Family Support Specialists

Catawba Valley Healthy Families uses the evidence-based Healthy Families America (HFA) model to provide in-home visitation services to overburdened families who are pregnant or parenting a child, ages birth – 5 years and living in Burke, Caldwell, McDowell, Catawba, and Iredell Counties. This service mitigates child maltreatment risks by helping families reduce stress factors and increase protective factors through supportive, regular, home visits over a span of 3-5 years. CVHF is one of many programs offered by Children’s Hope Alliance to strengthen families.  

Job Summary

The Family Support Specialist (FSS) will initiate and maintain intensive, long-term home visitation services to families, beginning during pregnancy or within 3 months of birth. The visits are family-centered, strength-based, and directed at establishing a trusting relationship while honoring diverse family structures and parenting practices. The FSS will develop an individualized plan to ensure all areas of concern are addressed and existing strengths are identified. As the FSS encourages a family to set and achieve their goals, a variety of activities, information, and linkage to resources will be provided to participating families to strengthen the parent-child relationship; promote healthy childhood growth and development; and enhance family well-being.  

The Family Support Specialist will provide services to families throughout the CVHF service area, which includes McDowell, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, and Iredell counties. While the primary focus of this position will be serving families in Iredell and Catawba counties, travel within the broader service area may be required to support program operations and family needs.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

Service Delivery

• Work as part of a team to engage referred families by scheduling the Family Resilience and Opportunities for Growth (FROG) initial assessment, administer, document, and score the assessment. 
• Initiate and maintain regular and long-term contact / support to assigned families through:
• Home visits lasting at least an hour
• Being on call 24/7 to families (mostly entails responding to calls and texts, occasional in-person support may be required between scheduled visits)
• Build trusting relationships by honoring diverse family structures and parenting practices.
• Develop and regularly update an individualized Family Service Plan to guide interventions that address needs identified on the FROG scale and during the course of service.  
• Assist each family in setting and achieving meaningful goals. 
• Support parents in learning problem-solving and coping skills and how to effectively advocate for their family. 
• Provide parent education through use of Partners for a Healthy Baby, Nurturing Program, Growing Great Kids, and other supplemental curricula.
• Employ strategies to strengthen parent-child interactions and promote healthy childhood growth and development through targeted activities, observation, and the parallel process. 
• Administer family screens, including intimate partner violence, depression, and child development (ASQ-3 / ASQ-SE); make appropriate referrals if needed. 
• Act as a liaison between families and community agencies as needed, stay informed of available local resources that could enhance a family’s well-being.  
• Assist families in scheduling and attending doctors’ appointments for pre and postnatal care, well-child checkups, immunizations, and other appointments as appropriate.  
• Work as a member of the CVHF team by regularly attending CVHF staff meetings, weekly individual supervision meetings, group parent trainings, occasional community outreach events, other meetings and trainings as required. 
• Attend training upon being hired and throughout employment, some of which may require travel and overnight stays, to develop professional skills. 
• Perform other duties as required when assigned by supervisor. 

Documentation

• Document all contact with families in the Family Wise Database. 
• Maintain all paperwork; document required screens, family data, referrals, and other required information in the Family Wise Database and/or the family file.  
• Work with supervisor to create and regularly update a Family Service Plan for each family. 
• Assist parents in creating a goal plan within 45 days of enrollment, update every 6 months. 

Supervision Responsibilities

• None

All employees have the following expectations

• Mission: Contribute to and enhance company mission
• Organization: Prioritize and plan work responsibilities appropriately
• Professional Development: Attend and/or successfully complete all required trainings and meetings
• Timeliness and Accuracy: Perform quality work within given deadlines and expectations with or without direct supervision
• Professionalism: Comply with all applicable policies, practices, and procedures; report all out-of-compliance and unsafe activities to supervisor; interact professionally with other employees, volunteers, families, children, and the community
• Teamwork: Serve effectively as a team contributor on all assignments
• Communication: Utilize effective communication skills both verbally and in writing; provide effective feedback and is receptive to feedback
• Leadership: Work independently while understanding the necessity for communicating and coordinating work efforts with other appropriate individuals
• Cultural Competence: Is sensitive to the cultural, ethnic and religious views of the children and families served, and in community and public contact.

Children’s Hope Alliance is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other protected status in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws.

Education and Experience Requirements

• Minimum of a High School Diploma or Equivalent, Preferred Bachelor’s degree in Child Development, Early Childhood, B-K, Human Services, Social Work, or a related child and family field and at least 1 year of experience related to the program or an equivalent combination of training and experience. 
• Preference given to individuals with bilingual abilities (Spanish/English). 
• Knowledge of infant and child development. 
• Experience in working with or providing services to children and families.
• Ability to diffuse difficult situations / confrontations and establish trusting relationships.
• Knowledge of dynamics of child abuse and neglect. 
• Infant Mental Health Endorsement preferred.
• Ability to work with a variety of individuals and professionals representing various disciplines related to the clients’ specific needs and embrace the concepts of family-centered and strength-based services.
• Accepting of individual differences and possess the experience and humility to work with culturally diverse families. 
• Willingness to engage in building reflective capacity (e.g. Capacity for introspection, communicating awareness of self in relation to others, recognizing value of supervision, etc.)
• Proficient computer skills to allow communication, participant record documentation, accessing of and ability to interpret information.  
• Must have a valid North Carolina Driver’s License and maintain insurance coverage. 
• Must submit to and pass pre-employment drug screening, criminal, HCPR and driving checks. 

Physical Requirements

• Frequent driving to home visits, sometimes in outlying areas. 
• Lift and/or move up to 30 pounds (carrying books, toys, and other supplies to and from home visits).
• Regular kneeling, bending, reaching, and sitting on floor to engage in developmental play with children and families. 
• The home-based work environment will require ability to perform duties in an active environment with changes in climate and noise level.
• Reading, typing, writing, speaking, and using the telephone and prolonged sitting at a desk and working on a computer. 
• The office work environment will contain slight to moderate office-related noises. The employee is not exposed to extreme weather conditions, toxic fumes, or airborne particles. 
• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.