Family Services Assistant

The person in this position works closely with Early Head Start teams to assist in meeting Head Start Program Performance Standards in the areas of health and parent engagement. Completing program applications, recruiting families and maintaining waitlists for assigned counties, the Family Services Assistant is responsible for creating connections with local agencies and community members. Establishing working relationships with medical office staff, Family Services Assistant collects well child documentation and medical follow-up for each enrolled child and enters information into appropriate data bases. Following program timelines, Family Services Assistant performs vision and hearing screens on newly enrolled children and enters results into appropriate data bases.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Family Support:

• Initiate and build relationships with Early Head Start families, as the first point of contact. Create a bridge to resources for families that present needs during initial or subsequent home visits.
• In cooperation with other team members, work with families to remove barriers or obstacles to obtaining health care and follow up services.
• In the extended absence of a Home Visitor, assist Home-Based Team Leader in maintaining contact to support families. This may include completing home visits with prescribed resource kits and topics.
• Assist in planning and implementation of parent meetings, as requested.

Eligibility, Enrollment, and Attendance:

• Identifying and recruit children and prenatal enrollees for the Early Head Start.
• Participate in planning and implementation of community events for active recruitment.
• Complete applications for Early Head Start/Head Start in family homes and during recruitment events.
• Establish professional relationships with partnering agencies to build referral sources.
• Document recruitment efforts and collaborate with Head Start program teams.

Child Health Tracking and Support:

• Maintain knowledge and a working understanding of Early Head Start health requirements and Head Start Program Performance Standards.
• Establish relationships and develop rapport with medical professionals to ensure services and required paperwork is completed and received.
• Send appointment reminders to parents as needed.
• Communicate with Early Head Start team members to ensure any missing health screens have documentation of efforts to obtain or support parents in completing.
• Complete hearing and vision screens on all newly enrolled children within 45 days. Document all efforts in database and follow up, as directed.

Program Data Management:

• Review and tally In-kind Reports on Family Activity Plans for each Home Visitor and run required reports.
• Accurately enter health information into database, upload needed documentation, and generate reports.
• According to prescribed timelines, gather all application documents, formulate income calculations, and accurately enter information into program database.

Community Collaboration:

• Advocate in the community for Early Head Start and families.
• Maintain knowledge of and familiarity with community resources.
• Represent Early Head Start on local workgroups, agency committees, and advisory groups whenever possible.

Team and Peer Support:

• Participate with all team members in fulfilling team goals.
• Participate in the self-assessment process.
• Support teams by providing support and training for New Hire and Onboarding Plan for Family Services Assistants.
• Regularly schedule office time in each of the assigned counties to build and maintain relationships with Home Visitors, and Head Start staff when applicable.
• Communicate, weekly, with Home-Based Team Leader and/or Licensed Practical Nurse to confirm follow up on needed tasks.

Professional Growth:

• Attend, as directed, local and area staff meetings/trainings, orientation, pre-service, and/or other pertinent conferences, workshops and college course work.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education and Experience:

High School Diploma / GED and one year experience in similar position with proven organizational capabilities, good communications skills (verbal and written) and general knowledge of computer word processing, data base and participant tracking programs required. Associate Degree, or coursework in Business Services or related field, is preferred.

Certificates, Licenses, Registrations:

Reliable transportation and a valid Michigan driver license are required.

• To keep you healthy: Medical/Rx, Vision & Dental insurance plan at no cost for employee with small cost-share for family coverage.
• To help prepare you for the future: 401(k), Life & Disability Insurance
• For Work/Life balance: Paid lunch hours, numerous holidays, generous vacation time and sick days.
• Student Loans: Employment with NEMCSA may qualify you for student loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.

For Current Employees:

Log in to UKG, select the Menu, the MyInfo tab, down to My Career, and click Search For Jobs.

Mission of the agency:

Enhancing quality of life by empowering individuals and strengthening communities.