Healthy Families Home Visitor

Catholic Charities Boston; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 42,000 - 56,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

403(b) plan

Generous time off

Job summary

Catholic Charities Boston is seeking a Home Visitor to outreach to new parents, provide home-based support, education, advocacy, and referrals to community services. Duties include conducting assessments, developing service plans, and promoting maternal/child health and early development.

This role requires local travel, strong communication, and the ability to work with diverse families. A high school diploma and experience with families are required; bilingual skills are a plus.

Qualifications

• High school/HiSET or equivalent required.
• At least 1 year experience working with families from diverse backgrounds.
• Ability to establish trusting relationships with clients.
• Acceptance of individual differences and diversity.
• Experience with culturally diverse families and communities preferred.
• Willingness for reflective supervision and ongoing learning.
• Knowledge of infant, toddler and adolescent development.
• Strong listening and assessment skills to identify family needs and strengths.
• Sensitivity to the needs of diverse populations and linguistic backgrounds.
• Team-oriented approach to meet program needs.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Experience in home visiting preferred; Infant Mental Health endorsement preferred.
• Ability to lift up to 30 lbs.
• Understanding of outcome-oriented prevention models.
• Good time management and organizational skills.
• Microsoft Office proficiency and solid typing skills.
• Valid MA driver's license and reliable vehicle for local travel.
• Bilingual preferred: English/Spanish or other languages welcomed.

Responsibilities

• Maintain professional boundaries and confidentiality at all times.
• Travel locally to provide home visits to eligible families.
• Offer group-based parenting education and social activities.
• Assess family strengths and needs, including screening for substance abuse and maternal depression.
• Develop bi-annual individual family service plans.
• Educate on prenatal care, newborn/toddler development, and early literacy.
• Promote safe homes and positive parenting practices.
• Observe and document child growth using standard tools.
• Assist families in securing a medical home and necessary immunizations.
• Assist in building support networks and utilizing community resources.
• Maintain documentation per program/funder requirements.
• Participate in supervision and team meetings.
• Local travel required; some office time for documentation.
• Other related responsibilities as required.

Skills

Relationship building

Cultural sensitivity

Communication

Time management

Education

High school diploma / HiSET

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

Job description

The Home Visitor provides outreach to young first-time parents to provide individual home-based support, parent education, advocacy, screening and referral to appropriate community services to promote optimal maternal/child health and development, positive parenting, self-sufficiency and educational attainment. The Home Visitor promotes positive parent child interaction, advocates for families, and educates first time parents to promote safety and optimal growth and child development. The Home Visitor performs the duties of the position in client homes, at office and other locations.

Essential Functions

• Maintain professional boundaries and confidentiality at all times.
• Local travel to provide home visit service to eligible families through creative outreach.
• Offer group-based services including parenting skills education, social activities and support.
• Provide initial and ongoing assessment of family strengths and needs including screening for substance abuse, maternal depression, domestic violence, and social connectedness.
• Develop bi-annual individual family service plans that are based on individual/family strengths and need.
• Educate parents and family members on the importance of early and continuous prenatal care.
• Educate parents and family members on newborn, infant and toddler development and promote activities related to early literacy.
• Help prevent child abuse and neglect by providing safety curriculum, encourage healthy homes, and the safety and well-being of children in the home.
• Increase knowledge, skills, resiliency, and support system by utilizing evidence-based curriculum in the areas of child development, parent and child interaction, healthy relationships, healthy co-parenting, and positive discipline.
• Observe and document child growth and development using the ASQ-ASQSE at prescribed intervals.

Assist parents in securing a medical home and completing required immunizations for the child.

• Educate parents and family members on maternal/child health, nutrition, mental health and safety. This may include demonstrating, proper child lifting and holding techniques.
• Assist families in developing and maintaining formal and informal support networks through identification and utilization of community resources and services.
• Maintain ongoing communication and collaboration with intra-agency and community partners to meet the complex needs of the family and to assist participant families in meeting their goals.
• Complete all necessary documentation as specified by the program and its funders.
• Meet with the program supervisor and other team members on a regularly scheduled basis.
• Attend all internal and external meetings and training courses as required.
• Local travel for 75 percent of the work with own reliable vehicle. Physical presence in the office is required for the remaining time for the purpose of documenting client case notes and attending supervision unless otherwise approved by the Program Coordinator.
• Other related responsibilities as required.

Qualifications

• A minimum of a high school/HiSet equivalent.
• Minimum 1 year experience working with families from various socio-economic backgrounds and/or infants/young children.
• Have the ability to establish trusting relationships.
• Have acceptance of individual differences.
• Experience and humility to work with culturally diverse families, children, and communities, with a strength-based and family centered lens.
• Willing to engage in building reflective capacity (e.g., capacity for introspection, communicating awareness of self in relation to others, recognizing value of supervision, desire to learn, etc.)
• Knowledge about infant, toddler and adolescent development.
• Good listening and assessment skills; ability to identify family strengths/needs.
• Demonstrated sensitivity to the needs of families from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
• Ability to work using a team centered approach to meet the needs of the program and its participants.
• Good oral and written communication skills.
• Experience in reflective supervision preferred
• Experience in home visiting preferred
• Infant Mental Health endorsement preferred
• Ability to lift, push and pull up to 30 lbs.
• Understanding of outcome-oriented prevention model.
• Good oral and written communication skills.
• Good time management and organizational skills.
• Flexible schedule may be required to accommodate the program and family’s needs.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite and competent typing and computer skills.
• Valid Massachusetts' driver's license and reliable vehicle for local travel with a safe driving record.
• Bilingual preferred. Fluency in English or Spanish, Haitian Creole, Cape Verde Creole, Portuguese, and Vietnamese welcomed.

Our benefits are competitive and include a 403(b) savings plan and generous time off (benefits may vary based on position and scheduled hours).

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

The base pay range reflects what Catholic Charities reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for this role at the time of posting and may be modified from time to time. Actual compensation in this range may be determined based on other factors, including but not limited to work experience, education and specialty training.

Visit us at: www.ccab.org

PI286950525