Family Support Specialist

ORGANIZATIONAL IMPACT

Yolo County Children's Alliance (YCCA) vision is to protect and empower children by strengthening families throughout Yolo County. We recognize that better futures for our children start by building thriving environments to live, learn, and grow. YCCA ensures everyone in Yolo County has access to the resources they need to build meaningful ties to their communities and each other. To accomplish this, YCCA has expanded on our foundational role as the designated Child Abuse Prevention Council (CAPC) of Yolo County. Today, we serve as an inter-agency coordinator, building networks of support throughout Yolo County to deliver programs funded by numerous community and government grants, as well as individual donations. Our work focuses on three family-strengthening pillars: Family Support, Parent Education, and Community Collaboration.

ROLE IMPACT

Your impact as the Family Support Specialist helps Yolo County's most vulnerable parents through the Healthy Families Yolo County (HFYC) program, providing practical support for the family's basic needs by accessing community resources available to them as well as providing activities to build parenting skills starting from pregnancy up to age 3.

You will meet with and support these families on a regular basis building a relationship so that you can provide education on many topics including self-care during pregnancy, how to soothe a crying baby, adequate nutrition for babies and young children, and how to create a safe home environment. Together you and the parent work to define goals to achieve parenting success.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A FAMILY SUPPORT SPECIALIST

You will work with the HFYC Program team leadership to improve infant-parent relationships by enhancing skills, promoting healthy child development, and supporting bonding in a safe home environment. Daily duties to achieve this may include:

• Contacting parents to share information about services and complete initial consent
• Conduct family assessment interviews relying on memory to capture details of the conversation followed by a thorough assessment summary and scoring using a standardized scale
• Visit regularly with all assigned families, virtually and in person at their home or another safe location
• Establish a trusting relationship with families to enhance family functioning through nurturing relationships
• Help families identify their strengths and develop parenting skills
• Facilitate setting and following through on family's goals
• Share information on resources and connect families to community services
• Assist families in accessing health care services
• Attend weekly individual reflective supervision sessions
• Attend required team meetings and staff meetings
• Conduct assessments and use appropriate curriculum and protocols
• Utilize Salesforce database daily to document home visit records, referrals provided, parent contacts, complete required data collection, and other associated work
• Ensure that family files are maintained and up to date
• Maintain confidentiality of records as specified in confidentiality agreement
• Must work YCCA sanctioned community events that assist in delivering program services to the communities we serve
• And any other related assigned duties needed to help drive our Vision and fulfill our Mission

CHARACTERISTICS & SKILLS FOR A CANDIDATE TO SUCCEED IN THE ROLE

Must Have Skills/Qualifications

• Ability to speak Spanish fluently to provide services to Spanish speaking families-predominantly pregnant and new mothers of infants and children 0-3 years old
• Must have valid driver's license and use of own car is required for travel in Yolo County. Mileage reimbursed.
• Must be available for occasional evening & weekend work to accommodate families' availability and YCCA community-based events.
• Effective written and oral communication skills in English and Russian, Farsi, or Spanish.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft applications, telework platforms, and data entry preferred.
• Excellent organizational skills with the ability to prioritize assignments.
• Maturity, ability to use good judgment, and handling confidential information and sensitive issues with tact and diplomacy.
• Must be able to work with culturally diverse populations and have the ability to relate to people with respect for their individuality.
• Experience working successfully with young children and their families.
• Non-judgmental and accepting, willing to relate to families from a strength-based model.
• Able to handle a variety of situations that may be encountered when working with families facing stressors.

Nice to Have Skills

• Experience of families of children 0-3 years old
• Previous work experience in database entry
• Familiarity with Yolo County is a plus
• Understanding of or experience with the 5 protective factors
• Understanding of or experience with trauma informed care
• Knowledge of child welfare system, educational system, and issues that affect families

Essential Physical Requirements

Candidates must be able to perform tasks which involve the ability to exert light physical effort in sedentary to light work as well as lift up to 20lbs. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the role.

Experience & Educational Background

Candidates must have at least 2 years' experience in social services/home visiting and have an Associate degree or above in Social Work, Psychology, Human Development, or related field of study.

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION

At Yolo County Children's Alliance, a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace is one where all employees and volunteers, whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education or disability, feels valued and respected. We are committed to a nondiscriminatory approach and provide equal opportunity for employment and advancement in all our departments, programs, and worksites. We respect and value diverse life experiences and heritages and ensure that all voices are valued and heard.

We're committed to modeling diversity and inclusion for our industry sector, and to maintaining an inclusive environment with equitable treatment for all.