Supervised Parenting Family Specialist

Who We Are

FamilyWise has been keeping children safe and helping families lead stable, healthy and productive lives since 1976. Our programs help families build resiliency, identify and harness their strengths, and connect to other resources. We promote individual and community-led actions that enhance supports for children, parents, and families across Minnesota.

Why You'll Love Working Here

Our mission is to strengthen families by promoting the safety, stability, and wellbeing of children, and our vision is for a world where every child thrives. As a multi-service, multi-cultural agency, FamilyWise focuses on nurturing children, families, and communities through culturally competent services. Our staff reflect the communities we serve through shared lived experiences and cultural background, and many can provide services in languages other than English. Our programs focus on natural supports, experiential learning, education, and a therapeutic approach with expertise in trauma-effective care.

Wages And Benefits

$20.00 per hour; Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST); FWS sponsors a retirement plan with 3% employer match and immediate vesting.

Schedule

The work week for this position is flexible as you create your own schedule within your caseload, with some evening and weekend availability needed. There are required bi-weekly team meetings on Monday evenings and the candidate must have reliable transportation for in-home and community visits.

A Typical Day in the Life...

A typical day as FamilyWise's Supervised Parenting Family Specialist provides an opportunity to foster the development of healthy family relationships by facilitating visitations and providing parent education to the families served, and will include the following:

Direct Client Service

• Identifying families' strengths, needs, and natural support systems through screening upon their arrival for parenting time.
• Managing family conflict by supporting parents in problem-solving and assisting in de-escalation strategies.
• Providing a secure, safe, clean, and neutral environment to ensure positive experiences for parents and their children.
• Assessing parents' and families' social, emotional, and cognitive skills.
• Teaching parent education sessions based on curriculum and expertise.
• Conducting parenting observations and providing parents with feedback on their interaction skills.
• Modeling appropriate social skills for parents and their children while identifying parenting skills.
• Providing life skills education to increase parental capacity for positive family dynamics.
• Providing feedback to parents regarding age-appropriate boundary setting, discipline, empathy, family roles, and nurturing skills.

Case Management

• Completing intakes and managing family communication regarding problem-solving, scheduling, and other family requests.
• Preparing timely documentation and recalling facts in a clear and concise manner.
• Using technology for documentation purposes.
• Maintaining data for families in the database on an immediate basis.
• Attending all appropriate collateral meetings with other professionals and referring agencies.
• Developing and implementing service plans with participants.
• Coordinating and communicating with county workers, referring partners, and other stakeholders.
• Facilitating meetings with families, professionals, and natural support systems.
• Collaborating with community partners.

Who You Are:

• You have a B.A. or B.S. in Early Childhood Development, Child Psychology, Family Social Science, Special Education, or a related human services field. (A two-year degree with 2 years of experience providing parenting services will also be considered.)
• You bring 2-3 years of experience (preferred) in child development, abuse/neglect services, or parent education, using intervention methods for children with special needs.
• You have experience working with culturally and racially diverse populations in lower socio-economic conditions.

What You Bring:

• You are bi-lingual in Hmong, Somali, or Spanish (highly valued).
• You have strong organizational skills and can manage multiple priorities effectively.
• You maintain positive working relationships with co-workers and the general public, using good judgment in recognizing the scope of authority.
• You have excellent written and oral communication skills.
• You are flexible and able to work evenings and weekends as needed.
• You have a thorough understanding of parenting and child development issues.
• You bring an intentional work ethic and thrive in a team-oriented environment.
• You can work independently, establish priorities, and meet deadlines.
• You have a valid driver's license, access to reliable transportation, and the ability to meet FamilyWise's driving record requirements.

Diversity and open expression are fundamental to the work of FamilyWise Services. We are passionate about building and sustaining an inclusive and equitable working environment where everyone can belong. Every member of our team enriches our work by exposing us to a broad range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and to discover, design, and deliver solutions. We welcome everyone to apply, especially those individuals who are underrepresented in our sector: individuals who identify as BIPOC, Indigenous or people of culture, LGBTQI and gender fluid or gender nonconforming, individuals with disabilities (both seen and unseen), veterans, people of any age or family status. We encourage you to apply even if you feel like you don't fit 100% of the technical requirements. Equal Opportunity Employer: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, disability, marital status, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, familial status, genetic information or a protected veteran's status.

Our organization has a partnership with Metropolitan Alliance of Connected Communities (MACC) to provide administrative services including management of the hiring process. If you apply for this position, you may see references to MACC in some online materials.

FamilyWise Services participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you're authorized to work in the U.S. See E-Verify's official poster at https://e-verify.uscis.gov/web/media/resourcesContents/E-Verify_Participation_Poster_ES.pdf. See E-Verify's Right to Work poster at https://www.e-verify.gov/sites/default/files/everify/posters/IER_RightToWorkPoster Eng_Es.pdf.