Early Head Start Family Advocate

*this is not a remote position*

Organizational summary

Maternity Care Coalition (MCC) is a community-based nonprofit organization serving Pennsylvania and Delaware with over four decades of commitment to improving maternal and child health and early care and education. MCC’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of pregnant women and parenting families and enhance school readiness for children ages 0-3. We achieve this through direct service, advocacy, and research, in collaboration with individuals, families, providers, and communities. We envision a future where parents impacted by racial and social inequities can birth with dignity, parent with autonomy, and raise babies who are healthy, growing, and thriving.

Position Summary

The Advocate provides early learning-focused and curriculum-based home visits to pregnant women and parents of infants and toddlers, to promote the families' ability to support their health improvement, social empowerment, and child's development towards school readiness. Services may include providing encouragement and guidance; direct services to identify client needs and goals around health, education, child development, and social services; and supporting clients to access needed services.

Core functional responsibilities

• Supporting Responsibilities
• Adheres to the MCC’s security and HIPAA guidelines and ensures the appropriate handling of family-sensitive information
• Adheres to MCC’s Standard Operating Procedures
• Adheres to EHS program requirements
• Attends staff meetings (agencywide townhall, department, and team meetings) to promote communication and execution of agency goals
• Other duties as assigned within the scope of position expectations

• Knowledge, Skills & Abilities
• Understanding of MCC’s mission, vision, core values, goals, and objectives.
• Knowledge of the concepts and practices associated with community health issues, particularly with pregnant people including perinatal care, parenting practices, and child development.
• Ability to travel in and around MCC’s service areas (Pennsylvania – Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties) to conduct home visits and community outreach.
• Knowledge of and sensitivity to issues facing the community served
• Experience in family management procedures for determining eligibility, assessing needs, identifying resources, making referrals, following up, and documenting family interactions
• Strong interpersonal skills as demonstrated by compassionate, courteous, cordial, cooperative, and professional interaction with diverse groups of co-workers, community partners, families, and members of the community
• Ability to work independently with appropriate boundaries in a work-from-home environment as needed (designated workspace, securing confidential documents, availability during designated work hours)
• Ability to effectively and accurately document case notes and family data according to established case management documentation procedures
• Demonstrates strong verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to operate a computer and use a variety of common software programs, including Microsoft Office, spreadsheets, and customized databases.
• Ability to organize tasks in an efficient manner and follow up and follow through with strong attention to detail
• Ability to read, write, and speak English is required
• Bi-lingual candidates who fluently read, write, and speak other languages in addition to English, preferred (Spanish, Burmese if applicable)

Other Position Factors

The other position factors described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential tasks of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Experience, Education, and Licensure

Experience

• 3+ years’ experience providing direct services in a community setting
• Experience working with maternal and child health issues, preferred
• Knowledge and experience with child development, pregnancy, breastfeeding, and early childhood education, preferred

Education

• Home-Based CDA or Strengths-Based Family Worker Credential
• Associates, Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Public Health, Human Services, Social Work, Human Development, Family and Child Studies, Sociology, Psychology, or related field (ECE, Child Development, Infant and Toddler Studies, Special Education/Early Intervention, Counseling)

Licensure: N/A

This job description outlines the primary responsibilities and provides a general overview of the scope of the position. Additional duties related to the nature of the role may be assigned or reassigned as necessary to support the organization’s goals and objectives.

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