Recruiter & Family Advocate I, II

SUMMARY OF PRIMARY FUNCTION:

The Recruiter & Family Advocate, at the local level, serves as the program recruiter, social services and parent involvement aide, child/family advocate, and primary liaison between families, the community, other service agencies. The Recruiter & Family Advocate assists in assuring program goals are met and practices comply with Head Start Performance Standards and other program components.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Identification and Recruitment

1. Identifies, recruits, and enrolls eligible children/families in comprehensive child/family programs including Head Start and Early Head Start.
2. Proactively establishes contacts and connections with public and private community agencies to facilitate effective program operations and follow-up.
3. Enhances family/community awareness of the program through local advertising.
4. Contacts local community agencies and secures their permission to recruit children/families on their premises.
5. Explains to families the educational, health, nutritional, and social benefits of the program and informs them of their civil rights.
6. Requests and records information on all documentation necessary to certify eligibility.
7. Provides information to parents about the various program services and their child’s program activities.
8. Provides appropriate translation/interpretation necessary for effective communication.
9. Provides communication and coordination with families, and public/private community agencies to disseminate all program information, which relates to or involves the families.
10. Maintains informed of family patterns, needs and issues. Identifies and proposes changes in services to meet needs. Communicates needs and issues to Family & Community Services Manager.
11. Fully understands all forms pertaining to the job and how each form is to be correctly completed.
12. Contacts potential employers (growers-farmers, nurseries, contractors, Human Resources/Personnel Managers, etc.) in order to provide leads regarding location of children.
13. Conducts personal interviews with heads of potential households and other sources, completing the application.
14. Obtains parent/guardian/self-signature for all eligible families/individuals.
15. Determines family eligibility based on an interview with the head of household or another responsible person.

Resource Development

1. Serves as the primary liaison between families, the community, other service agencies and the local project.
2. Acts as a direct communication link between the project and families.
3. Acts as a liaison/link between the school/community and the community/migrant/low income population.
4. Serves as liaison between Center staff and the family of a child with a suspected/diagnosed disability throughout the process of identification and diagnosis of the disability, local service planning, implementation and follow-up.
5. Develops/ updates community resource directory to provide for families.

Family Partnership

1. Makes contact with both mothers and fathers, as applicable to develop ongoing relationships.
2. In partnership with families, develops and supports plans that describe families’ strengths, resources, and needed services.
3. Conducts culturally and linguistically responsive outreach and recruitment to parents and expectant families.
4. Provides intake and orientation materials to families that are culturally and linguistically appropriate.
5. Connects families with opportunities that support safety, financial literacy, health, and family wellness.
6. Links parents to training that contributes to self-sufficiency and to reaching goals around their education and/or career training.
7. Talks with families about their vital role in their children’s health, development and learning.
8. Supports Health Staff in supporting parents in advocating for their child’s health.
9. Offers learning materials for children and parents that reflect families’ cultures, encourages family members to visit, observe, and volunteer in the program.
10. Provides families with appropriate information, training and connections to future early care and educational settings and kindergarten to help facilitate the transition process for parents and children.
11. Develops strong relationships with community child care, preschools, and public schools in order to enhance home-school partnerships and transitions.
12. Educates parents on Policy Council and other available committee or community opportunities that will promote parent leadership and advocacy.
13. Assists in the planning and implementation of local parent governance activities.This should include attendance of its meetings, ensuring that minutes are taken, notifying parents of the meetings, and encouraging parental participation.
14. Includes parents as active participants in groups and training so they can share skills, culture and talents.
15. Supports parents as they engage in volunteering, collaborating with the community, and other ways of contributing to program activities and the larger community.
16. Becomes family’s liaison to program and community services as appropriate. This could include joint visits with professionals in health, mental health, child development, and child welfare as indicated to address specific issues or family needs.
17. Follows up on the effectiveness of family referrals to community resources.
18. Ensures that pertinent knowledge about families is appropriately shared with colleagues and professionals in a way that assures confidentiality and increases service coordination.
19. Performs effective recordkeeping and internal and external reporting tasks to track individual family progress and program progress.
20. Assists in the planning and implementation of local parent training activities.
21. Distributes evaluations and feedback suggestion forms during workshops, meetings and other activities for parents and families.
22. Uses data results to inform the design of workshops, meetings, and other activities for parents and expectant families.
23. Assists in identifying family needs and makes referrals as appropriate to meet needs.
24. Provides appropriate translation/interpretation necessary for effective communication.
25. Offers parents/guardians the opportunity to engage in collaborative family partnership agreement process.
26. Utilizing internal Family and Community Services system, collects, enters, and monitors necessary data in ChildPlus system, ensuring data is current, complete, and accurate.

Communication and Training

1. Assists the local management/supervisory, educational, and health staff in effectively meeting child and family needs.
2. Assists the education and health staff in the identification of special child and family needs and works with the entire staffing planning educational and support programs that appropriately meet these specific needs.
3. Ensures ongoing documentation of contacts with family in online database.
4. Assists the educational and health staff in scheduling/conducting home visits.
5. Assists educational and health staff in providing parents with information regarding the child’s health and educational activities, attendance, and progress.
6. Creates and works on individualized professional development plans in collaboration with the Family Services Specialist.

Safety

1. Have or obtain within 30 days of hire a First Aid and CPR Certification as well as maintain the certification during employment.