Summary 

This position provides educational home visits and support to families of young children in order to increase healthy parent-child interaction, increase parental self-efficacy, reduce parental stress, and promote the healthy physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development of very young children.  

This position is part of the Children and Youth Services Team in the Family Programs Department at Simpson Housing Services. The goal of the team is to break generational cycles of poverty by partnering with parents to support their children’s success, stability, and wellbeing. Working with the parents and family support specialist, this position provides parenting education and strengths-based, relational support to facilitate the growth of parents’ capacities through evidence-based curriculum, methods and practices. 

This position will spend an average of 40 hours per month in direct, client-facing services, with a minimum of 80% of these hours spent implementing the Family Spirit Home Visiting Curriculum Services will be provided in participant homes. Participant populations may include those with chemical health challenges, criminal histories, and/or parenting challenges.  

The Early Childhood Specialist assists families to reach the following goals: 

1. Parents will increase their knowledge about healthy child development and effective parenting.
2. Parents will demonstrate increased confidence and self-efficacy as parents, along with reduced stress. 
3. Families will be connected to community resources, especially high-quality early learning centers and supportive services for children with developmental delays.
4. Children will develop the social, emotional, and cognitive skills necessary to be successful in Kindergarten. 

Responsibilities 

Provide direct home-based parent education to support healthy early childhood development: 

• Implement Family Spirit Core Curriculum with fidelity (including timing, frequency, and sequence of lessons) to parents and caregivers of children pre-natal to age 3. 

• Implement Family Spirit Thrive Curriculum with fidelity (including timing, frequency, and sequence of lessons) to parents and caregivers of children age 3 to age 5. 

• Incorporate family culture, tradition, life histories, and strengths into delivery of lessons. 

• Provide evidence-based health education related to substance use, immunizations, STIs, family planning, and child development. 

Support wellbeing and development of children: 

• Assist parents in establishing healthy and safe environments and parenting practices that promote the optimal development of children. 

• Identify individual family strengths and needs to assist families in setting individualized plans and achieving goals for child and family development. 

• Provide experiences and activities to engage families to better understand social and emotional development, and promote health, physical, language and cognitive development. 

• Promote parent/child communication techniques that support language/literacy skills of children. 

Initiate and sustain effective community connections and resources: 

• Complete required parent assessments, including mental health, chemical health, and domestic violence questionnaires.  Interpret these results for parents and incorporate them into goal planning and/or connection to resources. 

• Complete ASQ, ASQ:SE, and PICCOLO assessments to assess age appropriate social/emotional, cognitive, language, and physical development and parent-child interactions.  Interpret these results for parents and incorporate them into goal planning and/or connection to resources. 

• Work with parents to connect to early intervention services and other early childhood education supports, including high quality childcare, childcare assistance funding, Kindergarten screenings, etc. 

• Coordinate and collaborate with external service providers and Simpson staff to ensure effective, coordinated, and non-duplicative services. 

Work as part of an effective team to meet goals of program: 

• Collaborate with family support specialists to recruit and coordinate services for families. 

• Communicate and coordinate services with all team members. Attend weekly team meetings, other required meetings. Assist with workshops and family events as needed. 

• Participate in professional meetings, workshops, and networking events, including, but not limited to: Reflective Supervision groups, Family Spirit Community Advisory Board, communities of practice, and professional development opportunities. 

Complete accurate and thorough documentation and recordkeeping in a timely manner: 

• Ensure all client interactions are documented within three business days.   

• Maintain complete and accurate case files, including necessary forms and records of assessments and referrals. 

• Comply with all HIPAA and agency data privacy policies. 

• Collect records and other data as needed for reporting program objectives. 

• Maintain accurate records including employee time sheets and mileage reimbursement 

Job Requirements: 

• Bachelor’s degree OR two years of experience OR equivalent combination of education and experience in Public Health, Nursing, Family Sciences or related field.  
• Demonstrated knowledge of developmentally appropriate Infant and Early Child Development, Principles and Practices of Maternal and Child Health, Safety and Nutrition, Family Dynamics and Positive Parenting Skills. 

• Driver’s License and Car is required. 

• Must attend a Family Spirit Curriculum training within the first 6 months of employment; training attendance may require travel out of state. 

Desired: 

• Two or more years of experience providing parent education or health education, preferably in a home visiting setting.   

• Knowledge of mental health, chemical dependency, domestic violence. 

• Training in working with low-income families, diverse populations, and those who are homeless.