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Additional Head Start and Early Head Start Positions

Additional Head Start/Early Head Start positions

Home Visitor/Family Service Worker:

The Home Visitor/Family Service Worker works in the homes of participating families, building positive relationships with them to support their parenting roles. The Home Visitor/Family Service Worker’s purpose may be direct instruction or evaluation of the child, parenting education, communication as a home/school liaison, parent advocacy or for providing early intervention services.

General abilities include:

• Knowledge and experience in child development and early childhood education.
• Knowledge of the specific areas of focus of the program such as health, safety and nutrition, parent education, special education services and community resources to link families with appropriate services.
• Communication, interpersonal skills and the ability to motivate people.
• Problem solving and confidentiality.
• Acceptance and respect for each family's diversity and a cooperative spirit with coworkers.
• Approach work from a family strengths perspective rather than a deficit perspective.
• Awareness of and sensitivity to cultural issues and local community practices

Health services:

Health services must be carried out by staff or consultants with training and experience in public health, nursing, health education, maternal and child health, or health administration.

General abilities include:

• Link families with an ongoing system of health care, assist parents in the selection of health providers, counsel them about child or family health problems, and promote parent involvement in all aspects of the health program.
• Negotiate with the Health services advisory committee and local health care professionals and service providers to ensure that services for families are available and accessible.
• Review, evaluate, and interpret health records and other vital health service date
• Promote health and safety practices in the program and coordinate safety and sanitation procedures, first aid, and emergency procedures.

Nutrition services:

Nutrition services must be carried out by staff or consultants who are registered dieticians or nutritionists. A mater’s degree (MPH or MS) from an approved program in public health nutrition may be substituted for this registration.

General abilities include:

• Experience in menu planning, including the quantity, quality, and variety of food to be purchases
• The abilities to interpret nutrition assessment data, provide nutrition counseling for families, and in other ways promote good nutrition habits among children and families.
• Expertise to assist staff in dealing with children with feeding problems or special nutritional needs.

Mental health services:

Mental health services must be carried out by staff or consultants who are licensed or certified mental health professionals with experience and expertise in serving young children and their families.

General abilities include:

• Knowledge of treatment strategies in the areas of child behavior management and family crisis intervention.
• The ability to work with families in a supportive manner throughout the diagnostic and referral process.
• The ability to work with staff to improve their health and they, in turn, provides supportive services to families.
• The ability to broker the services or to provide counseling and treatment for children and families with diagnosed problems.

Family and community partnerships services:

Family and community partnership services must be carried out by staff or consultants with training and experience in field(s) related to social, human, or family services.

General Abilities include:

• Develop referral systems and procedures and coordinate social service referrals and follow-up.
• Provide on-site consultation to family and community partnerships staff.
• Oversee transition services.
• Conduct advocacy work.

Parent Involvement Services:

Parent involvement services must be carried out by staff or consultants with training, experience, and skills on assisting the parents of young children in advocating and decision-making for their families.

General abilities include:

• Oversee the recruitment, training, and scheduling of parent volunteers.
• Work with the Policy Council and Policy Committee, and serve as a resource for the Parent Committee.
• Assist parents in developing and scheduling their own social and developmental activities and encourage and support parents in addressing community needs
• Keep other agency staff apprised of parent issues, and assist staff in designing and implementing a comprehensive, well-integrated plan for parent involvement that crosses all service areas.

Special needs services:

Disability services must be carried out by staff or consultants with training and experience in securing and individualizing needed services for children with disabilities.

General abilities include:

• Coordinate the process of assessing children, including initial screenings, ongoing developmental, and specialized assessments, to determine if a disability exists.
• Work with an interdisciplinary team of staff and parents to develop and implement an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or Individualized family Services Plan (IFSP) for each child with disabilities.
• Consult regularly with parents and staff on the progress of disabilities services and of the children with disabilities who are enrolled.
• Work closely with local school districts to ensure the coordination of services
• Advocate in the community for appropriate services for children with disabilities and their families.

 

NOTE:

• The Head Start program is managed by the Head Start Bureau, the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
• All Head Start programs operating in New York City are licensed through NYCDOH.
• Current and former Early Head Start and Head Start parents must receive preference for employment vacancies for which they are qualified.
• Staff qualifications are for NYC Head Start programs and are required by the NYC Department of Health and exceed Federal Head Start staff qualifications.