What are the responsibilities and job description for the Family Advocate - Head Start position at The Centers?
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 link between families, the staff at The Centers, service area personnel, and community resources. The role involves establishing positive relationships with caregivers and delivering high-quality, direct services to support the well-being and success of each family member participating in the Early Learning program. Responsibilities include facilitating Family and Community Partnerships and assisting with Program Governance, Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment, and Attendance activities. The Family Advocate is specifically assigned to support a particular Early Learning center and is an active member of the Family Support Team and has a dotted line supervision to the Site Manager.
Job Qualifications
Family & Community Engagement
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 first 2,000 days of life by operating seven high-quality early learning centers, serving children birth through five years old, in Cleveland and the inner-ring suburbs. Because of our high 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.
Job Summary
The Family Advocate serves as a link between families, the staff at The Centers, service area personnel, and community resources. The role involves establishing positive relationships with caregivers and delivering high-quality, direct services to support the well-being and success of each family member participating in the Early Learning program. Responsibilities include facilitating Family and Community Partnerships and assisting with Program Governance, Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment, and Attendance activities. The Family Advocate is specifically assigned to support a particular Early Learning center and is an active member of the Family Support Team and has a dotted line supervision to the Site Manager.
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.
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
- 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
- As a member of the site, collaborate with the site staff to ensure families and children are served and safe.
- Maintain center compliance in the Family Support service area and submit all documentation to the Family and Community Engagement Manager and other service areas as needed.
- Other duties as assigned
- Certification in CPR/First Aid, Communicable Disease, Child Abuse, and Neglect Prevention is required upon hire.
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 first 2,000 days of life by operating seven high-quality early learning centers, serving children birth through five years old, in Cleveland and the inner-ring suburbs. Because of our high 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