Position: Family Development Specialist *Full-Time | Salary: $41,000 *

Culture:

Trying Together's mission is to support high-quality care and education for young children.

Trying Together is a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit that supports the work of early childhood by providing advocacy, community resources, and professional growth opportunities for the needs and rights of children, their families, and the adults who interact with them. A fast-paced organization, Trying Together looks for dedicated and passionate staff who bring positivity to their work and a solution-oriented sensibility.

Trying Together is an equal opportunity employer. Trying Together does not discriminate and encourages qualified candidates of any gender, race, class, sexual orientation, faith, disability, or age to apply. All candidates will be evaluated on a merit basis.

Purpose:

Family Development Specialists are responsible for providing direct service to families from diverse backgrounds with young children birth to five years old (including prenatal and postpartum stages for an unborn child's development and the mother's health, nutrition, and psychological state). These prevention services help families set personal goals and address the challenges that come up in their day-to-day life. Direct services will include goal planning, developmental screenings, advocacy, and referrals linking families to any needed services. Family Development Specialists work out of The Homewood Early Learning Hub & Family Center and report to the Director of The Hub & Family Center. 

Responsibilities:

• Coaches and supports families with a strengths-based approach.
• Strong ability to build positive rapport with both parents and children.
• Provide crisis intervention and/or referrals for families.
• Develop and/or assist in the child programming and parent-child interaction groups.
• Initiates the Ages & Stages Questionnaires® (ASQ) and Ages & Stages Questionnaires®: Social-Emotional, Second Edition (ASQ®:SE-2) with parents and children using the appropriate developmental tools.
• Actively participate in ongoing outreach/recruitment for the program.
• Actively participate in the development of and facilitate parent groups.
• Actively participate in the development of special events and celebrations with/for families.
• Ability to maximize program offerings to families from The Homewood Early Learning Hub & Family Center.
• Must maintain a high level of integrity.
• Must maintain confidentiality of ALL families.
• Provides team approach model case management services including goal setting, networking, and use of community resources, advocacy, referral, and support.
• Develop mutual trust and cooperation with families to strengthen child and parent development.
• Responsible for approximately 20 families on their caseload.
• Transport families to programming, well baby visits, mental health sessions, etc. when possible.
• Communicate regularly and productively with colleagues within the Hub & Family Center and across the organization.
• Actively participate in weekly staff meetings.
• Must maintain files and complete all management information system paperwork accurately as required in a timely manner.
• Maintain the Hub & Family Center site and ensure a welcoming atmosphere.
• Relationships with or knowledge of the Homewood-Brushton community is helpful.
• Attend a minimum of 20 hours of job-related training annually.
• Consistently use the NeonCRM platform to build relationships with constituents, record data that measure project performance, and support continuous quality improvement in the organization's resources and services. 
• Commitment to racial equity and inclusion and a willingness to do the ongoing personal work to bring about a more just society.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Social Work, Child Development, Early Childhood, or relate field, or a high school diploma and five years of related experience in early childhood prevention, or human/social services working with children and families.
• Ability to work with individuals from diverse backgrounds.
• Ability to work both independently as well as part of a team.
• Ability to work nights and weekends.
• Must own a reliable vehicle (for transporting to/from home visits, etc.)

*Required Clearances: *

• Clean Act 33 Child Abuse Clearance.
• Clean Act 34 PA State Police Clearance.
• Clean Act 73 Federal Criminal History Clearance.
• National Sex Offender Registry (NSOR) Verification.
• Valid Driver's License and proof of insurance.

Required Training:

• Mandated Reporter Training (must be completed in the first month of placement).
• NeonCRM Training (required and recommended online courses must be completed in the first three months of placement).
• PQAS Professional Development Instructor Certification (must be obtained within the first year of employment).

Benefits:

• Competitive compensation and benefits package.
• Appreciative inquiry and strengths-based review process.