Director of Family and Community Partnerships

The Director of Parent, Family & Community Services is primarily responsible for achieving the following outcomes for the Head Start program:

Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment and Attendance:

• Oversee overall eligibility, recruitment, selection, enrollment, and attendance meeting the needs of Head Start-eligible families and in response to community assessment.
• Collaborate with ERSEA Specialist to monitor and sustain funded enrollment level and waiting list, fill vacancies as needed at the individual sites and analyze enrollment data to inform the planning process.
• Along with ERSEA Specialist, analyze causes of absenteeism, on an ongoing basis, to prevent daily attendance falling below 90%.
• Work with ERSEA Specialist to develop system through which Family Advocates manage eligibility, recruitment, selection, enrollment, and attendance meeting the needs of Head Start-eligible families and responding to community assessment.
• Develop practices to ensure full enrollment of funded enrollment at beginning of school year and throughout the year, with an active waitlist at each site.

Family Partnerships:

• Plan with Early Intervention Specialist to ensure timely implementation and follow-up of IEP/IFSP services for children with disabilities and development of family goal-setting related to IEP/IFSP support.
• Provide coaching, to Family Advocates, to ensure parents have access to services and resources responsive to their interests and goals, and follow-up with them to ensure the referral met their expectations and circumstances. If applicable, ensure assistance to mothers accessing comprehensive prenatal and postpartum care.
• Take an active role in community planning and advocacy to improve the delivery of services to children and families.
• Develop community partnerships, supported by the interagency agreements, as appropriate (e.g., with the LEA or Part C agency, child protective services, or local transportation system, health department, male involvement agencies).

Communication and Service Coordination:

• Ensure Family Advocates act as a case manager and work cooperatively with local agencies in connecting families with community services and following up with referrals to ensure they met the needs of the families.
• Ensure Family Advocates develop a working knowledge of community resources including visits to major agencies for service delivery updates.
• Share pertinent information with appropriate Leadership Team member to ensure coordinated services meet needs of individual children and families.
• Coordinate program internship and community partnership/collaboration opportunities from outside agencies.
• Communicate and plan with Family Advocates to ensure Family Advocates maintain weekly contact with teaching staff to integrate family partnership goals with classroom efforts, to ensure integrated child and family curriculum, to gain information regarding child performance in the classroom.
• Communicate and plan with Parent Engagement Coordinator to ensure ongoing parent engagement activities and initiatives are implemented and executed in an effective manner.
• Communicate and plan with Parent Engagement Coordinator to ensure timely follow-up of all families that have met with any service coordinator.
• Delegate Policy Council Facilitator’s role, to the Parent Engagement Coordinator, as needed.
• Plan with the Parent Engagement Coordinator, to coordinate procedures to ensure successful start-up and active retention of Parent Committees, Parent Advisory Committee and Policy Council.

Recordkeeping, Reporting and Data Outcomes:

• Develop plans and procedures to ensure Parent Engagement planning, plans, activities, as well as, sign-in sheets are maintained and accessible for review and audit.
• Understand, generate and document in-kind and other allowable costs applied toward the non-federal share requirement, as needed.
• Develop plans and procedure to ensure Family Advocates keep COPA/PROMIS files up-to-date on each child. Ensure all information received is entered in COPA/PROMIS within 24 hours.
• Develop plans and procedures to ensure Family Advocates record, monitor and follow up on referrals for support services and attendance.
• Along with Data and Outcomes Manager, analyze parent engagement impact/attendance, family partnership completion and progress, attendance and outcomes on a center-wide basis, and program-wide basis, analyze data and make program development recommendations to leadership team.

Ongoing Monitoring and Continuous Quality Improvement:

• Develop an effective system and practice for providing comprehensive, ongoing supervision and leadership of Family Advocates to ensure ongoing, uninterrupted execution of collaborative partnerships with parents, development and completion of the Family Achievement Inventory & Family Success Plans, completion of 3 Home Visits and 2 Family Conferences and ensuring all information related to Head Start families is supported and documented in COPA and/or PROMIS within 24 hours of receipt.
  • Ensure Family Advocates conduct 3 home visits and 2 family conferences to facilitate family assessment and follow-up to assist families in achieving identified goals:
    • Home Visit #1 – Family Success Plan
    • Family Conference #1 – Family Report Card, 45-Day Child & Family Review
    • Home Visit #2 – Family Success Plan Follow-Up
    • Family Conference #2 – Family Success Plan Follow-Up/Updates, Family Report Card
    • Home Visit #3 – Family Success Plan Follow-Up, Family Report Card
• Develop procedures to ensure all program scheduled parent engagement activities, as well as, parent involvement activities, parent events are implemented and executed effectively.
• Develop procedures to monitor and work with Parent Engagement Coordinator and other service area coordinators to ensure family/parent meetings and one-on-one interactions between Family Advocates and families show respect for each family’s diversity and cultural background.
• Develop, revise and update the implementation plan for area of responsibility, along with administering and implementing a system of continuous monitoring and evaluation of activities.
• Collaborate on strategies for ongoing monitoring and annual self-assessment for the health, safety, education and security of children and families and to oversee ongoing implementation of the Performance Standards and other federal regulations.

Supervision and Human Resources:

• Assign and review work of the associates you supervise. Instruct, train and work effectively with the associates you supervise from a variety of backgrounds and with differing levels/areas of training. Model best practice within the service area.
• Devise work methods and procedures that support improvements in existing work practices; supporting the associates you supervise in developing and setting goals, priorities and timelines.
• Meet at least once per quarter with the staff to monitor and provide ongoing verbal and written feedback, consistent with their individual development plans for performance improvement, and adherence to Head Start performance standards as well as to plan and direct work. In addition to completing 1 mid-year evaluation and 1 annual.
• Plan and adjust work operations to meet changing or emergent program requirements within available resources and with minimum sacrifice to quantity or quality of work.

Program Governance and Leadership:

• Coordinate and ensure all program governance-related committees are formed and active within program timelines, ensuring timely and regular completion of all performance standard required activities for policy council and parent committee operations.
• Lead for the good of the entire organization, understand the big picture and use it as framework to make decisions.
• Make decisions in an ethical, timely and efficient manner in consideration of the Y mission, understand what information is needed to make high quality decisions, engage stakeholders, and ensure decisions are made that support program quality and maintain program accountability.
• Establish focus for own service area, act to align own area’s goals with the strategic direction and needs of the center, ensure associates understand how their work relates to the center as a whole and the relevant regulations and performance standards.
• Manage change effectively by demonstrating support for innovation and for organizational changes needed to improve quality and effectiveness, by initiating, sponsoring and implementing organizational change and by helping others to successfully manage organizational change.

GENERAL STAFF RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Participate in Y associate meetings, conferences, training sessions and workshops as assigned.
• Maintain confidentiality in regards to Y associate and family information.
• Fulfill role as mandated reporter as stated in Child Abuse and Neglect Policy.
• Perform any other work-related duties as requested by your supervisor.
• Be present at work in order to provide consistency of services.
• Be a contributory team member in a positive/productive manner.
• Demonstrate commitment to the Y mission, Y core values, and Y policies in the performance of daily duties.
• Recognize that your job description is service area specific and that a successful employee upholds the overall employment standards outlined in the Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual and specifically, but not limited to: confidentiality, child abuse reporting, attendance and dependability, appropriate dress, customer service and support to all families, prudent use of program resources, and promoting and maintaining safe work environment.