Family Support Specialist

Family Support Specialist

Program Description: 

The Child First model is an evidence-based, two-generation intervention that works with very vulnerable young children (prenatal through age 5 years) and their families, providing intensive, home-based services to decrease the incidence of serious mental health problems, developmental and learning disabilities, and abuse and neglect. Child First provides (1) a psychotherapeutic, dyadic intervention to strengthen the parent-child relationship, and (2) care coordination to connect the family to needed services and supports. Child First has been recognized as an evidence-based home visiting model by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program and rated “Effective” by the National Registry for Effective Programs and Practice (NREPP) of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA). 

Summary of Position: 

The Family Support Specialist partners with a licensed/ licensed-eligible Mental Health and Developmental Clinician to engage families who are referred to the Child First home-based intervention. The Family Support Provider plays a crucial role in stabilizing the entire family system, while the Clinician provides psychotherapeutic caregiver-child intervention to facilitate and enhance this critical relationship. Working together, the assigned Family Support Provider and Clinician make up one of four Clinical Teams who report to the same Clinical Director.

The Family Support Provider takes the lead in connecting the child and family with desired, community-based services and supports while maintaining Child First’s reflective, relationship-based stance. The Family Support Provider also enhances caregiver executive functioning skills (e.g., planning, organizing, managing time, focusing attention, regulating emotions, reflecting on progress) and engages in interactive play with young children in the home. Ultimately, through connecting to family resources, the Family Support Partner both decreases the “toxic” stress in the home environment and enhances opportunities for optimal child development, thereby promoting healthy brain development for infants and young children. 

Behavioral Health: 

• Engage with the Child First family and the Clinician in the collaborative family assessment process (i.e., use data from interviews, observations, interactions, and standardized measures to identify family strengths, needs, and challenges). 
• Enhance caregiver executive functioning skills (e.g., planning, organizing, managing time, focusing attention, regulating emotions, reflecting on progress) as needed and in consultation with the Clinician and Clinical Supervisor. 
• Maintain a reflective lens when engaging with the caregiver, in order to understand his/her motivation, needs, and possible barriers to new services and supports. 
• Collaborate closely with Child First Clinician to meet the needs of Child First families. 
• Embrace use of videotaping to enhance both therapeutic work with families and reflective clinical supervision. 
• Provide identified child and/or other children in the family with an interactive, growth promoting play experience. 

Case Management: 

• Provide community resource expertise to Child First team and families, including identifying and collaborating with community-based service providers and supports. 
• Promote family stabilization by identifying all needed and desired services, integrating service needs into the Child and Family Plan of Care, and addressing barriers to services as they arise. 
• Avert crisis by assisting Child First family in times of urgent need (e.g., eviction). 
• Engage in weekly individual, Team, and group reflective clinical supervision with Clinical Supervisor. 
• Engage actively in all aspects of the Child First Learning Collaborative, including in-person trainings, distance learning curriculum, and specialty trainings. 
• Track completion of all assessments and enter into the appropriate database. 
• Keep all appropriate documentation for clinical accountability and reimbursement. 
• Participate in other clinical and administrative activities as appropriate. 

Supervisory duties: 

• None.

Knowledge, skills, and abilities:     

• Strong written and oral communication skills via phone and face-to-face. 
• Understand HIPAA, protected health information, and confidentiality. 
• Proven ability to work with a high level of independence, maintain confidentiality, prioritize assignments, and manage time effectively. 
• Openness to learning, capacity for self-reflection, and eagerness to participate in reflective clinical supervision. 
• Knowledge of early childhood development, parent education, parent-child relationships, and individual, family, and community-level risk factors (e.g., poverty, homelessness, maternal depression, domestic violence, substance abuse, teen parenthood). 
• Knowledge of and experience with community-based services and supports in service area, highly valued. 
• Be committed to building trust and engagement with individuals and families from diverse backgrounds. 
• Strong conflict resolution skills. 
• Practice cultural awareness and a commitment to diversity and equity. 
• Demonstrates rational decision-making skills. 
• Knowledge of parenting skills, childhood developmental stages, and similar. 

Education: 

• A confirmed Bachelor’s degree in child development, psychology, nursing, human services, or related field. 

Experience:    

• Experience working with culturally diverse families and young children under the age of six years. 
• Experience working in home and community-based settings with vulnerable populations of diverse cultures and ethnicities. 
• A bi-lingual (Spanish, Portuguese, Creole, other speaking) applicant is preferred depending upon position location. 
• Working with children and families (ages 0-5): 1 year (Preferred) 

Additional Requirements: 

• A valid driver’s license and proof of automobile insurance are required. 

Salary:  $26.44-31.25 (Equivalent to $55,000-$65,000/year)

Benefits:   

• Health, dental, vision, and life insurance
• Flexible work hours
• Discretionary Time Off (DTO)
• 401(k)retirement plan
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Professional development support
•  Referral bonuses

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Salary : $55,000 - $65,000