Early Childhood Specialist (Liberty County)

Collaborative is Championing Young FuturesIN Liberty County!

EARLY CHILDHOOD SPECIALIST (LIBERTY COUNTY)

Family Caseload focus:IN Liberty County  

HYBRID: Will require travel to caseload clients' homes in Liberty County. Related caseload admin performed from specialist's home. Mileage reimbursement eligible. Desired PREFERENCE is for specialist to reside in Liberty County or nearby.

AT LEAST AN ASSOCIATES DEGREE IS REQUIRED. A non-negotiable requirement.

NOT AN ENTRY LEVEL POSITION. 

POSITION SUMMARY:

Create a caseload of eligible families IN Liberty County and serve as the primary connector to local resources and partnerships. Provide parental coaching for the improvement of school-readiness outcomes for children ages birth to five years. Assist parents in family homes, community venues, child care centers and other group spaces to better understand their child’s development to improve parenting practices.

THE CHALLENGE AND THE OPPORTUNITY: 

A child's earliest years shape every milestone that follows: school success, workforce readiness, and economic opportunity. Collaborative is creating an ecosystem of the highest quality child care in the communities that need it most, so Houston gains a stronger and better skilled future labor force. 

Are YOU ready to help more young children enter kindergarten curious, confident, and ready to learn? POSITION REQUIRESat least an Associate’s degree in early childhood education or related discipline, with at least 3 years of related early childhood service experience. Experience with home visitation and Parents As Teachers (PAT) curriculum is highly beneficial. Knowledge, and experience working with families navigating the Child Protective Services system is also valuable for this position.We encourage you to apply!

Candidates with English/Spanish fluency would be wonderful, but not required.  Bilingual conversational fluency is desired because many of the families on the  caseload will be non-English speakers.

SPECIAL NOTE: YOU must FULLY complete and acknowledge/sign off on the application to be officially considered for this opportunity. UNDER the “Authorization” section, there is an Acknowledgement. There are 8 paragraphs. Below these are 2 boxes. BE SURE to place a checkmark in the 2nd one that states, “I hereby acknowledge that I have read the above disclosure statement and understand it.” This concludes the application! When you do this, a system generated email will let you know we received the completed application. If no email, the application was not finalized. PLEASE revisit the application to complete the Acknowledgement.

Qualifications

When you join our Family Engagement team, some of the essential work and responsibilities you will handle include:

Provide Core Curricula + Professional Resources + Goal setting home visitation services

• Utilize the evidence-based Parents as Teachers (PAT), Conscious Discipline, and Footsteps2Brilliance and other proven curricula to partner, facilitate, reflect and coach participating families to strengthen preparedness of their children for school and to prevent child abuse and neglect. 
• Collaborate with CC teams to deliver supplemental curriculum activities and to facilitate parent and child learning opportunities that support school readiness outcomes for children 
• Oversee, monitor and evaluate the implementation of research-based curricula and frameworks to successfully meet children’s school-readiness outcomes and family support goals.
• Collaborate with each parent to establish goals to enable economic stability with an overall wellness mindset
• Plan and present the Center of Excellence (COE) program at parent meetings, with social service organizations, and at other selected community and family-oriented events/spaces in order to recruit families with children from birth to five years to participate, including children from child care programs.
• Use measured data to foster continuous improvement implementation plans to increase program effectiveness and support child outcomes. 
• Serve as an expert on 21st-century STEAM learning and school readiness for community awareness, parental support extensions, and childcare center committees.
• Support Early Learning Programs and families with facilitation of services related to inclusive environments for all learners.
• Monitor and reduce stressors in family homes through home visitation.

Provide high quality, effective family engagement services to families

• Incorporate Collab core values into all support services for families
• Ensure families experience a nurturing learning environment where their children can achieve school-readiness and 21st century learning skills (e.g. virtual and in-person learning parties, group connections, and home visits)
• Provide group-based parenting education classes within COEs and the community for parents (prenatal to 5 years of age children)
• Prepare and customize each Center event according to the collective, consistent and evident needs of the families
• Prepare and participate in community fairs, parent fairs, conferences, and visibility events    
• Participate in Collab sponsored events, inclusive of weekend and evening partnership events (advance notice for scheduling is provided)
• Coordinate community program resources offering services to address needs of parents and their children
• Assist with planning, preparation and execution of group connection and learning party meetings 
• Work with various departments within the programs teams to develop and implement programming quality improvements and other initiatives within the home visitation program that drive positive outcomes for children 
• Strengthen community capacity and connectedness

Data management and funding compliance 

• Utilize the web-based tracking system(s) to record all relevant and required family documentation within specified timeframes and deadlines
• Capture family related information and referrals in the centralized data tracking system

• Review, analyze and measure day-to-day service delivery exchanges with enrolled families 
• Interface with technology to document work, analyze data, and support progress-monitoring systems for Early Learning Programs
• Administer and complete all relevant assessments and evaluations within prescribed Collaborative for Children requirements
• Provide useful referrals to community resources and other social services based on needs revealed in data

• Collaborate with marketing to submit stories, anecdotal quotes, pictures and comments resulting from rendered services  

We embrace diversity in backgrounds, talents, experiences, interests, and ideas. Attributes that resonate in our most successful employees include: passion for our mission, drive for results, high level of organization and detail orientation, resilience and authenticity. Other traits, knowledge, skills, and abilities needed and desired for this position include:

THE MUST HAVES:

• Minimum: Associates degree with at least three years of related early childhood service experience, OR
• Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or related discipline from an accredited college or university
• Working knowledge of child development and early childhood education evaluation and instruction
• Demonstrated knowledge of establishing relationships and maintaining rapport with vulnerable families and their young children
• Knowledge and experience working with families navigating the Child Protective Services system
• Prior experience in adult learning and early childhood education theories
• Ability to use internet for research
• High level of professionalism and communication skills
• Possess the ability to utilize time management strategies effectively, inclusive of attention to detail and the ability to prioritize tasks.

• Ability to manage multiple projects and competing deadlines with attention to detail.
• Computer skills with intermediate proficiency related to Microsoft Office software (i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

• Experience with email/communications/scheduling software (i.e. Outlook)
• Experience with digital platforms (i.e. TEAMS, ZOOM, etc.) desired

• Demonstrated use of generative AI tools very beneficial (i.e. Copilot, ChatGPT)
• Must be able to work a 40 hour, Monday – Friday schedule
• Schedule flexibility to accommodate occasional weekday evening hours 
• Must have reliable, personal transportation because this position requires driving to different locations in the Liberty County area and to greater Houston area for Collab related meetings
• A valid Texas Driver’s License, and current vehicle insurance coverage

NICE TO HAVE:

• Bilingual fluency in English/Spanish (oral and written)

THE PERKS

• Work hours: flexible scheduling.  
• Compensation: This is a Non-Exempt, Hourly, Full-Time position. Hourly pay rate, based on experience, is $26.45 ($55,016 annualized). Paid bi-weekly on Fridays.
• Annual Merit Adjustments: Increase to base pay rate is based on the prior year’s performance.
• Health and Supplemental Insurance: HDHP medical option that includes $1400/year employer-paid contribution to a Health Savings Account (HSA), prorated based on hire date. Also, a lower deductible PPO medical option. Other insurance options: Dental, Vision, Voluntary Life/AD&D, Accident, and Critical Illness, AFLAC Cancer and Life policies. Employer-paid STD, LTD, Basic Life/AD&D insurance. Benefits eligibility is first of month after hire.
• Retirement Plan: 1:1 employer matching contribution up to 6%. Eligible for employer match 90-days after start date.
• Generous paid leave time: (Personal Time, Vacation and holidays)
• Section 125 Flexible Spending Account (FSA): Dependent Care expenses
• Professional Development: Collaborative values high levels of performance and service over time. We invest in developing our people and nurturing their career trajectory success through coaching and ongoing skills and leadership development.
• Our Culture: mission-driven, family-friendly, inclusive, collaborative, fun

When you work at Collaborative you can make a difference every day. All of our staff play critical roles in executing our mission. 

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY MAKES US STRONGER

Collaborative for Children is an Equal Opportunity Employer and supports a drug-free/smoke-free work environment. We do not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression, national origin, disability, age, marital status, military status, or any other protected class as set forth under applicable state, local and federal civil rights laws.