General Summary

The Parent Family Community Engagement Specialist is responsible for supporting the planning, development, coordination, implementation, and monitoring of the Parent Family Community Engagement (PFCE) content area for the Head Start Birth to Five program. The PFCE Specialist ensures compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local regulations including the Head Start Program Performance Standards and Head Start Act.

Primary Responsibilities

1. Assists in planning and implementing training and activities for parents and families within the assigned service area, including the Abriendo Puertas/ Opening Doors sessions.

2. Provides guidance and support for the family service/classroom staff to ensure implementation of PFCE related activities, School Readiness Goals, the Head Start Performance Standards and other applicable requirements.

3. Utilizes an efficient system for the documentation and reporting of parental involvement, to include assessing, planning, and measuring positive parent-child outcomes.

4. Works collaboratively with family service/classroom staff to encourage families to actively participate in the Head Start Program and helps support families in utilizing community resources to enhance family well-being and early childhood learning and development.

5. Works with program staff and community partners to link parents to education and/or career related training that contributes to self-sufficiency.

6. Assists the PFCE Manager with Parent Family and Community Engagement training for Head Start staff.

7. Collects, analyzes and inputs monthly non-federal share (in-kind) reports into a shared spreadsheet for the assigned cluster and classrooms.

8. Monitors systems and processes to recommend best practices that align with the PFCE content area to include reporting, documenting and other child outcome data.

9. Utilizes and maintains current parental literature, fatherhood materials, guides and other resources and disseminates material to staff on a regular basis.

10. Assists with the recruitment and training of caregiver/parent volunteers.

11. Organizes and hosts bi-monthly Parent Committee Meetings for assigned centers, organizes elections for Policy Council representation and maintains an active and involved group of Head Start Parents to represent Policy Council meetings.

12. Monitors, supports and facilitates family service/classroom staff with Head Start to Kindergarten transition activities.

13. Assesses, plans, implements, and evaluates communication systems between the program and families to ensure positive and effective parent, family and community engagement efforts.

14. Networks, assists and maintains written community partnership agreements to promote the Head Start Program.

15. Assist teaching staff with child supervision in the classroom as needed.

16. Any other duty as assigned by the supervisor.

Work Experience

Required

Experience working with parents and/or children in a childcare, school, or office setting in which coordination of parental engagement is involved.

Preferred

2 or more years of Head Start Experience

Education/Certifications/Licensure

Required

Baccalaureate degree in social work, human services, family services, counseling, early childhood education or a related field.
A valid driver’s license, safe driving record and acceptance by the Agency’s vehicle insurance carrier are required.
Must pass DFPS background check.
Must pass pre-employment physical. Obtain annual health certificate
Additional annual certification and training in the following are required: First Aid Certification and Adult and Infant / Toddler CPR Certification.
Must attend 24 clock hours of professional development and staff training per year, as outlined in the Head Start Program Performance Standards and Texas HHS Minimum Standards for Childcare Centers.

Preferred

Master's degree in Social Work, Counseling and Guidance, Early Childhood Education or a related field.

Skills

Required

Must have computer skills and reporting, service documentation and recordkeeping experience.
Good verbal, problem solving and writing skills are required.

Preferred

Bilingual ability (Spanish/English) is preferred.

Physical Requirements
If a preliminary offer of employment is extended, a physical will be required before the offer can be accepted.

Able to perform the following physical requirements of the position with or without reasonable accommodation: critical sensory requirements include general vision; specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus. Hear or listen in the normal range (corrected) and speak and give directions clearly. Able to walk, sit, stand, kneel, crouch, crawl, reach, lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects up to 10 lbs., and occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.

Working Conditions

Work is performed in a classroom/office setting where minimal exposure to injury exists. Hours of work will generally be during regular business hours and average at least 40 hrs. Per week. There will be work variations in work hours due to employee special projects and deadlines.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Welcome to Community Action Corporation of South Texas (CACOST)!

CACOST is a private non-profit organization established in 1971 and funded through federal, state and local grants. CACOST currently serves 16 counties via a wide variety of community programs and services. CACOST lives its mission each day, which is to continuously improve the lives of South Texans by providing high quality health care, education, housing and economic opportunities to reduce poverty through services and partnerships.

CACOST is looking for employees who are interested in accomplishing our mission, which can be both rewarding and challenging. We count on our employees to contribute directly to the growth and success of our agency. Because the quality of our staff is the key to our success, we carefully select our new employees. Apply today to join our CACOST family and take pride in being a member of our team.

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