Parent Advocate

MAJOR FUNCTION

The Parent Advocate will work with project directors, partners, pediatric practice teams, other SPAN staff, and family volunteers leading to positive outcomes for young children and their families as well as positive relationships with professionals.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

1. Provide information, individual assistance, training, and parent-to-parent support to families who represent the full diversity of families in NJ, and professionals who work with families of children with disabilities in alignment with implementation of HealthSteps model of care.

2.      Assist families to navigate multiple systems including early intervention (EI), transition from EI to preschool, education, child behavioral health, developmental disabilities, child care, parental mental health and community-based service systems in partnership with the HealthySteps Specialist.

3.      Provide information to families about available services, resources, and supports. 

4.      Enhance family self-advocacy capacity across multiple systems.

5.      Support the outreach and recruitment of parent leaders for the Parent Advisory Council.

6.      Participate in the Parent Advisory Council meetings.

7.      Be integrated with the workflow of the pediatric practice teams and assist professionals with providing more family-centered, culturally competent, and coordinated care.

8.      Present at and attend professional meetings relating to project goals and SPAN’s mission.

9.      Maintain records and information that support project efforts under the direction of a supervisor.

10.   Other responsibilities as needed.

Requirements

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE:

·       Experience and knowledge about early childhood growth and development, parent-child relational health, infant and early childhood mental health, and family systems

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES AND OTHER (KSAO’s)

●                Must have knowledge about early childhood systems and community-based programs and resources.

●                Completion of SPAN Resource Parent (SRP) Training and/or Community Health Worker (CHW) Training is preferred but not a requirement.

●        Proficiency in Spanish, Portuguese, and/or Haitian-Creole preferred.

●                Demonstrate relevant training and experience with the following knowledge, abilities, and skills:

1.      Outstanding planning, communication & organizational skills;

2.      Excellent outreach, family engagement and empowerment, and community collaboration skills;

3.      Ability to interact with a diverse population of families, children, and professionals;

4.      Facility with written and verbal communication, strong Spanish or other second language skills a plus;

5.      Capacity to use technology and software including computer skills, Word, Excel, SmartSheet, web-based contact management system, etc.;

6.      Knowledge of local community and resources;

7.      Must have reliable transportation to travel within New Jersey;

8.      Must be available to work evenings and weekends when needed.

PHYSICAL & WORK REQUIREMENTS

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.

This position requires the manual dexterity sufficient to operate phones, computers and other office equipment.  The position requires the physical ability to kneel, bend, and perform light lifting.  This person must have the ability to write and speak clearly using the English language to convey information and be able to hear at normal speaking levels both in person and over the telephone.  Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, depth perception and the ability to adjust focus.  Generally, the working conditions are good with little or no exposure to extremes in health, safety hazards and/or hazardous materials.