Early Childhood Family Support Specialist - Ventura, United States - First 5 Ventura County

Description

Early Childhood /Family Support Specialist - Bilingual Preferred

(PACT Teacher)

We will begin to review resumes the 1st week of January 2024

Multiple positions throughout Ventura County

Background

First 5 Ventura County envisions a future where all Ventura County children are born healthy, thrive in nurturing environments, and enter school prepared and eager to learn.

Catalysts for systemic change, we partner with parents, school districts, community leaders, and social and healthcare agencies to develop a service system that meets community needs.

Our mission is to strengthen families, communities, and systems of care for children prenatal to 5 years through investments, expertise, and leadership, so all children reach their full potential.

First 5 Ventura County (F5VC) is part of a statewide voter initiative established under the California Children and Families Act of 1998 (Proposition 10), funded through an increased tax on tobacco products.

F5VC is a family-friendly, employee centric workplace, with policies designed to support working families. F5VC offers an excellent comprehensive benefits package.


First 5 Neighborhoods for Learning
Neighborhoods for Learning (NfLs) are resource hubs supporting children prenatal through age five and their families. NfLs offer Parent and Child Together (PACT) classes and resources for families with young children. Families can access developmental screenings, referrals, parent education, and more in familiar settings.


Position Description

The Early Childhood/Family Support Specialist, under the direction of the NfL Administrator, provides high-quality early learning and development resources for children birth to age 5 and their families, including delivering PACT classes, facilitating screenings, and offering family support services to support young children.

The Early Childhood/Family Support Specialist is highly trained within the specialized ECE field of physical, social, emotional, cognitive development and early learning.

The Specialist supports children and families in meeting basic needs through screenings, assessments, referral, and linkage to pertinent family resources.

Typical Duties and Responsibilities
Duties may include but are not limited to the following:
PACT and Family Support Services

• Implements PACT program using standardized structure in which staff will also model play, learning and positive interactions between parent/caregivers and children
• Promotes the Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework by incorporating the Five Protective Factors in all PACT and family support services
• Implements standard screening tools (eg. ASQ and basic needs) and follows established processes for providing next steps/referrals for identified needs
• Utilizes Infant/Toddler and Preschool Learning Development Foundations to plan structured and unstructured activities based on session topic, agegroup focus, and individual child needs
• Incorporates age appropriate activities that support identified needs of children
• Facilitates opportunities for children to interact with parent/caregiver and other children as well as parents/caregivers to interact with each other
• Ensures the safety of each child and parent enrolled in the class whether in the classroom, on the playground, or in the common areas
• Provides a safe, nurturing, and clean environment for children and their families
• Develops and implements weekly lesson plans
• Engages in conversations as appropriate with parents/caregivers around additional referrals and services that families need to support positive child development/growth
• Maintains a variety of confidential and nonconfidential records (e.g. activity logs, phone logs, community resources, etc.)
• Organizes activities (e.g. parent meetings, events) that support parents and celebrating the diversity of the community
• Refers children and their families to outside agencies (e.g. state agencies, medical professionals, counselors, foundations, charities, etc.)

Community Partnership and Collaboration

• Strategically engages families and organizations to identify service gaps, and delivers services that reach underserved communities in a culturally relevant way
• Responds to inquiries from a variety of internal and external sources (e.g. parents, students, teachers, staff, outside agencies, etc.)
• Supports program evaluation and routinely collects data.
• Supports dissemination of pertinent program information to parents and key community partners/stakeholders.

Organizational Capacity

• Participates in professional development activities to keep abreast of best practices and trends in for children prenatal to age 5 and their families
• Delivers PACT programs on an ongoing basis, participating in a culture of learning, and continuous quality improvement
• Provides programmatic feedback for future program planning
• Manages special projects and performs other duties as required
• Regular