
• Must have excellent communication skills and the ability to communicate effectively with parents, community members, and staff.
• Ability to work with diverse populations, including people of various cultural, ethnic, language and socio-economic backgrounds.
• Ability to handle multiple tasks and projects and to coordinate meetings.
• Availability to work on weekday evenings and/or Saturdays for family development activities, as needed.
• Data Entry skills and experience.

Special Conditions:

• Valid California Driver's License and insurance coverage
• Family Development Credential achieved within the first year of employment as schedule permits by LACOE.
• Must pass the following background checks prior to start of employment:
• Sex Offender Registry
• Child Abuse and Neglect State Registry
• State or Tribal Criminal History Check, including fingerprints
• FBI Criminal History Check, including fingerprints
• Must have verification of T.B. clearance at time of employment, to be renewed every four (4) years (every 4 years for chest x-rays).
• Must pass health screening (LIC 503) at time of employment, health screening is accepted within one year prior to hire, to be renewed every four (4) years.
• Provide proof of the following immunizations as required: Measles, Pertussis (Whooping Cough), Influenza, and COVID-19.
• Must complete 15 clock hours of professional development annually that builds the knowledge, experience, skills, and abilities of staff to improve child, family, and staff outcomes. Of this, a minimum of 50% of the 15 hours (or 7.5 hours) must be focused on the specific content area or job assignment. Must also complete an annual Professional Development Plan (PDP) to be reviewed 3 times during the year.
• Completion of Child Plus data entry training within the first 6 months of employment
• Valid vision and hearing certification within the first year of employment.

Physical Demands:

The working conditions and physical demands of this position will be those that must be met to successfully perform the essential duties of the position. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties. The physical environment the incumbent will work in is typically an office environment with moderate noise levels that would be expected in that type of work environment.

• T.B. Test within the past year prior to employment, and every four (4) years thereafter (every 4 years for a chest X-ray).
• Must pass health screening (LIC 503) at time of employment, health screening is accepted within one year prior to hire, to be renewed every four (4) years.
• Provide proof of the following immunizations as required: Measles, Pertussis (Whooping Cough), and Influenza.
• COVID vaccination required; must have two-dose series of Pfizer or Moderna or a single-dose of Johnson & Johnson. Those that need a medical or religious exemption must reach out separately.
• Representative physical demands of the job include normal vision and hearing, standing for extended periods, sitting for extended periods, kneeling, and stooping, manipulating objects with hands, reaching overhead, and occasionally lifting and carrying objects weighing up to 25 pounds.