Educare Chicago provides high-quality care, best-in-class education, and a stimulating learning environment to children from birth to five years old on Chicago’s South Side. As a program that serves low-income families, Educare’s research-based program helps children develop the literacy, language, early math, and social-emotional skills they need to succeed in kindergarten and beyond.

We are recruiting individuals who want to join us in this mission and share a commitment to our core values of appreciation & respect, empowerment, diversity, excellence, learning and communication.

Become part of our rewarding, mission-driven culture! We want our employees to feel empowered, motivated, energized, and passionate about the work they do!

Reporting to the Family Engagement Supervisor, you will:

Engage families of enrolled children in activities, practices, and services that support parents as the primary nurturer, experts, and teachers of their child in order to promote and sustain their child’s academic learning and development and life success.

Responsibilities:

• Identify and develop community partnerships to help support family access to additional community resources in the following core areas.
• Activities/strategies that promote and enhance the parent-child relationship. Activities/strategies that engage parents in discussions about their child’s growth and development. Providing parents information and opportunities to learn about concrete things they can do to promote their child’s learning. Activities/strategies that encourage parents’ involvement in the education of their child and in their child’s school both at Educare Chicago and in the K-8 system. This includes helping parents recognize and expect “quality education”; know how to access quality elementary schools; and learn how to advocate for a quality education for their child.
• Activities and strategies that support parents in achieving family and community outcomes. Develop and maintain meaningful, supportive and educational relationships with families to help promote self-sufficiency skills and positive outcomes for their children. Collaborate with families to establish comprehensive Family Partnership Agreements. Monitor progress toward family goal completion.
• Recruit and enroll families into programs at Educare Chicago. Perform at least one weekly form of recruitment per month to increase interest in the program and to assist in building a waitlist or fill vacancies within 30 days.
• Design, implement, and monitor family development; encourage parent involvement through family meetings and provide adult education opportunities throughout the program. Use Parent Curriculum, Parents As Teachers, to implement 8 annual meetings with families. Conduct periodic home visits to assess the family resources and needs. Collaborate with internal team to monitor, track and coordinate services for children and families. Research and attend at least one community meeting per month.
• Track and document child and parent information in ChildPlus, including, but not limited to: case note documentation, health data, enrollment data, and program information data to provide interventions and resources to families. Collaborate with the Health Service Coordinator to ensure children are current on required health events. Monitor child attendance and establish Attendance Plans with ERSEA specialist when a child has a chronic attendance issue.
• Collaborate with teachers to implement two interdisciplinary home visits and two parent teacher conferences. Create interdisciplinary teams to coordinate services for families. Perform additional job-related duties as assigned.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work or related field. Master’s Degree in Social Work preferred. Or, within 18 months of hire, obtain a Gateways Family Services Credential or Social Work Credential. Related Experience:
• Minimum of one to three years of experience working with families in a community-based Early Head Start/Head Start or family support program. Obtain 15 hours of continuing education annually.
• Knowledge of programs and systems that serve children, families, low-income communities, and communities where Head Start/Early Head Start families live.
• Ability to engage culturally diverse populations.
• Organized thinker with exceptional attention to detail. Excellent communication skills, both verbally and in writing.
• Ability to establish supportive relationships with children and families from diverse backgrounds.
• Knowledge of community resources and capacity to develop community cooperation to ensure that families receive comprehensive services.
• Knowledge of Head Start Performance Standards and Department of Human Services Child Care program guidelines and Illinois TANF regulations.
• Ability to work in general office and classroom conditions. Exposed to moderate noise levels. Physical Requirements:

Base Annual Salary $52,000-$55,000

We believe that all employees should be paid fairly and equitably. As of the time of this posting, this is the expected base annual salary range. The base annual salary will be based on a wide range of factors, including skills, qualifications, experience, as well as business needs and limitations.

Our generous benefit plan includes:

Comprehensive Health Plans, Commitment to Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, Holistic Wellness Program, Professional Development Program, 401k Contribution, Paid Volunteer Days, 6-months paid parental leave and much more.

Start Early is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to our core values by creating an inclusive environment for all staff.