SUMMARY

Family Support Specialists (FSS) Bilingual Preferred in the Healthy Families TN and Nurturing Parenting programs are responsible for building trusting relationships with families and utilizing this connection to support families in identifying strengths and barriers, accessing resources, and obtaining the knowledge and skills to achieve their goals. Family Support Specialists are focused on the health and well-being of parents and their children. Family Support Specialists serve families individually in their homes and in group settings. The Family Support Specialist will be serving families in Anderson and Union Counties.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provide intensive, long-term home visiting services to parents according to HFA and HFT guidelines
• Conduct family assessments and screenings, develop individual family service plans and provide brief interventions, solicit community referrals, advocate on behalf of families and follow-up as needed
• Prepare and implement individualized curriculum from available materials focusing on parent health and wellness, child health and development, positive parenting skills, educational and vocational achievement, and life skills
• Provide supportive services to participants, while also increasingly encouraging families to utilize more informal and community resources
• Maintain flexibility in order to schedule home visits at times that are convenient for the family
• Conduct outreach and regularly participate in engagement activities
• Promote, adhere, and demonstrate our organization's values
• Maintain regular and reliable attendance
• Maintain an overall home visiting caseload as determined by Healthy Families TN and contract guidelines
• Acquire and maintain Infant Mental Health Endorsement
• Facilitate individual or small group Nurturing Parenting sessions as needed
• Keep all documentation up-to-date and accurate, including electronic web-based records and paper records
• As member of team, plan, develop, and implement groups/activities/events at times that work best for participants
• Participate in weekly reflective supervision, staff meetings, trainings, program evaluation activities, and workshops
• Assist with child abuse prevention month activities
• Participate in major fundraising events benefitting NTN, community awareness events that promote the agency and programs, and program activities of the organization no matter the individual role
• Represent the agency at community, civic or other public functions and attend quarterly site visits
• Follow organizational policies
• Participate in agency ad-hoc committees as appropriate and needed
• Other duties as assigned

EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE

Graduation from an accredited high school or equivalent program with experience working with children and families. College education in social work, early childhood education or similar social services field preferred. Infant mental health endorsement preferred.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience in working with or providing supportive services to young children and families
• Experience and humility to work with a culturally diverse population; Demonstrated acceptance of individual differences and practice of inclusion
• Ability to establish trusting relationships and utilize basic supportive skills
• Ability to approach families from a strengths-based and family-centered service model
• Knowledge of infant and child development and parent-child attachment principles
• Awareness of needs of low-income families and multi-stressed families
• Ability to learn and integrate into teaching/ coaching, material related to service delivery
• Willingness to engage in building reflective capacity (e.g., capacity for introspection, communicating awareness of self in relation to others, recognizing value of supervision, etc.)
• Ability to maintain professional boundaries while providing supportive services
• Willingness to work non-standard business hours as needed and scheduled
• Ability to self-direct daily work tasks and practice effective time management
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and ability to collaborate as part of a team
• Microsoft Office, email, internet; Must be able to meet documentation requirements
• Reliable transportation and valid driver’s license

PHYSICAL DEMANDS & WORK ENVIRONMENT

The physical demands and work environment described is representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Accommodations requests can be made with the CHRO.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to position themselves in a sitting position, talk, and/or hear (with or without aide). The employee is regularly required to remain stationary, use hands to finger, handle, or feel and reach with hands or arms. The employee is frequently required to keyboard and enter data at a computer. The employee is frequently required to operate a motor vehicle, move throughout homes or buildings and may be required to climb stairs in family homes and in a variety of community-based and home settings. The employee must learn new tasks, remember processes, maintain focus, complete tasks independently, make timely decisions in the context of a workflow, communicate with program participants and community partners. The FSS must have the ability to complete tasks with speed in situations that ensures the safety of children. Employees must move supplies and equipment up to 40 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include vision, ability to adjust focus and operate a vehicle safety. The employee must have access to reliable transportation. Employees are required daily to remain alert and engaged to safely operate vehicles and ensure the safety of small children. The work environment includes indoor office environments or comparable spaces, families' homes and community spaces, with frequent exposure to outdoor weather when traveling to home visits and meetings. The noise level varies by sites, home visits and meetings.

TRAVEL

Occasional out-of-area and overnight travel may be expected.