Position Overview

The Family Services Coach supports embedded professional development of family services staff to ensure Family Advocates and Parent Educators case management and family support strategies are effective in helping families become self-sufficient and increase their engagement at school. The Family Services Coach collaborates with family services and program leadership to ensure family support services comply with Office of Head Start Performance Standards, and Next Door policies and procedures.

Responsibilities/Duties/Functions/Tasks

Be committed to the vision and mission of Next Door. Promote a culture of professionalism, collaboration, and continuous improvement. Structure routine contexts for individual and group-based professional development for family advocates and parent educators to work collaboratively to reflect on and examine practice, solve application challenges and promote continuous learning and improvement in professional practice, research, and family and child outcomes. Specifically;

• Provides mentorship and coaching to collaboratively assist family support staff in delivering effective family-centered strategies and provide quality feedback regarding family support and learning opportunities.
• Collaborates with Family Support and Parent Educator Supervisors to develop coaching plans to support the individual and group needs of family advocates and parent educators. Discusses and helps family advocates and parent educators to perform and implement the plans. Schedules and protects time for regular collaboration among the family support team to review Strengths and Needs Assessments, Family Partnership Agreements, reflect on family outcomes progress and family support practices, and plan for family interactions and engagement opportunities.
• Supports family support staff through planning and implementing of appropriate family-centered practices.
• Co-facilitates or coordinates Collaborative Family-Centered Planning Meetings for family advocates and parent educators to unpack The Head Start Parent, Family and Community Engagement (PFCE) framework and its implementation and compliance at Next Door. During these meetings, the team will discuss family outcomes data, examine practices and together design innovative engaging experiences, family-centered approaches to support families, encourage peer-to-peer support, and monitor Positive Parenting for Families curriculum implementation.
• Facilitates or coordinates reflective practice groups or communities of practice for family advocates and parent educators to engage in shared reflection, inquiry and professional learning.
• Implements a variety of coaching strategies for increasing family support staff skills and core competence. This may include modeling, observing, providing reading materials or other resources as needed, training, and reflective practices.
• Supports family advocates and parent educators in using data to improve parent and family engagement. Facilitate data conversations that analyze family outcomes and identify next steps, and support family advocates and parent educators in implementing their action plan and monitoring progress between assessments or Collaborative Family-Centered Planning meetings.
• Provides workshops, training and/or technical assistance in family development topics and other targeted skills.
• Supports staff in the arrangement and utilization of the indoor and outdoor environments to maximize family support practices for children.
• Facilitates the use of technology to aid in the tracking of coaching and Family Support staff practices and outcomes.
• Assists Director of Family Services in planning, developing, and monitoring program services, policies and procedures. 
• Conducts home visit and other family support observations, as well as observations using SWIVL and Home Visiting Rating Scales (HOVRS) tools. Participates in the HOVRS observation debrief with the Parent Educator Supervisors, Director of Family Services and the family advocates and parent educators.
• Participates in efforts to engage and involve parents with the program, staff, and children’s development and learning.
• Assists in the development and implementation of the annual training plan, including pre-service, in-service, T/TA, and ongoing training requirements including identification of training opportunities.
• Creates and develops learning and training tools for onboarding and ongoing training for staff.
• Attends and actively participates in training programs, staff meetings, and other meeting/trainings.
• Participates in ongoing monitoring, Community Assessment and Self-Assessment and performs reasonable related functions.
• Collaborates with other coaches to support integration of coaching practices and cross program coordination and training at Next Door. Support implementation of all Head Start/Early Head Start performance standards, state and local licensing requirements, YoungStar/accreditation and other funder requirements related to family support practices are met.
• Participates in the development of program policies, service delivery plans, and ongoing monitoring of program quality.
• Ensures all assigned program area reports are completed and submitted on a timely basis.
• Maintains coaching documentation that provides a primary focus upon data-driven high quality teacher practice.

Accountability and Performance Requirement

All staff members are accountable for knowing and performing the responsibilities associated with their individual position in an efficient and effective manner, understanding that each of us plays an integral role in the success of our mission. All staff will support the agency mission, vision, standards of conduct/code of ethics and strategic directions and support administrative decisions. This must be demonstrated by maintaining a positive work environment, and by behaving and communicating in an appropriate manner with children, families, coworkers, supervisors and the public while achieving performance expectations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work or other Human Services related field.
• Direct experience working with families (at least 5 years of experience).
• The incumbent must have access to a personal vehicle to use on a daily basis, maintain a valid driver's license and automobile insurance with liability limits of $300,000 (bodily injury) and $25,000 (property damage for each occurrence).

Special Position Requirements

• Family Services Coach must be certified as Family Development Credential Train-the-Trainer, or be willing to obtain certification within 6 months of hire.

Preferences

• Master’s Degree in Social Work.
• Licensed Social Worker.

Work Requirements

• Other duties as assigned.

Safety and Health

Next Door is committed to providing a safe work environment and fostering the well-being and health of its employees. An essential part of all employees’ job is the development of safe working practices and the observance of safety rules, including:

• Following safety warnings and directions at all times.
• Using personal safety devices when required.
• Reporting any unsafe conditions to their supervisor.
• Following process for reporting suspected child abuse and neglect.
• Reporting unsupervised children, after ensuring child’s safety.
• Implement active supervision practices at all times, including transitions and socializations.

Physical Demands

• Primarily active work; occasionally lifting, holding or moving up to 50 lbs.
• A biannual physical exam, drug screen and TB test are required as a condition of initial employment and continued employment.

Physical Activity

• Bending, stooping, kneeling, sitting on the floor, walking/transporting, handling, climbing, balancing, crouching, crawling, talking and speaking clearly, hearing conversation level, smelling, and seeing; ability to interact daily with children outdoors in varied weather condition.

Work Environment

• Mainly classroom/office setting and travel to various sites for meetings and/or trainings.

Personal/Physiological

• Ability to make frequent, significant decisions to understand and react to the employees and candidates. 
• Ability to respond quickly and competently to an emergency or crisis situation in order to keep children and staff safe.