Family Advocate

Center for Transforming Lives; Arlington (TX); On-site; USD 42,000 - 54,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Paid time off

Training & development

Vision insurance

401(k)

401(k) matching

Dental insurance

Job summary

The Center for Transforming Lives seeks a Family Advocate to deliver dual-generation services, including case management, advocacy skills, crisis intervention, and linkage to resources to help families move from poverty to independence. The role entails home, community, and office visits to support young children's development and family stability.

You will work with families to address housing, health, and financial needs, coordinating with staff and community partners and documenting progress

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in family services, human services, social work, counseling, or related fields is required; a Master’s degree in associated fields is preferred.
• Minimum of three years of experience providing comprehensive case management services to families is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Provide case management services for families and complete all components of Family Community Engagement by identifying family strengths and needs, family partnership agreements, and Transforming Lives scales.
• Establish trusting relationships with families and empower them to use resources and participate in parent engagement activities.
• Assess family needs and help set short- and long-term goals in housing, health, public assistance, hunger, and parenting; refer to community agencies.
• Assist with eligibility, enrollment, attendance, and documentation; ensure accurate records.
• Ensure follow-up and documentation in ChildPlus and file maintenance.
• Plan parent workshops and coordinate guest speakers and parent activities.
• Collaborate with staff and community agencies to support family needs and schedule Multi-Disciplinary meetings.
• Maintain regular contact with parents through visits and monitor progress toward financial self-sufficiency.

Skills

English/Spanish fluency

Education

Bachelor’s degree in family services or related field

Master’s degree preferred

Tools

ChildPlus

Job description

Benefits

• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Training & development
• Vision insurance
• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance

Summary

The Family Advocate implements dual-generation services that will help families break the cycle of poverty by providing case management, advocacy skills, crisis intervention, skills training, and linkage to resources to move families from poverty to independence. The Family Advocate provides home, community, and office visits to improve the financial self-sufficiency and security, housing stability, and healthy living patterns of families enrolled in Early Head Start/ Head Start Services at the Center for Transforming Lives.

Responsibilities

• Provide case management services for families and complete all components of Family Community Engagement by identifying family strengths and needs, family partnership agreements, and Transforming Lives scales and will work with the family to maximize the family’s well-being to support the ability of young children to develop and learn age-appropriate and school readiness skills.
• Establish trusting and comfortable working relationships with families enrolled and empower and encourage families to use all identified resources and participate fully in the program by volunteering and participating in parent engagement activities throughout the year.
• Assess family needs and assist families to establish short-term and long-term goals in housing, health, public assistance, hunger, and parenting. Assist families to develop action plans to complete family goals and make appropriate referrals for families to community agencies.
• Assist with eligibility, enrollment, selection, attendance, and enrollment activities by completing applications and ensuring eligibility into the program and collecting required documentation.
• Ensures accurate and timely follow-up as well as case notes are documented and tracked in ChildPlus including the child’s file.
• Maintain documentation of all assessment, goal setting, and service delivery actions for individuals and families, including entry into electronic and hard copy files.
• Assist with planning parent workshops, securing guest speakers, and implementing parent activities based on results of Parent Interest Surveys.
• Work collaboratively with staff and community agencies to support the identified needs of families and children enrolled to increase healthy living patterns, financial security, and housing stability, including the scheduling and planning of Multi-Disciplinary meetings.
• Maintain regular contact with parents through home or site visits and follow up on service plans, attendance plans, family partnership agreements and referrals and follow up and monitor their progress towards financial self-sufficiency and related goals.
• Establish collaborative relationships with Child Development Center classroom teachers, community partners, and social service providers to ensure that the family's basic, social, and psychological needs are met, including screenings and assessments.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in family services, human services, social work, counseling, or related fields is required. A Master’s degree in associated fields is preferred.
• A minimum of three years of experience providing comprehensive case management services to families is preferred.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities

• Maintains awareness of trends and best practices and is proactive in acquiring knowledge in child and family practices, case management, social work, trauma-informed care, motivational interviewing, behavior change models, and self-sufficiency practices.
• Efficient experience delivering family support services.
• Ability to assist individuals in enhancing problem-solving skills and accessing community resources and writing family goals or Individualized Family Partnership Agreements.
• Ability to establish and maintain productive communication and working relationships with families, co-workers, and community members to develop and maintain quality client-centered services. Fluency in English and Spanish is preferred.
• Ability to deliver year-round services on a flexible schedule to meet the needs of families.
• Excellent organizational skills; strong computer skills.
• Knowledge and skills in completing comprehensive assessments covering all areas affecting family functioning and assessing individual and family dynamics.
• Knowledge of resources in Tarrant County or the ability to locate and identify family resources within the service area preferred.