Child & Family Support Specialist

Context of Job: New Directions Early Head Start is a federally funded program that provides pregnant participants, infants and toddlers, and their families with quality care and family services that support families in providing the best for themselves and their very young children in order to promote children's success and families' self-sufficiency, through community collaboration and partnerships.

The Child & Family Specialist will work with children & families, providing weekly educational home visits, assisting parents in understanding their child's development and being their child’s first teacher. In addition, the Child & Family Specialist will assist in identifying family resources and needs, and families’ goals for their child and themselves.

Under limited supervision of the Program Coordinator or Child & Family Supervisor, the Child & Family Specialist will act as an itinerant teacher and case manager for families, providing child activities to support children’s development, ensuring the connection to health services, other services and referrals as needed and providing weekly home visits. Educate families about their child’s development and connect them with other parents.

Major Responsibilities:

• Ensure that the program meets or exceeds the Head Start Program Performance Standards.
• Support parents in developing and fostering a healthy self-concept in themselves and their children.
• Promote the philosophy of empowering parents.
• Conduct Weekly 90-minute home visits with families providing the education and child development services outlined in the Head Start Program Performance Standards section 1302.32 3 and using the programs curriculum and individual planning.
• Act as a liaison and advocate between community resources and Early Head Start families.
• Coordinate, facilitate and plan, socializations for the child and parent in conjunction with parents and Child and Family Supervisor that provide age-appropriate activities that align with the programs school readiness goals.
• Help parents use activities and materials which naturally occur in the home as learning opportunities.
• Foster the view and practice that parents are their child’s first teacher and reinforce with practical suggestions for development.
• Model developmentally appropriate practice. Assist families in developing activities and fostering behaviors that will enhance their children’s development.
• Ensure that the necessary developmental, social emotional a