Family Support Specialist

Family Support Specialist

Under the direct supervision of the Family Support Specialist Supervisor, the Family Support Specialist is responsible for optimizing the home environment for the physical and mental well-being of children and their families.

Essential Job Duties:

• Establishes a trusting relationship with at-risk families by initiating and maintaining regular client contact, predominantly in participants' homes, with some evening or early morning hours when required to accommodate participant family schedules.
• Provides transportation to and from visits and trainings with mileage reimbursement as per staff automobile policy; Must have full access to vehicle during work hours.
• Establishes a case plan with goals, objectives and activities to assist family, with Supervisor and family.
• Assists parents in making and potentially attending an appointment for doctors, social service agencies, etc. Acts as a liaison between families and other community agencies. Assures that all family members have a primary care provider.
• Familiarizes self with available community resources and knows how to access services appropriate to needs of client.
• Utilizes prenatal and child development curricula.
• Meets with Supervisor on weekly basis to review cases and evaluate client status; attends staff meetings and relevant trainings.
• Performs street and community outreach for program promotion and case finding.
• May conduct assessments as needed.
• Performs other related duties as assigned in a timely manner.

Key Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:

• Ability to be non-judgmental, compassionate, empathetic, and insightful.
• Able to establish trusting relationships; have good problem-solving skills; demonstrated experience working with youth and families.
• Show respect and sensitivity for others' needs and rights, including those with differing cultural, racial, sexual, or ethnic identities.
• Have knowledge of community resources, good listening skills.
• Identify family strengths, foster self-sufficiency and independence in families, and be satisfied with on-going projects where positive outcomes are often not immediately apparent.

Qualifications:

• High school diploma or equivalent required
• Bachelor's Degree in Human Services or fields relating to working with children and families preferred
• Experience in working with or providing services to children and families preferred
• Valid Driver's License required
• Basic computer and internet navigational skills required
• Computer literacy with Windows-based operating systems and MS Office applications (Word, Excel, Outlook, Powerpoint) required
• Familiarity with electronic health records (EHR) technology preferred
• Bilingual Spanish/English preferred

Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action:

The Institute for Family Health is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. This job summary is intended to be brief and may not list all the duties and functions required, however, it does highlight the essential requirements. Nothing outlined in this job summary is to be construed as an express or implied contract of employment.