Partnership Family Advocate

The Centers; Cleveland (OH); On-site; USD 36,000 - 52,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical and dental plans

Health Savings Account

401k with company contribution

Mental Health Support

Life Insurance

Job summary

The Centers in Cleveland, OH is seeking a Family Advocate to support partner sites and coordinate Family and Community Partnerships within the Early Learning Program.

You will facilitate ERSEA activities, link families to services, and help ensure enrollment, attendance, and data accuracy across sites, traveling between centers as needed.

Qualifications

• BA/BS degree in Human Services related field.
• Experience in social work field setting preferred.
• Able to work occasional evening and weekend hours.
• No record of child abuse or moral turpitude as determined by background check.
• Comfortable with various technological platforms and data systems.
• Ability to travel between sites independently.

Responsibilities

• Follows Partnership sites' rules and policies when in public-school environment.
• Participates in Partnership site meetings and events.
• Attends annual Partnership site parent orientation.
• Conduct two Head Start home visits per school year and support enrollment and family services.
• May be assigned to multiple Partnership school sites.
• Establishes relationships with local businesses and community organizations.
• Complete family pre-assessment within 90 days of enrollment and assist with Family Success Plan.
• Lead monthly family engagement events with staff and partner agencies.
• Recruit and document center volunteers and donations.
• Assist families with accessing publicly funded childcare benefits.
• Proactively recruit families to meet funded enrollment goals.
• Collaborate with Early Learning staff to ensure compliance.
• Attend agency-sponsored training and meetings.

Skills

Experience in social work

Evening/weekend hours flexibility

Background check clearance

Tech platforms and data systems

Travel between sites independently

Education

BA/BS degree in Human Services related field

Job description

At The Centers, meaningful work is grounded in a culture where people feel valued. As a 2026 USA TODAY Top Workplaces winner, the organization is nationally recognized, based entirely on employee feedback, for trust, purpose, and care. This position plays an important role in advancing our mission and supporting the communities we serve.

Job Summary

The Family Advocate serves as a staff member at their assigned partner sites. This position performs a variety of direct service and administrative tasks. The Partnership Family Advocate facilitates Family and Community Partnerships, Program Governance, and ERSEA (Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment, and Attendance) activities. The family advocate serves as a link between families, other center staff, and service area personnel; develops positive relationships with caregivers; and provides high-quality, responsive services to promote the achievement and well-being of each family member directly involved in the life of children enrolled in the Early Learning Program. The Partnership Family Advocate is an active member of the Family Support Team. Frequent travel between partner sites will be required.

Job Qualifications

• BA/BS degree in Human Services related field.
• Experience in social work field setting preferred.
• Able to work occasional evening and weekend hours.
• No record of child abuse or moral turpitude as determined by background check based on fingerprints.
• Comfortable with the utilization of various technological platforms and data systems.
• The ability to travel between sites independently.

Job Duties & Responsibilities

Partnership

• Follows Partnership sites' rules, regulations, and policies while working in the public-school environment, including procedures for entering and exiting the public-school environment.
• Participates and represents the Centers at Partnership site meetings and school events.
• Attends and participates in annual Partnership site parent orientation.
• Conduct two Head Start home visits per school year to Partnership site families and students, and make additional visits to support children's needs, address attendance concerns, complete enrollment, and assist with family services and paperwork.
• May be assigned to multiple Partnership school sites

Family & Community Engagement

• Establishes cooperative relationships with local businesses, agencies, and community organizations and completes and maintains up-to-date Community Partnership Agreements.
• Conducts home visits as needed to address attendance concerns, completion of enrollment, family services, and other paperwork.
• Support families in making a smooth transition into programs; connect them with appropriate Link families enrolled in the Early Learning program to internal and external community resources; provide or make referrals according to need.
• Complete family pre-assessment within 90 days of enrollment and facilitate the Family Success Plan/ Family Partnership Agreement process. Assist parents in setting goals and checking status according to required timelines.
• Lead monthly family engagement events with staff, families, and partner agencies such as Starting Point and UPK and submit parent planning documentation monthly.
• Recruits facilitate and document center volunteers and donations. Educate volunteers on the value of their participation in the Early Learning Program.
• Attends community meetings and events, creating linkages to community resources staff. Assist them with obtaining and maintaining publicly funded childcare benefits and navigating the Electronic Childcare system.
• Proactively recruit families to ensure funded enrollment goals are met at the site and throughout the agency; engage staff and parents for site-specific and organizational-wide efforts.
• Collaborates with Early Learning staff to ensure the site is ODJFS and SUTQ compliant.
• Attends agency-sponsored in-service training or seminars, training sessions, and meetings outside the agency as a method of gaining more experience and knowledge

Documentation and Progress Tracking

• Collaborates with the Enrollment team to complete eligibility and enrollment documentation, which includes an eligibility checklist for each child/family file.
• Maintains complete and accurate client files and case notes, records child health information, and ensures all required documents and signatures are obtained promptly.
• Documents and tracks follow-up needs such as Family Partnership Goals, health, dental, nutrition, growth assessments, and hearing and vision concerns.
• Track and report accurate attendance daily to ensure attendance can be analyzed and reported monthly. Provide support to families to address attendance barriers for children with an average daily attendance rate below 85% and follow up on absences.
• Complete family contacts and all data entry and documentation associated with the family in the data management system in a timely manner
• Collaborate with site staff to maintain center compliance and submit all documentation to the service areas as needed in a timely manner.

Other Job Duties and Responsibilities

• As a member of the site, collaborate with the site staff to ensure families and children are being served and safe
• Other duties as assigned.

About The Centers

The Centers provide health, family, and workforce services at 11 locations throughout Greater Cleveland, creating life-changing solutions for people to lead healthier and more successful lives. We strive to be a service-oriented workplace that pioneers and co-creates solutions while fostering belonging in a community where our team members thrive .

Our Early Learning Centers and programs provides high-quality care for children during the critical first2,000 daysof life byoperatingseven high-quality early learning centers, serving children birth through five years old, in Cleveland and the inner-ring suburbs. Because of ourhigh standards, all sites achieved a 5-Star rating on the Step-Up-To-Quality Rating and been recognized and selected to be part of Universal Prekindergarten (UPK) and PRE4CLE.

Wellbeing and Benefits

Providing quality benefits to our staff is important to us. Just as important is our staff’s well-being. That’s why we offer a number of choices to meet the different needs of our staff.

• Choice of medical and dental plans
• Health Savings Account
• Flexible Spending Account for Health and Dependent Care
• Vision
• Support for continuing education and credential renewal
• Life Insurance
• Retirement Savings (401k) with a company contribution
• Mental Health Support
• Employee Assistance Program
• Calm Subscription
• Short and Longterm Disability

The Centers is an Equal Opportunity Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.